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Robinhood replaced “call” and “put” with “up” and “down”

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Re: Robinhood replaced “call” and “put” with “up” and “down”

#41

Post by perl4ever »

existencebox wrote: post #30
truthteller11 wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So much BS in your post and most of everyone ("elitist") here. If someone came here say this kind of thing about programming they would be voted to hell. ie. If you do not know how pointers work you have no busines programming because you'll undoubtedly screw your app.

I don't think your analogy holds water, if only from the fact that "pass by reference vs value" is rooted in pointer knowledge, and is rather key to "not screwing up your app." (And as sister posts pointed out, messing up an app usually does not put ones finances on the line) I also disagree with the core thrust of your post, but that's subjective so I'm listing this second. As someone who went from "financially clue…

There's a difference between "gambling" in the sense of willfully taking a risk (that perhaps someone else thinks you should not take) and "gambling" in the sense of being a sucker who doesn't understand the rules sufficiently to avoid losing when it's not necessary.

Re: Robinhood replaced “call” and “put” with “up” and “down”

#42

Post by perl4ever »

truthteller11 wrote: post #35
existencebox wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think your analogy holds water, if only from the fact that "pass by reference vs value" is rooted in pointer knowledge, and is rather key to "not screwing up your app." (And as sister posts pointed out, messing up an app usually does not put ones finances on the line) I also disagree with the core thrust of your post, but that's subjective so I'm listing this second. As someone who went from "financially clue…

> so a new entrant can't even easily bootstrap their knowledge This is where the pointer analogy works. You don't need to use, but by knowing what a f pointer is, you increase your knowledge about the domain as you've put, by knowing the difference of "pass by reference vs value". And messing up an app does not put "owns" finances at risks. But may put others by tons of different ways of bad written software (if rele…

Losing your own money can affect other people, if you are an adult with dependents, for instance.

Re: Robinhood replaced “call” and “put” with “up” and “down”

#43

Post by kgwgk »

chimeracoder wrote: post #10
nosefrog wrote: post #4

What's wrong with removing the jargon from stock trading?

> What's wrong with removing the jargon from stock trading? Because you're removing all specificity from it at the same time. If you show me that screenshot without the text in the tweet, I'd have no idea what action it actually refers to. It could mean you're buying or selling an option. Or it could mean you're buying or selling a stock (potentially short selling). It could even mean you're buying stock on margin. I…

It’s optimal to exercise options in some circumstances (deep in-the-money puts and sometimes calls before ex-dividend dates).

Re: Robinhood replaced “call” and “put” with “up” and “down”

#44

Post by truthteller11 »

perl4ever wrote: post #42
truthteller11 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> so a new entrant can't even easily bootstrap their knowledge This is where the pointer analogy works. You don't need to use, but by knowing what a f pointer is, you increase your knowledge about the domain as you've put, by knowing the difference of "pass by reference vs value". And messing up an app does not put "owns" finances at risks. But may put others by tons of different ways of bad written software (if rele…

Losing your own money can affect other people, if you are an adult with dependents, for instance.

Are you too self-centric to be able to understand or you're just being annoying?

Re: Robinhood replaced “call” and “put” with “up” and “down”

#45

Post by chimeracoder »

kgwgk wrote: post #43
chimeracoder wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What's wrong with removing the jargon from stock trading? Because you're removing all specificity from it at the same time. If you show me that screenshot without the text in the tweet, I'd have no idea what action it actually refers to. It could mean you're buying or selling an option. Or it could mean you're buying or selling a stock (potentially short selling). It could even mean you're buying stock on margin. I…

It’s optimal to exercise options in some circumstances (deep in-the-money puts and sometimes calls before ex-dividend dates).

> It’s optimal to exercise options in some circumstances (deep in-the-money puts and sometimes calls before ex-dividend dates).

I was referring specifically to call options; I guess that wasn't clear. You're right, there are occasionally circumstances under which a person might want to exercise a call option ahead-of-time, but as a general rule, it's sub-optimal.

Re: Robinhood replaced “call” and “put” with “up” and “down”

#46

Post by TheCoelacanth »

perl4ever wrote: post #36
jbob2000 wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The terms are out dated. I disagree with "up" and "down" because that is even more wrong (I'm up for buying that stock like I'm up for a game of chess, and I'm down to sell these like I'm down to go to the movies? Is that what they mean? Way too colloquial for my liking). Just be more descriptive instead of trying to re-purpose other words. A "call" should be "Buy on Date", abbreviated to BOD, and a put should be "Se…

I don't understand your terms, though. You can buy or sell calls and puts on any date prior to expiration. Simplification[1] is in the eye of the beholder. [1] e.g. http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/twain.htm

Depends on the option. "American options" can be exercised at any time before the expiration, "European options" can only be exercised at the end.

Re: Robinhood replaced “call” and “put” with “up” and “down”

#47

Post by abaldwin7302 »

micaksica wrote: post #37
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #9

Honestly, this doesn't surprise me at all. The interface in Robinhood makes me think it can only be useful for people that have 0 idea what they are doing. Case in point: their graphs (at least on Android) have no labled Y axis! Seriously, WTF.

> their graphs (at least on Android) have no labled Y axis! It's the same on iOS. I can't say I'm happy with Robinhood. It's dumbing down something that can get you into a world of financial pain if you don't know what you're doing. If they want to target people that don't understand what they are playing with, they shouldn't be giving away options/crypto access/margin buying to people that don't understand those con…

I know very little about stock trading. I shouldn't get in a world of financial pain if I don't trade on margin (Robinhood Gold Buying Power) and only transfer money I can afford to lose right?

That is treating Robinhood like a casino. I recognize I don't know what I'm doing at the casino. Therefore I don't use a credit card to buy casino chips and I have a hard stop-loss of a couple hundred bucks that's budgeted as entertainment money.

Re: Robinhood replaced “call” and “put” with “up” and “down”

#48

Post by perl4ever »

TheCoelacanth wrote: post #46
perl4ever wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand your terms, though. You can buy or sell calls and puts on any date prior to expiration. Simplification[1] is in the eye of the beholder. [1] e.g. http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/twain.htm

Depends on the option. "American options" can be exercised at any time before the expiration, "European options" can only be exercised at the end.

I don't see how that distinction relates to my comment. I wrote "buy or sell", not "exercise". And the parent comment didn't mention exercise either.

However, your comment is definitely more evidence that you can't make options self-explanatory by renaming them.

Re: Robinhood replaced “call” and “put” with “up” and “down”

#49

Post by perl4ever »

truthteller11 wrote: post #44
perl4ever wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Losing your own money can affect other people, if you are an adult with dependents, for instance.

Are you too self-centric to be able to understand or you're just being annoying?

I have no dependents, so no, I wasn't making a self-centric comment. And it was just one example of how losing money can affect other people.

Re: Robinhood replaced “call” and “put” with “up” and “down”

#50

Post by acchow »

dopamean wrote: post #25
totalZero wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's wrong because we don't want to simplify concepts to a level beneath the minimum information needed for understanding them. Call and Put specifically refer to what happens on maturity or exercise of the contract. You either call the stock from the counterparty, or you put it to the counterparty. The only reason we don't refer to them as "buy" and "sell" options is because you can both buy and sell either of them.…

How many people who trade options actually call up the shares at the end or vice versa? I'd imagine very few and even fewer on Robinhood's platform. I think a level of abstraction that clarifies things is fine.

No. This level of abstraction hides the fact that your call option can drop in value even if the stock goes up tomorrow.
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