September 25, 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 per month.
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 had a pre-existing account and downloaded an app or visited a website to access my account
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.)
Retail investors are not provided with the same level of information that is available to institutional investors, and therefore are not being offered the ability to trade in free and fair markets
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 am currently holding positions for significantly longer terms than I would have previously.
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 : 1-2 Years
Mutual Funds : None
ETFs : Less Than 12 Months
Futures : None
Cryptocurrencies : 5+ Years
Commodities : Less Than 12 Months
ClosedEnd Funds : None
Money Market Funds : None
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?
I have read the terms and services of the platforms under which I trade, and applicable SEC laws.
11. What else would you like us to know positive or negative - about your experience with online trading and investing?
Retail investors have been gaining ground in their ability to execute trades in recent years, through the advancement of trading platforms in the current era, however platforms choose to change trading rules at-will, and limit retail trading as they see fit in order to protect the investments of their institutional partners. These types of actions prevent retail investors from participating in open, free, and fair markets. Additionally, the SEC and other regulatory agencies seem to be complicit in the restrictions of retail investors through their inactions in performing any type of real enforcement of rules when it comes to the institutional investors that circumvent and/or bypass rules for their own benefit, or operate to the letter of the law while skirting the spirit of the law.