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Of course you can. Happens all the time. >with their money With your money. Most people are trading on margin, because they're gambling addicts. EDIT: I'm no

Of course you can. Happens all the time. >with their money With your money. Most people are trading on margin, because they're gambling addicts. EDIT: I'm not sure if it's most that are trading on margin. Certainly it's everyone I've seen, but people who share their trades publicly are probably not representative.

vorpalhex 6y ago
Very few retail investors trade on margin as it includes the brokerage holding on to significant amounts of your assets which many small retail investors just don't have.
- xirbeosbwo1234 6y ago
  It requires $2000 in the case of Robinhood. Reeeeeaaaaallllyyyy onerous.
  - vineyardmike 6y ago
    A lot of the WSB members only invested for a few shares - less than $100. They were doing it for fun not profit. Requiring $2k is a big ask for this crowd of investment
    - xirbeosbwo1234 6y ago
      Then they stand to recover about twenty cents from a lawsuit. Good for them?
ogre_codes 6y ago
Robinhood could put a margin freeze on trading these stocks on margin or borrowing against shares of GME. It would protect them and be fair to retail investors.
- ra7 6y ago
  This is what I don't get. Why do they care if an investor is buying GME shares with their own money? They could easily disable margin trading. I can't point to anything other than blatant manipulation.
  - ogre_codes 6y ago
    If we assume for a moment that Robinhood is acting in good faith (Seems like a stretch but work with me here). It's possible they are doing this to protect investors. It's pretty clear GME is going to crash at some point in the near future. Having thousands of investors on their platform go broke at once is just bad for everyone (who isn't short). By blocking these trades, RH is protecting investors from potential loss. In a way, it's almost like preventing someone from investing in a Ponzi scheme. While it might piss you off, it will save you in the long run. Of course... that's assuming RH is acting in good faith.
    - ra7 6y ago
      I see what you’re saying. But I said in another comment that Robinhood has made it super easy over the years to do all kinds of irresponsible trading and have benefited from it. Today seems like a convenient time for them to be concerned about investor risks. This and their involvement with Citadel makes it hard for me to give them the benefit of doubt.
      - ogre_codes 6y ago
        I guess I wasn't clear... I don't necessarily think RH is acting in good faith. I was just suggesting what I feel is the only possible good faith explanation. Not that I believe that is the case.
        ra7 6y ago
        No, I get that it was an assumption. I was just saying how even if I assume they were acting in good faith, it doesn’t make sense to me.
Spivak 6y ago
No you really can't. The right to refuse service gets weird with trading platforms because if you're found to be doing because you're trying to influence the market then you're in hot water. Can you imagine a trading platform just outright refusing to process your orders because it was better for them?
- gowld 6y ago
  And what about the right to refuse helping people buying a stock that is being actively manipulated by people who have made thousands of public comments delcaring their intent to manipulate the price?
- stevespang 6y ago
  . . . by shutting down access to the markets for small retail traders who are properly capitalized on certain securities the BROKERS themselves are in effect manipulating & causing grave consequences against the free and unbridled trading of the markets which determines the fairest price. . . Yep, it's called MARKET MANIPULATION. They are also doing it by claiming "our systems are overloaded" crap, how many times has Robinhood done this ? New rules should demand strong penalties for failure to provide access to the markets - - if you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen.
albertgoeswoof 6y ago
So just disable the margin trading instead of blocking all Buys?
kllrnohj 6y ago
I think you're confusing options with margin. Most of the major WSB screenshots are options trading and are not on margin. Specifically they are nearly all call options being posted, which pose no risk to the brokerage.
- SpaceRaccoon 6y ago
  Likely that Citadel sold lots of uncovered calls to RH users.

vorpalhex 6y ago

Very few retail investors trade on margin as it includes the brokerage holding on to significant amounts of your assets which many small retail investors just don't have.

xirbeosbwo1234 6y ago
It requires $2000 in the case of Robinhood. Reeeeeaaaaallllyyyy onerous.
- vineyardmike 6y ago
  A lot of the WSB members only invested for a few shares - less than $100. They were doing it for fun not profit. Requiring $2k is a big ask for this crowd of investment
  - xirbeosbwo1234 6y ago
    Then they stand to recover about twenty cents from a lawsuit. Good for them?

ogre_codes 6y ago

Robinhood could put a margin freeze on trading these stocks on margin or borrowing against shares of GME. It would protect them and be fair to retail investors.

ra7 6y ago
This is what I don't get. Why do they care if an investor is buying GME shares with their own money? They could easily disable margin trading. I can't point to anything other than blatant manipulation.
- ogre_codes 6y ago
  If we assume for a moment that Robinhood is acting in good faith (Seems like a stretch but work with me here). It's possible they are doing this to protect investors. It's pretty clear GME is going to crash at some point in the near future. Having thousands of investors on their platform go broke at once is just bad for everyone (who isn't short). By blocking these trades, RH is protecting investors from potential loss. In a way, it's almost like preventing someone from investing in a Ponzi scheme. While it might piss you off, it will save you in the long run. Of course... that's assuming RH is acting in good faith.
  - ra7 6y ago
    I see what you’re saying. But I said in another comment that Robinhood has made it super easy over the years to do all kinds of irresponsible trading and have benefited from it. Today seems like a convenient time for them to be concerned about investor risks. This and their involvement with Citadel makes it hard for me to give them the benefit of doubt.
    - ogre_codes 6y ago
      I guess I wasn't clear... I don't necessarily think RH is acting in good faith. I was just suggesting what I feel is the only possible good faith explanation. Not that I believe that is the case.
      - ra7 6y ago
        No, I get that it was an assumption. I was just saying how even if I assume they were acting in good faith, it doesn’t make sense to me.

Spivak 6y ago

No you really can't. The right to refuse service gets weird with trading platforms because if you're found to be doing because you're trying to influence the market then you're in hot water. Can you imagine a trading platform just outright refusing to process your orders because it was better for them?

gowld 6y ago
And what about the right to refuse helping people buying a stock that is being actively manipulated by people who have made thousands of public comments delcaring their intent to manipulate the price?
stevespang 6y ago
. . . by shutting down access to the markets for small retail traders who are properly capitalized on certain securities the BROKERS themselves are in effect manipulating & causing grave consequences against the free and unbridled trading of the markets which determines the fairest price. . . Yep, it's called MARKET MANIPULATION. They are also doing it by claiming "our systems are overloaded" crap, how many times has Robinhood done this ? New rules should demand strong penalties for failure to provide access to the markets - - if you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen.

albertgoeswoof 6y ago

So just disable the margin trading instead of blocking all Buys?

kllrnohj 6y ago

I think you're confusing options with margin. Most of the major WSB screenshots are options trading and are not on margin. Specifically they are nearly all call options being posted, which pose no risk to the brokerage.

SpaceRaccoon 6y ago
Likely that Citadel sold lots of uncovered calls to RH users.