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E*Trade Announces $0 Base Commissions for Online Stock, ETF, and Options Trades

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41–50 of 73 posts

Re: E*Trade Announces $0 Base Commissions for Online Stock, ETF, and Options Trades

#41

Maybe all of you read every word Matt Levine writes as I do, but in case you don't, here is his explanation: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-10-02/the-tr...

I love reading his stuff. I would honestly pay up to one of two dozen dollars a month for his very high quality thinking.

Re: E*Trade Announces $0 Base Commissions for Online Stock, ETF, and Options Trades

#42

E*Trade, Schwab, and pretty much every other brokerage is playing catchup with RobinHood, which has had free trades on stocks and options from the very beginning. This has caused a steady exodus of users on these commission charging platforms, crossing over to RH. It's especially pronounced with Millenials and Gen-Z / "Post millenials". You may not always get the best pricing, and also there are no market trades as o…

I think this logic is hilarious. You really believe that the “millennials and zoomers” actually have enough capital to compete with these traditional brokerages? Robinhood doesn’t event pay out dividends. You’re overselling it. Their education for options is basic at best. PLUS anyone who is serious about playing options should actually invest time in learning it. If anything, its cleaner ui makes it easier for said…

> Robinhood doesn’t event pay out dividends.

Hmm? Of course they pay out dividends. I don't even see how it would be legal for a broker to keep a customers dividends.

https://support.robinhood.com/hc/en-us/articles/360001227206...

Re: E*Trade Announces $0 Base Commissions for Online Stock, ETF, and Options Trades

#44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Discount brokerages mostly make money on interest.

Interest on what though? Isn’t most money immediately invested or put in money market funds?

A lot of people leave some money in the sweep account, so it's liquid for future trades. Or leave it for a few days after a sale before transferring it out.

Re: E*Trade Announces $0 Base Commissions for Online Stock, ETF, and Options Trades

#46

Maybe all of you read every word Matt Levine writes as I do, but in case you don't, here is his explanation: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-10-02/the-tr...

I love reading his stuff. I would honestly pay up to one of two dozen dollars a month for his very high quality thinking.

I hope this is the future of journalism. Following individual journalists rather than just a topic like business. While the big breaking headlines and opinion pieces get mixed in between.

If I ran WSJ or the like I'd make following the journos a core feature of the product. Some offer it but it's usually tacked on as an after thought.

Re: E*Trade Announces $0 Base Commissions for Online Stock, ETF, and Options Trades

#47
post #3

Right along with charles schwab [0]. Amazing what a little competition from Robinhood can do. [0]: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/01/charles-schwab-is-eliminatin...

The first to offer (limited) free trades was Zecco, which later became TradeKing.

I think RobinHood was the first to sell the rights to trade against their users, though.

Re: E*Trade Announces $0 Base Commissions for Online Stock, ETF, and Options Trades

#49

E*Trade, Schwab, and pretty much every other brokerage is playing catchup with RobinHood, which has had free trades on stocks and options from the very beginning. This has caused a steady exodus of users on these commission charging platforms, crossing over to RH. It's especially pronounced with Millenials and Gen-Z / "Post millenials". You may not always get the best pricing, and also there are no market trades as o…

I don’t disagree that Robinhood has a better UI for casual users, but the rest of their UX is awful.

Trades take considerably longer to execute than on other platforms. They tend to hide things that are “advanced”, even when it’s important for a trader to learn to use them (for example, the default Buy type is a Market Order instead of a Limit).

Most brokers have protections in place so you don’t shoot yourself in the foot. For example, say you placed a sell order on Robinhood, but want to cancel it. You have to go through 3-4 clicks to get to the order record and cancel it. Oh, and that horrible UX is a chatbot.

Robinhood strikes me as an app that was designed by folks that have limited trading experience. On the mobile app, you can’t select to view your positions by Total Return and simultaneously view your watchlist by Last Price; you must select one or the other. The watchlist of stocks is of course not going to have a total return, so the app just displays “N/A”.

What Robinhood has actually managed to capture is the “bro trader” mentality of the Trump era bull market, and for that they deserve some credit. Check out /r/wallstreetbets for examples. I think a lot of people associate millennials with being broke and having no concept of financial security, however Robinhood is making a name for themselves as the broker of millennials. It’s just a shame RH is so terrible.

Re: E*Trade Announces $0 Base Commissions for Online Stock, ETF, and Options Trades

#50
post #43

If you’re not paying for it, you’re the product. In this case they’re selling your order flow.

That only really matters if you only place market orders. And even then the routing may result in a better execution price than going straight to the exchange.
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