August 29, 2021
1. Do you have one or more online trading or investment accounts?
Yes, I have one or more accounts that I access both online using a computer and using a mobile app.
2. If your response to Question 1 is Yes, do you think you would trade or invest if you could not do so online using a computer or using a mobile app?
No
3. On average, how often do you access your online account?
Daily/more than once a day
4. On average, how often are trades made in your online account, whether by you or someone else?
Once to a few times a week.
5. If you access your account online, did you have the account first, and only began to access it electronically later? Or did you open the account with the idea that you would access it electronically immediately?
I downloaded an app or visited a website first, and then opened up an account with the company
6. My goals for trading or investing in my online account are (check all that apply):
Save and grow my money for medium- to long-term goals
7. What would you like us to know about your experience with the features of your online trading or investment platform? (Examples of features are: social networking tools games, streaks, or contests with prizes points, badges, and leaderboards notifications celebrations for trading visual cues, like changing colors ideas presented at order placement or other curated lists or features subscription and membership tiers or chatbots.)
I use Charles Schwab for my stock trading. In the past I have used other platforms such as TD Ameritrade, Fidelity, Robinhood, and Webull. Charles Schwab is a great investment platform. However, the only issue I notice, is that unlike other trading platforms, it does not show stock prices in real-time. One must refresh the website or the app in order to get current open market pricing. It can be challenging to execute trades precisely if the prices are not seen in real-time. This inadvertently trained me to trade using limit orders, which I very much prefer to do now. If one has a watchlist on Charles Schwab, those stock prices are shown in relatively real-time, otherwise it is not. Other trading platforms, especially fintech apps (Robinhoood, Webull) show non-delayed market prices and do not require one to refresh a page. Other than this one issue, Charles Schwab has been great investment and trading platform.
8. If you were trading or investing prior to using an online account, how have your investing and trading behaviors changed since you started using your online account? (For example, the amount of money you have invested, your interest in learning about investing and saving for retirement, the amount of time you have spent trading, your knowledge of financial products, the number of trades you have made, the amount of money you have made in trading, your knowledge of the markets, the number of different types of financial products you have traded, or your use of margin.)
I have been trading since around 2016 and have only used online based accounts.
9. How much experience do you have trading or investing in the following products (None, 12 months, 1-2 years, 2-5 years, 5+ years):
Stocks : 5+ Years
Bonds : Less Than 12 Months
Options : None
Mutual Funds : Less Than 12 Months
ETFs : 1-2 Years
Futures : None
Cryptocurrencies : 2-5 Years
Commodities : 2-5 Years
ClosedEnd Funds : None
Money Market Funds : None
Variable Insurance Products : None
Business Development Companies : 1-2 Years
Unit Investment Trusts : None
10. What is your understanding, if any, of the circumstances under which trading or investing in your account can be suspended or restricted?
I have obtained the understanding of restriction's and suspension's from reading through Charles Schwab's educational resources and the notifications it sets before executing trades.
11. What else would you like us to know positive or negative - about your experience with online trading and investing?
Something I have noticed and become curious about. Within the popular trading app Webull, there is a link one can click to see 'comments'. It is found once one clicks on a specific stock and it is located above the chart feature where one can also click options, news, analysis, and more about the stock company. If one reads the comments in the comments link, it appears quite obvious that many or most of the the accounts that are commenting must be fake accounts. I am of the belief that, if there are people out there who are exploring personal investing in this new era of 'app based investing', that they may be drastically misled by the hype that gets promoted via comments. Given the immense complexities and public discourse about algorithms in todays technologies, I think one can rationally assume that anyone with the right resources could create fake accounts in order to disperse hype either positive or negative around a certain stock for any given intention or purpose at the disadvantage of investors, especially 'newer' retail based investors.