4 ms·

And by selling info about customer orders to front runners. IIUC, these are high frequency traders who may place similar orders milliseconds in advance of yours

And by selling info about customer orders to front runners. IIUC, these are high frequency traders who may place similar orders milliseconds in advance of yours then profit from the fact that you have to pay a bit more to fill your order. Full disclosure, I continue to use Robinhood despite this.

paperwork 8y ago
This is highly illegal and taken very seriously. Is this speculation on your part or do you know this for a fact (in which case, you should report it).
- mjlee 8y ago
  https://seekingalpha.com/article/4205379-robinhood-making-millions-selling-millennial-customers-high-frequency-traders https://seekingalpha.com/article/4205379-robinhood-making-mi... They're probably not front-running. They are almost certainly selling trade information to HFT firms.
- 55555 8y ago
  Are you sure it's illegal in all cases? I was under the impression this was standard practice. https://www.cnbc.com/2014/03/30/michael-lewis-flash-boys-and-60-minute.html https://www.cnbc.com/2014/03/30/michael-lewis-flash-boys-and...
- JonasJSchreiber 8y ago
  It's been widely reported [0]. And as I said I feel like it's still a fair deal. Some HFT's get my orders and they know I purchased 2 AMZN yesterday a few seconds before it executed. In return I get to trade for free on their platform. [0] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-10-15/robinhood-gets-almost-half-its-revenue-in-controversial-bargain-with-high-speed-traders https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-10-15/robinhood...
thisisit 8y ago
It is not front running. These HFT are called market makers. Essentially, brokers show you the NBBO - National Best Bid and Offer. When you place an order on that price, one of the many market makers will pick it up. At any given point of time they will hold multiple buys/sells. So, they make money by collecting the spreads. Nearly all brokers tend to sell order information to one or many market makers. It is neither illegal nor harm retail customers, not unless these customers are trying to run some HFT algos on their own.

paperwork 8y ago

This is highly illegal and taken very seriously. Is this speculation on your part or do you know this for a fact (in which case, you should report it).

mjlee 8y ago
https://seekingalpha.com/article/4205379-robinhood-making-millions-selling-millennial-customers-high-frequency-traders https://seekingalpha.com/article/4205379-robinhood-making-mi... They're probably not front-running. They are almost certainly selling trade information to HFT firms.
55555 8y ago
Are you sure it's illegal in all cases? I was under the impression this was standard practice. https://www.cnbc.com/2014/03/30/michael-lewis-flash-boys-and-60-minute.html https://www.cnbc.com/2014/03/30/michael-lewis-flash-boys-and...
JonasJSchreiber 8y ago
It's been widely reported [0]. And as I said I feel like it's still a fair deal. Some HFT's get my orders and they know I purchased 2 AMZN yesterday a few seconds before it executed. In return I get to trade for free on their platform. [0] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-10-15/robinhood-gets-almost-half-its-revenue-in-controversial-bargain-with-high-speed-traders https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-10-15/robinhood...

thisisit 8y ago

It is not front running. These HFT are called market makers. Essentially, brokers show you the NBBO - National Best Bid and Offer. When you place an order on that price, one of the many market makers will pick it up. At any given point of time they will hold multiple buys/sells. So, they make money by collecting the spreads. Nearly all brokers tend to sell order information to one or many market makers. It is neither illegal nor harm retail customers, not unless these customers are trying to run some HFT algos on their own.