Stock trade app Robinhood raising at $5B+, up 4X in a year
I appreciate the zero commission trading, but at the same time, I'm worried about the attitude towards "investing" that they promote. Most people should arguably be putting their money into index funds and holding for the long term[1], not picking individual stocks and following price movements on a daily basis. I wouldn't criticize anyone for speculating (i.e. gambling) with money they can afford to lose. I've done that before, and I know how fun it can be. But it shouldn't be the primary strategy for most people. We should be signing up with Betterment/Wealthfront/Vanguard before Robinhood.I have the Robinhood app but haven't made any trades yet. I had to turn off push notifications for things like "Snapchat declined 5% today". That kind of thing is what causes people to trade on their emotions, a great starting point for losing money in the long term. Instead of buying low and selling high, they end up doing the opposite.[1]: https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Getting_started