Robinhood

[Gonzo]

Maybe you've heard of Robinhood.  It's a mobile only stock trading platform, they are a startup, and the hook is there are no commissions.  I  signed up and used it to trade stocks, and I thought some may be interested to read my experience.  For context, I have only used a Fidelity brokerage account prior to this one and I've been in the stock market for 20 years.

The app is fantastic.  It looks and works great.  I prefer Robinhood's app to Fidelity's.  Which is a little sad for Fidelity, to be honest.  LOL. 

The lack of a real web based trading platform is disturbing.  It truly is a mobile only experience, for now.  My account there currently has about $7,500.  I doubt I will increase this much, since I seldom trade single stocks.  I've used it for stock trading and ETF purchases. 

I've had a few issues so far:
- There is a long delay between deposits and funds availability to trade stocks. Count on a week.  After the first deposit, I think they gave me a $500 trading allowance immediately. I don't know how it is at every broker, but at Fidelity, I can trade very soon after "making" a deposit. 
- One ETF I purchased there became "untradeable" through the app.  Other holdings were tradeable, and this one eventually self-resolved after a few days.  Support was polite but wasn't very helpful on this issue.  I only sent one request.  I didn't plan to trade it, so I wasn't interested in pursuing the matter with support. 
- It has some important restrictions, no transfer in kind in or out, and no IRAs. 

I can recommend it for a small account.  Feel free to comment or ask questions. 
 

[mrpercentage]

I have been using them for a few months. I traded too much the first year. I used it to buy and trade individual stocks and test trading with some skin in the game. I haven't received my tax documentation yet so I can't tell you how that went exactly.

Robinhood has made a lot of improvements from when I started-- piecharts of your diversification, how they list dividends, and news related to your stocks.

The transfer of funds time is a bummer-- 3 business days to move funds in-- 3 to clear after a sell-- and 3 to transfer out. However, my scottrade account took a week to clear funds, a week to send me a check, and an additional 3 days for that check to clear. Robinhood actually beat Scottrade on redemptions by making it direct deposit.

Im actually planning on using them for a long term savings account by parking my savings in VTEB. Its what I have been thinking anyway. I can avoid Vanguards annual fee that way. I also was thinking of using it to acquire BRK.B and any other long term non-dividend stock. I do mostly direct stock purchasing as they allow fractional shares but Robinhood has more options-- thats for sure
I give it five stars for a non-margin trading account, or a tax exempt bond etf account. Zero fees are awesome

[Gonzo]

The transfer of funds time is a bummer-- 3 business days to move funds in-- 3 to clear after a sell-- and 3 to transfer out. However, my scottrade account took a week to clear funds, a week to send me a check, and an additional 3 days for that check to clear. Robinhood actually beat Scottrade on redemptions by making it direct deposit.

Agreed.  I think Fidelity is actually giving me an interest free loan when I "make" a deposit, because I can trade a couple of minutes after making a deposit.  I do have margin enabled at Fidelity but they've never charged me margin interest.  I tend to move about 10 grand to Fidelity at a time.  Transfers out take several days to hit my online bank account. 

Im actually planning on using them for a long term savings account by parking my savings in VTEB. Its what I have been thinking anyway. I can avoid Vanguards annual fee that way. I also was thinking of using it to acquire BRK.B and any other long term non-dividend stock. I do mostly direct stock purchasing as they allow fractional shares but Robinhood has more options-- thats for sure
I give it five stars for a non-margin trading account, or a tax exempt bond etf account. Zero fees are awesome

I hope Robinhood succeeds and that they keep commission free trades.  Robinhood is essentially a well funded startup at the moment.  I may get more comfortable having a large amount of money there over time.  I know there is insurance if they fold, and I believe I would eventually get my money, but it would be a hassle to deal with if the platform goes "poof!" 

[mrpercentage]

They just removed the 3 day waiting period. Robinhood is now the best taxable trade account out there

[protostache]

Depends on what you mean by "best." Until they provide outgoing ACATS I'm not putting a single cent into an account there. Also, they don't have a web interface. I can sort of fake one up using Quantopian but I'd rather not, and I don't want to use a mobile app.

