This is the message board for users of Robinhood.com online broker. Im going to give Robinhood a go here, app looks slick and easy to use. Just adding bank info now and going to make a small transfer to see how it goes. Any other Robinhood.com users here? EDIT Says 4-5 days for the transfer.. which is free. Then zero commission trades? Cant beat that price. Im curious to see execution speeds and what kind of fills you get.
See they are also working on a web based interface. Strange that the web based comes after the mobile, just goes to show that the new generation of traders probably use their phone more often than an actual desktop. Damn kids!
I have merrill lynch for 401K through my work, I also use Vanguard for ETFs (mostly VTI & BND) and majority of my money. And I use Robinhood for my "play money". Overall I can't complain since it is FREE! However couple things to keep in mind: - Use limit orders instead of market. While using market buy I almost every time end up with higher entry points than the current price which doesn't look normal to me. When I use limit order, it triggers with a fairly high speed. - It is increasingly getting popular and lately it seems to create issues when people try to buy/sell as soon as market opens. I dont really like to buy or sell during first half an hour so it didnt affect me much, however I noticed that I wouldnt be able to buy or sell if I wanted to during that those times. To be fair this happened only maybe 2-3 times during last month and was fixed within 30 minutes. - Unless you have "Robinhood Instant" once you sell a stock you will need to wait 3 days to be able to use that money again. Considering there are currently 237K people in line to get it, you can forget about having that version anytime soon
These guys have a strong twitter game, Ill give them that! Since they are free, they need to make money somewhere, no doubt the play the spread to make a few cents there on market orders.
I use it for some quick day trades, it is free and my orders (limit orders) filled pretty quickly, so I have no complain at all.
But wouldn't that be illegal though considering they don't even disclose? Below is apparently how they make money according to their website. "Robinhood makes money in many of the same ways as traditional online brokerages. These include: - Collecting interest from customers who choose to upgrade to a margin account. We are testing margin in beta and will offer margin accounts later this year. - Accruing interest from customers’ uninvested cash balances. It is important to note that our customers are not charged. Robinhood has raised $66 million from NEA, Index Ventures, Ribbit Capital, Vaizra Investments, Google Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Social Leverage, Box CEO Aaron Levie, Path CEO Dave Morin, Jared Leto, Snoop Dogg, Linkin Park, and Nas,which gives us the freedom to focus on building an outstanding experience rather than short-term profits." You can't go wrong with a company which is supported by Snoop.
Good question, I guess we can simply ask or check their blog if we werent so lazy. FOREX brokers are commission free and make money on the spread, I just assumed the same here.
From what Im reading, the spreads do seem wider with Robinhood, I do suspect they, or the market maker they route through makes money that way and it ends up with them. Its really very fair, most people who Robinhood is targeted at would not care if they bought INTC at 31.63 instead of 31.62.
I've been on Robin Hood instant for a couple months. It's alarming how quickly things get done on there.
I don't think they have a standard margin account. You either buy or sell I don't think there is a borrowing of shares. When you short you aren't buying correct? They would just credit your account with the funds and you rebuy "to cover" at a later date right? The only options within the buy tab are: Market Limit Stop loss Stop limit
I love robinhood. I haven't had any issues with them at all, and their spreads ( when ever I checked them against my other brokers ) were right on the money. I just can't wait till they start trading options.....free options trading....yeah baby!!
@fthree From their website: leverage, shorting, and options-- in the future, but those will require separate upgrade processes https://support.robinhood.com/hc/en-us/search?utf8=✓&query=shorting&commit=Search
I have noticed one or two of my trades were off by about penny.....I'll pay a penny per share difference for no commissions! Also, execution speeds were comparable to Scottrade, so I have no problems at all.
Thanks! I hate to sound dumb. But when it comes to shorting I am not informed. I just want to make sure I'm not doing it lol. I use Robinhood and just buy and sell. I hope none of that is shorting. How would I know if I had to rebuy to cover?
If you sell more shares than you have, you are short. From what Im reading its not a problem here with Robinhood, you cant short.
