Robinhood
- Robinhood Gold service starts at $5 per month
- Gain market insights that help you trade smarter
- Premium research provided by Morningstar
- Level II market data lets you see multiple bids and asks
- Invest in stocks, funds, and cryptocurrencies
- No-fee options trading
- Trade on margin for free (up to $1,000) when speed counts
Have you heard of Robinhood? It's a fintech company that helps individual investors trade stocks, funds, and cryptocurrency online or through their mobile app. They started back in 2012 and are based in Menlo Park, California.
Services
One of the reasons Robinhood made a name for itself is because they launched a commission-free mobile brokerage service in 2013. This makes it easy for investors to manage their accounts and purchase stocks without going through a traditional brokerage firm or financial advisor.
They also have a premium service called Robinhood Gold, which gives you access to Morningstar research and Level Il data for just $5 a month. Keep in mind, if you use the margin trading feature, you'll pay interest on any amount you borrow that exceeds $1,000.
Robinhood is a member of FINRA and is governed by the SEC's rules. They also have SIPC coverage, which protects your cash deposits and investments up to $500,000 if something goes wrong. They even have additional insurance that protects accounts up to $1.5 million for cash and $10 million for securities protection per customer. So, you can feel pretty safe investing with them.
Reputation
Robinhood has gotten into some trouble in the past. They were investigated by the SEC for a business practice called payment-for-order-flow. It's how they can afford to offer commission-free trading, but it's also why some people don't trust them. They also froze trading during volatile times and didn't give their customers fair access to the market.
Despite all this, the Robinhood app is still pretty popular. It's easy to use and has a simple interface. Plus, it's commission-free for stocks, options, ETFs, and cryptocurrency.
So, that's the lowdown on Robinhood. They're not perfect, but they offer a low-cost and simple way to trade. It's up to you to decide if they're the right fit for your investment needs.
