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?
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 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.)
Had Fidelity for a very long time, and observed decent growth. End of 2019, I opened a RobinHood account, and liked the 0 cost trading fees (used to be $20 or $10 per trade on fidelity). Now that I hear more about PFOF, Im not liking free trades so much. $5 or less per trade sounds fair.
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.)
With lower entry costs, I can trade many more tickers now than before.
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 : None
Options : 1-2 Years
Mutual Funds : 5+ Years
ETFs : 1-2 Years
Futures : None
Cryptocurrencies : Less Than 12 Months
Commodities : None
ClosedEnd Funds : None
Money Market Funds : None
Variable Insurance Products : None
Business Development Companies : Less Than 12 Months
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?
Standard SEC rules apply. Furthermore, there seems to be a more inside trade option for a broker to just turn off the buy button. This also indicates a broker could also decide to turn off the sell button as well, which would restrict access to my stocks
11. What else would you like us to know positive or negative - about your experience with online trading and investing?
Online trading is good. Free access along with transparency make for a healthy market. Obfuscating details, using PFOF as trading data to make sure winning positions in after-hours trading (dark pool) and hiding that ability as a fair and impartial Market Maker (aka Citadel Securities) does not impart any confidence at all in a free and open market. Market manipulation seems to have been fully at play, and Thomas Peterffy of interactive brokers already said, if they didnt turn off the buy button, the market would have crashed. Investors would have been glad to sell GME at $1000 if it squeezed in Jan, at the expense of the big money players. Instead, the big players did something to claim they covered their short positions (not closed their short positions). No corporate entity should be considered too big to fail. It happened in 2008, and is happening again, if a corporation or business (be it car maker, bank, or mom and pop store) takes too much risk, they dont deserve to continue doing business. They certainly should not be able to increase risk more to avoid bankruptcy or margin calls. It looks more like too big to fail is big enough to pull shenanigans, and is absolutely unacceptable in a free and fair market.