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And despite some turbulence here and there, like a dip attributed to investors' concerns about the high debt levels of one of China's largest real estate developers, stocks keep soaring to record highs. But by August of 2021, the S&P 500 - a benchmark commonly used to measure the broader stock market - was up 100% compared to its pandemic low on March 23, 2020. Just look at what's happened over the last year: The stock market crashed when COVID-19 hit the U.S. The truth is, there's no crystal ball predicting where the stock market will go next. (Which is why Money has always advised new investors to start with passively-managed index funds with proven track records instead.) But no matter how savvy you are at picking stocks, you’re highly unlikely to beat the market over the long term. If you do some proper research, Robinhood can, at the very least, serve as a good introduction to investing. It's not limited to only Redditors taking on risky investment moves. The app is popular among young, first-time investors, as evidenced by its game-like interface, including celebratory animations and push notifications when there are updates in the market. There may be other fees associated with trading.
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residents 18+ and subject to account approval. Here's everything you need to know about the trendiest (and most controversial) financial app of the year - and whether or not you should use it. “And while trading individual stocks IS one way to build wealth, that’s not where most young people should be starting.” “It’s made many people think, ‘this is how you invest, this is how you build wealth,’ Falcone says. The platform’s model allows users to make trades at no cost, but according to financial planner Tara Falcone, that comes at a steep price.
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(Robinhood uses a practice called “payment order flow," in which a brokerage firm sends customer orders to high-speed trading firms in return for cash payments). Last December, Robinhood was fined $65 million, by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for allegedly misleading customers about one of its revenue sources. In early 2021, Robinhood curtailed users’ ability to trade certain meme stocks like GameStop and AMC, generating the wrath of U.S. In June, the company faced the largest financial penalty ever issued by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, agreeing to pay $70 million for various regulatory allegations, including system outages, misleading users and approving customers to trade options - a risky investing move - when it was not appropriate to do so. The platform has seen its fair share of criticism. While the company's revenue hit $565 million in the second quarter - thanks in part to a surge in crypto trading - its third-quarter revenue dropped significantly to $365 million.
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Robinhood went public in July 2021, trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol HOOD. The Silicon Valley darling - which grew its following amid an investing surge during the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing cryptocurrency boom - is a commission-free trading platform, meaning users can invest in everything from ETFs to Dogecoin without going through a traditional brokerage. The investing app is a favorite among everyday traders who congregate in online forums like Reddit’s r/WallStreetBets, and has surpassed 18 million active users since its launch in 2013. If you are at all interested in investing, you’ve almost certainly heard of Robinhood.