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Maybe Robinhood's mission of democratizing finance is succeeding. The locus of power is being sucked out of Wall Street into a lumbering giant in the hills. My

by ipnon 6y ago

Maybe Robinhood's mission of democratizing finance is succeeding. The locus of power is being sucked out of Wall Street into a lumbering giant in the hills. My question is: how isn't this the most useful outcome for the most people?

bern4444 6y ago
It absolutely is. This is competition forcing entrenched companies to adapt and compete. Funds will have to compete by offering new financial products/models/offerings/services etc. The public now has access to information and means of trading at a level that was never before possible. All the funds must be crazy upset since their once cornerd industry, gated by terminology, tools, information and institutional knowledge is suddenly far less valuable. This at its core is exactly how a market should work. People made stupid trades, and a bunch of others figured it out and called them out. Perfect self regulating behavior but only possible due to the massive expansion of access to information and tooling by individuals. What WSB and similar communities do is no different than a fund manager going on the news and stating their recent positions and reasoning.
- boring_twenties 6y ago
  Yes, except the stated (and true) reasoning is "because fuck you, that's why."
Blackstone4 6y ago
Well if the valuation where it is now is undeserved then it will likely come down. It may well be over priced so there is a chance investors loss money from here. Not sure if this democratizing....true democratizing is giving retail investors access to financial markets on a level playing field (information, trading/prices, all assets).
zappo2938 6y ago
Meanwhile a handful of families still own and control 70% of all stocks which aren't traded, that is they aren't buying or selling and will likely transfer the ownership to family in decades time. The only way that will change is by changes in taxation. What we are looking at with WSB and GME is a very, very tiny perspective of the entire machine. It is interesting but a very small influence on the entirety. Nonetheless, all these instruments, such as short selling and options, are designed to create liquidity and stability. It's working by design. This isn't a bug, it is a feature.

by ipnon 6y ago

bern4444 6y ago

It absolutely is. This is competition forcing entrenched companies to adapt and compete. Funds will have to compete by offering new financial products/models/offerings/services etc. The public now has access to information and means of trading at a level that was never before possible. All the funds must be crazy upset since their once cornerd industry, gated by terminology, tools, information and institutional knowledge is suddenly far less valuable. This at its core is exactly how a market should work. People made stupid trades, and a bunch of others figured it out and called them out. Perfect self regulating behavior but only possible due to the massive expansion of access to information and tooling by individuals. What WSB and similar communities do is no different than a fund manager going on the news and stating their recent positions and reasoning.

boring_twenties 6y ago
Yes, except the stated (and true) reasoning is "because fuck you, that's why."

Blackstone4 6y ago

Well if the valuation where it is now is undeserved then it will likely come down. It may well be over priced so there is a chance investors loss money from here. Not sure if this democratizing....true democratizing is giving retail investors access to financial markets on a level playing field (information, trading/prices, all assets).

zappo2938 6y ago

Meanwhile a handful of families still own and control 70% of all stocks which aren't traded, that is they aren't buying or selling and will likely transfer the ownership to family in decades time. The only way that will change is by changes in taxation. What we are looking at with WSB and GME is a very, very tiny perspective of the entire machine. It is interesting but a very small influence on the entirety. Nonetheless, all these instruments, such as short selling and options, are designed to create liquidity and stability. It's working by design. This isn't a bug, it is a feature.