[Old Man Mase]

Is there a reason they are strictly mobile-only?  What's up with that?  One of the things i like about Loyal3 is the ability to use the app or via browser if i choose.

[Gonzo]

They just removed the 3 day waiting period. Robinhood is now the best taxable trade account out there

I've signed up for "Robinhood Instant," but I'm waitlisted.  Mainly for the fact that I don't like to refer friends who might blame me for the results of their terrible stock picks, LOL. 

[Gonzo]

Is there a reason they are strictly mobile-only?  What's up with that?  One of the things i like about Loyal3 is the ability to use the app or via browser if i choose.

I think it's to appeal to Millennials, who would do it all from their phones anyway.  Also because a good stock trading website cannot be built for a trivial amount of money, and Robinhood is a startup. 

I'm not a Millennial unfortunately, but since I have an 8-5 office job, a lot of my trades get placed via my phone over my lunch hour.  Or I'll just make a GTC order after hours. 

[antifragilista320]

Robinhood is a great platform,  hopefully they stay free in the future (I'm sure they'll get acquired eventually by a big financial institution). 

That being said due to it's mobile only, it's not a platform for active traders.  That's defintiely not theme on here so shouldn't hold anyone back from making an account!   I use it to add to dividend stock positions for stocks I can't buy on loyal3.com

[rickhuizinga]

Depends on what you mean by "best." Until they provide outgoing ACATS I'm not putting a single cent into an account there. Also, they don't have a web interface. I can sort of fake one up using Quantopian but I'd rather not, and I don't want to use a mobile app.

Their latest fee schedule shows that outgoing ACATS cost $75.

https://brokerage-static.s3.amazonaws.com/assets/robinhood/legal/RHF%20Retail%20Commisions%20and%20Fees%20Schedule.pdf

If this link doesn't work, just Google "Robinhood fee schedule" and it should be the first result.

Sent from my Pixel C using Tapatalk

[protostache]

Depends on what you mean by "best." Until they provide outgoing ACATS I'm not putting a single cent into an account there. Also, they don't have a web interface. I can sort of fake one up using Quantopian but I'd rather not, and I don't want to use a mobile app.

Their latest fee schedule shows that outgoing ACATS cost $75.

https://brokerage-static.s3.amazonaws.com/assets/robinhood/legal/RHF%20Retail%20Commisions%20and%20Fees%20Schedule.pdf

If this link doesn't work, just Google "Robinhood fee schedule" and it should be the first result.

Sent from my Pixel C using Tapatalk

Well well well. Thanks for the link. I guess their FAQ entry on the topic is incorrect.

Update from the horse's mouth:

We don't yet support this feature, so fees for this can't be incurred.

https://twitter.com/AskRobinhood/status/706541906583486464

[rickhuizinga]

Well well well. Thanks for the link. I guess their FAQ entry on the topic is incorrect.

Update from the horse's mouth:

We don't yet support this feature, so fees for this can't be incurred.

https://twitter.com/AskRobinhood/status/706541906583486464

Interesting, but at least they did say "not yet".

I noticed that the date on the fee schedule was more recent than the date on the FAQ, so I had assumed that they added this feature since the FAQ was written.  At least the inclusion of this feature in the fee schedule gives hope that they may add outgoing ACATs soon.

Sent from my Pixel C using Tapatalk

[bmeansdfw]

I think it's to appeal to Millennials, who would do it all from their phones anyway.  Also because a good stock trading website cannot be built for a trivial amount of money, and Robinhood is a startup. 

I'm not a Millennial unfortunately, but since I have an 8-5 office job, a lot of my trades get placed via my phone over my lunch hour.  Or I'll just make a GTC order after hours.

Yes, I think this is exactly right.  And they have plans to add additional features in the future, like options, shots, etc., so I would expect that a web front-end is likely part of those expansion plans.

So far, I have really enjoyed the app.  Very easy to use and has the basics for tracking performance and what your holdings are.  It's all FINRA compliant so it has standard account protection just like the "big boys".