Statement of SEC Regarding Recent Market Volatility • Hacker News Board

Re: Statement of SEC Regarding Recent Market Volatility

#431

Post by pjc50 » Fri, Jan 29, 2021, 4:55 PM UTC

oramit wrote: post #298

dleslie wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The FOMO is palpable. There's a hurried rush of small investors hoping to turn their meagre savings into a big win, backed by the anxiety that if they don't try then they'll forever regret missing their one and only chance at a comfortable life. This sort of event would be less likely if America's wealth disparity weren't so grotesquely skewed.

My Facebook feed is filled with people talking about this. These are friends I have know for years who have never mentioned stocks before but now are talking about "holding the line". It is FOMO for sure, but the real emotions I get from talking with people are outrage and revenge. Everyone feels like the system (economic and political) is rigged against the public. The dopamine hit from sticking it to the man is pal…

It strikes me that the outrage is free-floating and waiting to be weaponised by whoever finds the words to trigger it and point it at a target. Until very recently this was the pro-Trump faction; having stormed the Capitol and got some of their leaders arrested that has gone quiet. So there must be a new disinformation magnet on the internet - and this is it.

> These are friends I have know for years who have never mentioned stocks before but now are talking about "holding the line".

That's what radicalization sounds like.

Re: Statement of SEC Regarding Recent Market Volatility

#432

Post by scythe » Fri, Jan 29, 2021, 4:55 PM UTC

hrktb wrote: post #266

kodah wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Personally, I think smart people just do this. When I got sick with COVID I cannot begin to describe the number of people who became doctors during this unprecedented time , only to send me outdated comments, articles, and speculation. All of these people thought they were smarter than the instruction I received from a real doctor, nurse practitioner, and the CDC. These were smart people, though, and mostly (but not…

I agree in principle. Then in real life example you will have real doctors and nurses giving conflicting advices and having wildly different viewpoints on the details. The easy to point to example is how a lot of doctors viewed masks at the beginning of the pandemic. Or how trickle down economics is also endorsed by experts. Or experts opinions on mental health drugs. And so many other subjects where it won’t be hard…

>Or how trickle down economics is also endorsed by experts.

Trickle-down economics is not explicitly endorsed by anyone, because it's a pejorative. That's like saying "totalitarianism is popular in some countries"; you might think those countries are totalitarian, but they don't.

Re: Statement of SEC Regarding Recent Market Volatility

#433

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Jan 29, 2021, 4:55 PM UTC

xapata wrote: post #353

markbnj wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't get this. I can't imagine the professional investor class is still blindly following their shorts. They're all out by now, aren't they? If the "little guys" are making money I tend to think it's coming from other little guys.

Why would you short when you can buy a put option?

[deleted]

Re: Statement of SEC Regarding Recent Market Volatility

#434

Post by maxfurman » Fri, Jan 29, 2021, 4:56 PM UTC

josephorjoe wrote: post #232

iamacyborg wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You may want to check what happened to certain brokers on Jan 15th 2015 before you start chucking accusations out. It’s clear you don’t understand how these brokers work and how they interface with the broader market.

It is completely clear that they betrayed their customers' trust. I know some people think "but that's not illegal so they did nothing wrong". Those people are bad and should feel bad. And I think in this case enough customers are angry that robinhood will not escape the consequences of its actions. I only said I would be unsurprised to learn they acted illegally. I admit the "suck at lying" thing is more my opinion…

Do Robinhood's terms guarantee that their users can buy any stock at any time? Does Robinhood in any way ask or imply that their users cannot use another service? I'm just not sure what trust they betrayed here.

Re: Statement of SEC Regarding Recent Market Volatility

#435

Post by Robotbeat » Fri, Jan 29, 2021, 4:56 PM UTC

tootie wrote: post #250

josephorjoe wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whatever else happens, Robinhood should not survive this. They clearly violated their customers' trust, so their customers should leave them. And I will be completely unsurprised if when the dust settles it turns out they acted illegally. Also, they suck at lying.

As has been stated elsewhere, it is easier to recover from alienating customers than it is from running afoul of the SEC. They ran a very real risk of being forcibly shut down by regulators if they didn't slow trading.

