4 ms·

The stocks(GME) are still limited/restricted btw

blantonl 6y ago
That's correct. Additionally, Robinhood isn't the only one in a bind right now. TD Ameritrade has restricted a lot of options trading on a lot of these stocks, requiring you to call in to sell certain types of derivatives plays which have a level of risk but highly profitable for experienced traders. It's left a VERY sour taste in my mouth to know I have to call into a call center, and wait 90 minutes to speak to someone to execute a trade that puts 100% of my capital at work using zero margin (sell cash covered puts on GME and AMC).
- jerry80 6y ago
  FYI, eTrade is still allowing these trades. I sold a put on AMC just now.
  - coffeeboy27 6y ago
    You can buy on eTrade, Fidelity, Vanguard, Schwab, WeBull, and others. As of 4pm EST RH has allowed for each user to have 20 shares of GME, an increase from 1 share which was the max at the opening bell.
- ZephyrBlu 6y ago
  I have seen other people say that you must have a margin account to trade options, so maybe TDA has restricted all margin accounts. Perhaps this is specific to Robinhood though.
- scruple 6y ago
  My wife has been on hold with IBKR for the last 2 hours trying to get through to get orders placed.
  - SilasX 6y ago
    It's affecting people even for unrelated transactions. For a wire unrelated to stock investing, I was on hold with Schwab a total of 1 hour over since yesterday, although part of that was from giving up twice.
mdoms 6y ago
With a $3.4b warchest this entirely undermines their (plainly untrue) narrative about restricting the stock due to capital requirements.
- ZephyrBlu 6y ago
  Or maybe they actually need that much capital because of the volume of trades going through their platform.
- crazygringo 6y ago
  Um, no. The "war chest" is in order to meet the capital requirements. It says so right in the article. I mean, you think the owners are diluting their ownership just for fun? Nobody does that. Also why do you think the capital requirements are untrue? There have been plenty of factual articles describing the precise increase that was required and how it was spread across different trading platforms. It's not speculation, it's well-document fact.
  - mdoms 6y ago
    If they have the capital why aren't the opening up trading on GME fully? I'm not saying the capital requirements aren't real, I'm saying that's not the complete and honest explanation for why they're restricting trading on GME. Anyone with two brain cells to rub together can see their conflict of interest here.
    - crazygringo 6y ago
      Because volatility is changing daily, risk estimates are changing daily, and capital requirements are changing daily. Do you have any proof that's not the complete and honest explanation? Because it sure seems sufficient to me, nothing further needed. And please refrain from derogatory comments like "anyone with two brain cells can see" here on HN. It's against the guidelines.
    - swampthing 6y ago
      Having capital is not binary. It's not like once you meet a magic threshold, you can then allow for unlimited trades. Robinhood raised $1B on Thursday, then another $2.5B or whatever today. By your logic, they had the capital on Thursday, so why would they need to raise more today?

That's correct. Additionally, Robinhood isn't the only one in a bind right now. TD Ameritrade has restricted a lot of options trading on a lot of these stocks, requiring you to call in to sell certain types of derivatives plays which have a level of risk but highly profitable for experienced traders. It's left a VERY sour taste in my mouth to know I have to call into a call center, and wait 90 minutes to speak to someone to execute a trade that puts 100% of my capital at work using zero margin (sell cash covered puts on GME and AMC).

jerry80 6y ago
FYI, eTrade is still allowing these trades. I sold a put on AMC just now.
- coffeeboy27 6y ago
  You can buy on eTrade, Fidelity, Vanguard, Schwab, WeBull, and others. As of 4pm EST RH has allowed for each user to have 20 shares of GME, an increase from 1 share which was the max at the opening bell.
ZephyrBlu 6y ago
I have seen other people say that you must have a margin account to trade options, so maybe TDA has restricted all margin accounts. Perhaps this is specific to Robinhood though.
scruple 6y ago
My wife has been on hold with IBKR for the last 2 hours trying to get through to get orders placed.
- SilasX 6y ago
  It's affecting people even for unrelated transactions. For a wire unrelated to stock investing, I was on hold with Schwab a total of 1 hour over since yesterday, although part of that was from giving up twice.

mdoms 6y ago

With a $3.4b warchest this entirely undermines their (plainly untrue) narrative about restricting the stock due to capital requirements.

ZephyrBlu 6y ago
Or maybe they actually need that much capital because of the volume of trades going through their platform.
crazygringo 6y ago
Um, no. The "war chest" is in order to meet the capital requirements. It says so right in the article. I mean, you think the owners are diluting their ownership just for fun? Nobody does that. Also why do you think the capital requirements are untrue? There have been plenty of factual articles describing the precise increase that was required and how it was spread across different trading platforms. It's not speculation, it's well-document fact.
- mdoms 6y ago
  If they have the capital why aren't the opening up trading on GME fully? I'm not saying the capital requirements aren't real, I'm saying that's not the complete and honest explanation for why they're restricting trading on GME. Anyone with two brain cells to rub together can see their conflict of interest here.
  - crazygringo 6y ago
    Because volatility is changing daily, risk estimates are changing daily, and capital requirements are changing daily. Do you have any proof that's not the complete and honest explanation? Because it sure seems sufficient to me, nothing further needed. And please refrain from derogatory comments like "anyone with two brain cells can see" here on HN. It's against the guidelines.
  - swampthing 6y ago
    Having capital is not binary. It's not like once you meet a magic threshold, you can then allow for unlimited trades. Robinhood raised $1B on Thursday, then another $2.5B or whatever today. By your logic, they had the capital on Thursday, so why would they need to raise more today?