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Robinhood raises $323M at a $7.6B valuation

reuters.com

61–70 of 130 posts

Re: Robinhood raises $323M at a $7.6B valuation

#61
post #46

I'm curious if anyone with knowledge can speak to how Robinhood sells data to high frequency traders? This seems to result in a large percentage of their revenue which of course makes sense due to not having commission revenue. I've also heard some people argue if you're investing a decent amount, you're better off with commissions over market orders on Robinhood. The arguments were the above & that orders can take a…

The only issue I have had with Robinhood is regarding tax planning, because they only support FIFO sell orders. There have been several instances where I would have preferred to sell shares purchased more recently, so that my older shares can pass the one year threshold for long term capital gains. The ability to specify lots when selling shares would be worth money to me.

If Robinhood were to roll this out they'd inevitably do it in a way that counted as tax advice, getting them in tons of legal hot water, because they wouldn't be able to help themselves on the marketing side. So it's actually rational for them not to bother building this incredibly obvious feature. /s

Re: Robinhood raises $323M at a $7.6B valuation

#62
post #59

This is great! Now I wish they would open up trading for IRAs

I am confident that everyone’s IRA would be better kept by Acorns. Robinhood encourages getting in and out of positions to frequently.

I'm confident that everyone's IRA would be better kept in a low-cost mutual fund that tracks a popular index.

Re: Robinhood raises $323M at a $7.6B valuation

#63

I've been using Robinhood for the past year, and I hope they add basic features such as: - The ability to short a stock, which I still can't believe isn't available. - Price Alerts Everything else is gravy, IMO, especially if they keep the same basic, sleek interface, which I actually like.

Is there a way to allow shorts without having to manage margin and having to carry risk on the balance sheet? They have to deal with two counterparties (you, and whomever is lending you the shares). I am not sure how they could economically offer free short trades.

On BitMEX you can make leveraged short/long bitcoin trades without the downside of owing more than you put in. Max you can lose is 100%. It’s powered by a purpose-built stoploss liquidation engine

Re: Robinhood raises $323M at a $7.6B valuation

#64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nothing is stopping anyone from putting their life savings into a legal dumb investment. Regulators and the government sure won't stop you from liquidating your 401k early. At some point common sense comes into play and you need to be smart with your money.

The US SEC has accredited investor requirements specifically to keep people from being fooled into making "dumb" investments.

>US SEC has accredited investor requirements specifically to keep people from being fooled into making "dumb" investments

What stops me from liquidating my 401k and investing all of my money into a company that misses their earning goals this week? Where does the US SEC come into play here?

Re: Robinhood raises $323M at a $7.6B valuation

#65
DST Global is a pocket of Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov, alleged criminal, Putin's sidekick, owner of Russian social network VK, which committed numerous acts of personal information disclosure to police and FSB without court order, led to prosecution of political activists and common people. Good luck, Robin Hood (

Re: Robinhood raises $323M at a $7.6B valuation

#66
post #56

I'm curious if anyone with knowledge can speak to how Robinhood sells data to high frequency traders? This seems to result in a large percentage of their revenue which of course makes sense due to not having commission revenue. I've also heard some people argue if you're investing a decent amount, you're better off with commissions over market orders on Robinhood. The arguments were the above & that orders can take a…

TLDR; question answer: An HFT makes money because they see you want to buy 100 shares of Apple. Their servers are located in the exchanges, so they can buy the 100 shares of Apple for $99.99 each quickly, then flip them to you for $100 each, effectively giving them a risk free profit of $1. The HFT then gives Robinhood a small reward for sending them the order data. Multiply that times millions of trades a day. If yo…

No. Front running is illegal, that's not what RH does. What RH sell is uncorrelated orders, and the users actually get better prices from this too.

Re: Robinhood raises $323M at a $7.6B valuation

#67
post #46

I'm curious if anyone with knowledge can speak to how Robinhood sells data to high frequency traders? This seems to result in a large percentage of their revenue which of course makes sense due to not having commission revenue. I've also heard some people argue if you're investing a decent amount, you're better off with commissions over market orders on Robinhood. The arguments were the above & that orders can take a…

The only issue I have had with Robinhood is regarding tax planning, because they only support FIFO sell orders. There have been several instances where I would have preferred to sell shares purchased more recently, so that my older shares can pass the one year threshold for long term capital gains. The ability to specify lots when selling shares would be worth money to me.

Can't you use whatever accounting method you wish, regardless of how they report it?

Re: Robinhood raises $323M at a $7.6B valuation

#68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The US SEC has accredited investor requirements specifically to keep people from being fooled into making "dumb" investments.

>US SEC has accredited investor requirements specifically to keep people from being fooled into making "dumb" investments What stops me from liquidating my 401k and investing all of my money into a company that misses their earning goals this week? Where does the US SEC come into play here?

[deleted]

Re: Robinhood raises $323M at a $7.6B valuation

#70
post #67
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only issue I have had with Robinhood is regarding tax planning, because they only support FIFO sell orders. There have been several instances where I would have preferred to sell shares purchased more recently, so that my older shares can pass the one year threshold for long term capital gains. The ability to specify lots when selling shares would be worth money to me.

Can't you use whatever accounting method you wish, regardless of how they report it?

Yeah would love an answer here too
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