I don’t agree. See Tesla. Elon frakked up with the SEC but not his customers (or his fans) and so Tesla a couple years later is on top of the world. I doubt Robinhood will survive this. They built their whole brand around rallying for the little guy at the expense of the fat cats. It’s literally their name.

Re: Statement of SEC Regarding Recent Market Volatility

#436

Post by dgb23 » Fri, Jan 29, 2021, 4:57 PM UTC

jorblumesea wrote: post #325

tompccs wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am so sick of this 'stay in your lane' attitude. Time and time again, experts have been shown to have consensus opinions which are wildly off from reality. You can almost set your watch to how often an outsider will analyse a situation from first principles and make money off the 'experts', especially in the stock market. You're welcome to your opinion but this appeal to authority is seriously wearing thin. Pretty…

But there's really an entire class of people who have no clue what they're talking about weighing in on things that they clearly do not understand. It's one thing to study this in your own time and make meaningful contributions. It's another to assume that simply because you have an opinion, it's somehow valid.

I think it is useful, as it can imply that the experts have some explaining to do.

In this particular instance something seems to be fundamentally broken.

Re: Statement of SEC Regarding Recent Market Volatility

#437

Post by sidlls » Fri, Jan 29, 2021, 4:57 PM UTC

nvarsj wrote: post #205

sidlls wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is pretty accurate even for many software and tech related discussions here (it’s a big field with lots of specialties).

Yes, it's a reductionist argument that can apply to literally anything. Let's just delete all user discussions on the internet, and only allow PhD granted experts to discuss things on panels where they must provide primary sources for everything. Or you could simply point out when someone is wrong, and explain why, assuming you are an expert. Then we all learn.

I didn’t mean to imply anything about who should be permitted to post or the subject matter of posts. My apologies that it came across that way. I simply meant it as an observation.

I could explain, as you suggest, and so could other experts. In my experience the likelihood of a response with denials, shifting goalposts or similar is much higher than an acknowledgement and gratitude for education. I’ll pass, but others might enjoy the challenge.

Re: Statement of SEC Regarding Recent Market Volatility

#438

Post by kapp_in_life » Fri, Jan 29, 2021, 4:58 PM UTC

pardonmesir wrote: post #145

OscarCunningham wrote: post #25

There's been some speculation that what WSB are doing could be market manipulation or otherwise illegal. The fact that this statement only mention retail investors in the context of protecting them makes me suspect that the SEC's not going for it.

what are you talking about? the real fraud and market manipulation was perpetrated by Robinhood and Shitadel when they shut peoples’ ability to buy the stock while still allowing it to be sold. They know this is illegal but they were betting on the fines being less than the losses. They need to be taught a real lesson. Those responsible for this intentional, flagrant violation of the most basic free market principles…

If anything Robinhood allowing people to continue buying volatile assets while not being able to meet their clearing house's requirements would be something to run them afoul of the SEC.

Re: Statement of SEC Regarding Recent Market Volatility

#439

Post by maedla » Fri, Jan 29, 2021, 4:58 PM UTC

wolf550e wrote: post #231

tompccs wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am so sick of this 'stay in your lane' attitude. Time and time again, experts have been shown to have consensus opinions which are wildly off from reality. You can almost set your watch to how often an outsider will analyse a situation from first principles and make money off the 'experts', especially in the stock market. You're welcome to your opinion but this appeal to authority is seriously wearing thin. Pretty…

The non-consensus outsiders who make progress have done the reading. They know what the consensus is, they know all the concepts and the jargon, and they disagree about something. Your post can be interpreted to mean "my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge". That's anti-vax thinking and argument. That is not a way to make progress.

Yep exactly. For every one outsider that gets it right, how many are wrong? I'd wager, quite a bit

Re: Statement of SEC Regarding Recent Market Volatility

#440

Post by Gladdyu » Fri, Jan 29, 2021, 4:58 PM UTC

xapata wrote: post #353

markbnj wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't get this. I can't imagine the professional investor class is still blindly following their shorts. They're all out by now, aren't they? If the "little guys" are making money I tend to think it's coming from other little guys.

Why would you short when you can buy a put option?

Your gain in delta (due to the stock moving) will be offset by your loss in vega (due to the volatility coming off after the impending crash). Option fair value is a function of both underlying price and volatility, which is currently at unprecedentedly high values.