Robinhood Financial fined $65 million by SEC for misleading users

CBS News (From the Communist Broadcasting System) ^ | December 17, 2020 | Khristopher J. Brooks

[Navy Patriot]

Robinhood Financial has been fined $65 million for misleading its stock market customers about how the company makes its revenue from their trades, the Securities and Exchange Commission said Thursday. The SEC fine comes one day after regulators in Massachusetts filed a lawsuit against Robinhood for allegedly targeting young, inexperienced investors with flashy gimmicks on its app that treat stock investing like a game.

[Navy Patriot]

Thanks, MJP, worthwhile article, as noted some of the 9 investors MAY have sold SOME of their GME but that is unknown at this time.

[cgbg]

I am a little surprised that most Freepers do not understand how the financial markets work in the real world in 2021.

This article explains it:

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/its-not-just-robinhood-reddit-rebellion-has-clogged-entire-financial-systems-plumbing

Bottom line—_everything_ is on credit all the way up and down the chain. You don’t own _anything_ unless you possess it in your hands.

You do _not_ own stock unless you hold the certificate in your hand—otherwise you have purchased a promise from someone (your broker) to deliver a stock. It is a promise that _can_ be broken, and then you are just a creditor fighting it out in bankruptcy court.

[BipolarBob]

That is the truth . . that we can’t handle. The House of Cards has been exposed.

[DUMBGRUNT]

“Robinhood provided misleading information to customers about the true costs of choosing to trade with the firm,” SEC Enforcement Division director Stephanie Avakian said in a statement.

And how is free trading different from the ‘free’ communications on facebook?
Android the ‘free’ OS?
Free search engines?
Free maps...

I know that Google sells phones and they make a huge amount of money, but I have never purchased anything from them?
And I’ve never seen an advert for anything sold by Google?
What is the ‘true’ costs for the Google phones?

[poinq]

WallStreetBets apparently has several million subscribers, each with an average account value of $5000. That’s several times $5 billion in account value.

---

I don’t think so. Wallstreetbets subscribers are not all out there buying GME. And by the way, this thing will crash too. I don’t mind people slapping short sellers around. But this is more than that. There is someone with billions able to hold this price up like this. Some of those short sellers are going after chinese stocks as well. This is a good way to kill those guys. People should be selling calls on this stock. A good way to bet short without too much of a down side.

[poinq]

If they really sold 140% over the float, the short sellers were doing something illegal.

[DUMBGRUNT]

And often when using Google ‘free’ products I notice the smell of burning sulfur?
At first, I thought it was the power supply on the desktop?

Now certain the PS is OK?

[Vermont Lt]

Your point being that Robinhood has always been a bunch of dirtbags?

Are you Captain Obvious? Lol.

[gunsequalfreedom]

Your take is much different that everyone other one I have seen. What are you basing it on. My understanding is that it does not take as much money to wreak havoc on a short sale as it does to cover a short sale. I’m not expert in this. Happy to have your reply.

[gunsequalfreedom]

Honest question: Are you saying that 1000s of millennials in their basements spending their $600 Stimulus checks on GameStop couldn’t have this impact? It would take Billion dollar hidden investors as well?

I don't think his assessment is correct but I asked the same question. It is just contrary to every thing else I have viewed on this from a very varied list of outlets.

[gunsequalfreedom]

The brokerage houses who prevented buying gamestock shares all need to be tried and jailed. Clearly market manipulation intended to protect wall street while harming retail investors.

It won't happen. Biden cabinet members have deep ties to those brokerage houses. Nothing will come of it.

[Svartalfiar]

This whole story is wrong. Redit and Robinhood don’t have enough money behind them to cause this situation. There is a much bigger player in the market. Someone like China, could be attacking our market and our short sellers by coordinating an attack on a few stocks. You need Billions of dollars to cause this situation. If ten thousand little guys throw a thousand dollars at this, they don’t make a dent. Trust me, there has to be a large player here. And the feds can figure out who that player is.

Did you read the substance of the article? This has nothing to do with the GameStop/Citadel/others short selling squeeze. This is from issues with RobinHood from a year-plus ago.

[Paladin2]

“These hedgefund ass#0les sold short 140% of the outstanding stock of gamestonk.”

Wouldn’t that put the Robber Barons in some kind of inverse, imaginary space beyond the corner of the market?

[NWFree]

Anyone still using these crooks or others like them should RUN and take your $ with you while you can!

[Steven Scharf]

Nine Investors Instantly Make $16 Billion On GameStop Stock ‘Squeeze’

They only come out ahead if they cash it out while it is up.

[LesbianThespianGymnasticMidget]

Nope... entirely legal like gay marriage. Right is another question.

[napscoordinator]

They were fined in 2020. Didn’t seem to phase the thieves at all.

[napscoordinator]

I’m sure that’s lessons learned number 1. That will be first bill out of Congress.

[grey_whiskers]

Stuff it troll-boi.
The issue with GameStop is that the number of shares shorted was 140% of the shares available to buy or sell.
Naked shorting is illegal; and it is a slam-dunk for a short squeeze.

The other issue, is that the stock was selling for, what, around $5/share, six months ago, to the low teens in mid-December.

Anyone attempting to short, with a price per share at $14/share, is looking at a 2500% loss of their original money.

Now multiply that by the number of shares outstanding...

[GOP Poet]

exactly!