September 11, 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?
Yes
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 short-term goals (in the next year or two)
Save and grow my money for medium- to long-term goals
Have fun
Other
If Other, Explain:
Buy real estate for investment purposes
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.)
Social Networking Tools are great for developing fluency in trading and investing. It should be a feature on all app platform.
Charting is also an important feature that only a few platforms offer to retail investors. Charting gives investors a practical way of determining support resistance levels for best entry into or exit out of a trade.
The spreads are sometimes too wide on certain platforms for order placement.
Transferring an account out of one brokerage to another brokerage is subject to too many tricks by the brokerage losing the customer and its made too expensive to do so.
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.)
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 : 2-5 Years
Bonds : None
Options : 2-5 Years
Mutual Funds : 5+ Years
ETFs : 2-5 Years
Futures : None
Cryptocurrencies : 2-5 Years
Commodities : 2-5 Years
ClosedEnd Funds : None
Money Market Funds : 5+ Years
Variable Insurance Products : None
Business Development Companies : None
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?
The buying or selling a security, in breach of a fiduciary duty or other relationship of trust and confidence, on the basis of material, nonpublic information about the security.
11. What else would you like us to know positive or negative - about your experience with online trading and investing?
I was a victim of Robinhood disabling the buy button during the GameStop situation in January 2021, scaring people out of their positions. I hope that nothing like that ever happens again. I dont like or trust PFOF and I wish that it becomes a banned practice as a business model adopted by brokers and brokerages. I dont want my orders to go to dark pools without my consent. I want to have the choice to decide which exchange I want my orders to go to on any trading app or platform. I also want to have the choice of opting out of share lending program on any platform. I dont want my shares to be loaned to shortsellers without my consent. I want all brokerages to have a listed phone number through which one can have access to a representative during regular business hours. Using their apps to write them is a waste of time.
Thanks for giving retail investors the opportunity to express their concerns in an effort to improve our trading and investing experience.