The Robinhood Reckoning

For better or for worse, the no-fee investment app has now become synonymous with Main Street trading

Jean-Luc Bouchard
Marker

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Photo: SOPA Images/Getty Images

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The Robinhood Reckoning

The Buy/Sell/Hold Analysis

“It is not lost upon us that our company and our service have become synonymous with retail investing in America,” the founders of the no-fee stock-trading app Robinhood declared last Friday. It sounded like a boast. But in fact, it was quite the opposite: The context was an official response to the apparent suicide of a 20-year-old reportedly distraught because he believed that some risky options trades he placed through the app had left him $730,000 in the red. While the specifics are unclear, the event vaulted Robinhood into the spotlight so dramatically, the unicorn startup now…

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