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Single stock trading sold as an investment product to the low-end of the retail market (i.e. people like me who's limited investment dollars should be dumped in

Single stock trading sold as an investment product to the low-end of the retail market (i.e. people like me who's limited investment dollars should be dumped into passive, diversified funds.)

kinkrtyavimoodh 8y ago
As a user of RobinHood I have not felt any specific push for buying single stocks. A lot of people just buy index funds on RobinHood. If RH had made it more difficult to buy those compared to single stocks, your claim might have some weight...
- eclipticplane 8y ago
  Push notifications around a pre-defined 'watch list'? Notifications of major stock movements? Showing 'popularity' of a stock? 'Most Popular Under $25'? Gifting people free stock for referrals?
  - dunpeal 8y ago
    Right. It would be strange if RobinHood didn't encourage active single-stock trading, since that's how they made their money. If all RobinHood users followed sound "buy diversified ETF and hold" investing advice, my understanding is that they'd go bankrupt.
  - tomnipotent 8y ago
    I had a good laugh at this. I expect a certain level of professionalism from financial businesses, and this sort of fluff marketing / gamification makes my skin crawl... mostly because it tells you about the rest of the maturity of the organization if the product and marketing team is sending out this kind of amateur crap.
    - ryandrake 8y ago
      Just wait for really fun stuff, like the huge "Buy Stock" button with a tiny "Maybe later..." 8pt link below it. Or "Let us scan your photos and location and have AI generate a TOTALLY LIT suggested portfolio for you!" Or even better: "5 of your friends are currently pumping NVDA! Tap here to write a few naked puts!"
      - tomnipotent 8y ago
        I can't wait until they bring in all the dark patterns from travel sites; "1,213 people currently considering this stock" or "act now; only 6MM shares left!"
        whatshisface 8y ago
        >1,213 people currently considering this stock If I had browser data from everyone on RobinHood, and was able to track which stocks they were looking at, I might be able to make money front-running.
        dontparticipate 8y ago
        The HFTs they are likely selling their data to are probably already way ahead of you.
    - Androider 8y ago
      You've got it backwards. The output of the product and marketing team is expertly tailored to target the amateur. Don't for a second think they don't know exactly what they're doing.
- kpwagner 8y ago
  I remember hearing one of the founders talking about users trading stocks. He explained their data shows people get better at trading stocks with more experience. I can't remember the source, but I think it was on This Week in Startups podcast. This is really suspect--kind of like a casino telling blackjack players they will get better the more they play. If Robinhood is incentivizing or encouraging frequent trading by users, that's not really good in my opinion. It doesn't make them worse than other brokerages, but it doesn't make them better either. And with a name like Robinhood, they are positioning themselves as white knights.
acjohnson55 8y ago
I've got no problem with people who want to trade as a hobby. They should just treat it like Vegas money. Know you're going lose most of it.

Single stock trading sold as an investment product to the low-end of the retail market (i.e. people like me who's limited investment dollars should be dumped into passive, diversified funds.)

kinkrtyavimoodh 8y ago

As a user of RobinHood I have not felt any specific push for buying single stocks. A lot of people just buy index funds on RobinHood. If RH had made it more difficult to buy those compared to single stocks, your claim might have some weight...

eclipticplane 8y ago
Push notifications around a pre-defined 'watch list'? Notifications of major stock movements? Showing 'popularity' of a stock? 'Most Popular Under $25'? Gifting people free stock for referrals?
- dunpeal 8y ago
  Right. It would be strange if RobinHood didn't encourage active single-stock trading, since that's how they made their money. If all RobinHood users followed sound "buy diversified ETF and hold" investing advice, my understanding is that they'd go bankrupt.
- tomnipotent 8y ago
  I had a good laugh at this. I expect a certain level of professionalism from financial businesses, and this sort of fluff marketing / gamification makes my skin crawl... mostly because it tells you about the rest of the maturity of the organization if the product and marketing team is sending out this kind of amateur crap.
  - ryandrake 8y ago
    Just wait for really fun stuff, like the huge "Buy Stock" button with a tiny "Maybe later..." 8pt link below it. Or "Let us scan your photos and location and have AI generate a TOTALLY LIT suggested portfolio for you!" Or even better: "5 of your friends are currently pumping NVDA! Tap here to write a few naked puts!"
    - tomnipotent 8y ago
      I can't wait until they bring in all the dark patterns from travel sites; "1,213 people currently considering this stock" or "act now; only 6MM shares left!"
      - whatshisface 8y ago
        >1,213 people currently considering this stock If I had browser data from everyone on RobinHood, and was able to track which stocks they were looking at, I might be able to make money front-running.
        dontparticipate 8y ago
        The HFTs they are likely selling their data to are probably already way ahead of you.
  - Androider 8y ago
    You've got it backwards. The output of the product and marketing team is expertly tailored to target the amateur. Don't for a second think they don't know exactly what they're doing.
kpwagner 8y ago
I remember hearing one of the founders talking about users trading stocks. He explained their data shows people get better at trading stocks with more experience. I can't remember the source, but I think it was on This Week in Startups podcast. This is really suspect--kind of like a casino telling blackjack players they will get better the more they play. If Robinhood is incentivizing or encouraging frequent trading by users, that's not really good in my opinion. It doesn't make them worse than other brokerages, but it doesn't make them better either. And with a name like Robinhood, they are positioning themselves as white knights.

acjohnson55 8y ago

I've got no problem with people who want to trade as a hobby. They should just treat it like Vegas money. Know you're going lose most of it.