Why would a guy be interested in Robinhood other than the talk and fluff? Zero commissions? They all have it. So what else is there to sway a trader to move? Financially I would rather be with Schwab/TD or Fidelity or even IB, I have no clue about the fiscal state of RH! Any RH traders here?
This is simple. The brand appeals to young traders. For a long time firms that serviced active retail traders neglected younger, less affluent accounts and only focused on older, wealthier traders. RH innovated on price and user experience, which allowed its brand to become part of Millenial/Gen-Z culture. Their customers aren't going to the other brands that offer the same service now because those are grandpa's brands. Half of all new retail accounts in the US get opened at RH.
It is a plain question in the Retail Broker section...I have never heard of them before I cam back to ET, of course, I am the semi-retired "grandpa" type, trading a six-figure IRA, with no need to make money. {still I hate losing}
If you remember, RH was the first to offer zero commish stock trades. All the social media types started flocking to it, spent the time to set=up their accounts, and the ball was rolling. Once the other brokerages decided to offer zero commish, months later, why would those traders bother moving from RH to someone else? Yer asking the wrong question. Your question should be, "Why would new traders want to go with RH when the other brokers offer the same deal"? And the answer goes back to the first point...The momo of the social-media crowd. Word-of-mouth, etc.
I am a grandpa and I have a RH account. This is how I got. My son referred them to me and he told me they were going to send or gift or send me a share of stock, if I opened an account with them. I more or less just had to tell them my name address, DOB, SS#, so simple took about 30 seconds to complete. Hit the submit button and I was immediately approved and now I am the proud owner of 1 share of AR. Pretty creative and innovative thinking. And the stock was selling at 2.36 a share I just checked it out today and it's 3.49 a share. What a hoot!
worthless banter; The big catch is that Robinhood sells the data that you are trying to purchase a stock to high frequency traders so that the HFT can buy it before you and sell it to you at a higher price. Robinhood provides a bare-bones trading experience, making it a poor choice for investors seeking the best trading platform. Also, Robinhood's stock research tools are severely lacking when compared to $0 brokers such as TD Ameritrade, Charles Schwab, and Fidelity. Robinhood Is Making Millions Selling Out Their Millennial Customers To High-Frequency Traders: https://seekingalpha.com/article/42...illennial-customers-to-high-frequency-traders
It appears they have a competitor called Public. https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/...ock-trading-nyus-galloway-says-164708258.html
Like it or not, definitely Robinhood owner and creator are damn smart people. They know how to attract young customers. Now Robinhood is a brand name. Soon, when the market collapses, those who don't do their own analysis but trade based on tips will suffer. Then Robinhood might suffer too.