I agree with your points. Another defense of RH (from an unusual angle): Just for inversing, $7 trades are not a big deal, as others said (if it looks they are

I agree with your points. Another defense of RH (from an unusual angle): Just for inversing, $7 trades are not a big deal, as others said (if it looks they are, stop trading as much). Also, free or super cheap trades encourage people to participate in zero-sum risky trading schemes (HFT, complex options, etc.) where they are at a big disadvantage against pros. That said, I still see RH as a very useful thing. Many (most?) people starting to invest will try many stupid things and complex strategies and will lose a lot of money. Sometimes more than once before they learn not to do some things. Sim accounts seldom work for this -- the lessons require losing real money. It is a lot better to lose $1k that you can ill afford to lose early in life than lose $100k that you can ill afford to lose later. My 2c.