You make the call... https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http...3W91KLWQ4YxFHEIvpGdqkE08sX48d1VWpDMTfwqf-q3RP
The question is, how many people do you wish to restrict from a service, simply because a few will win a Darwinian award?
There should be a suitability test like IBKR used to make all clients take when applying for vol-trading. Not on model-dependent stuff but the mechanics of clearing and settlement.
If you are old enough to sign a contract, you are old enough to trade options as long as it fits your risk tolerance and profit objective. An option is a contract. It's sad what happened to him and his family but really he didn't handle everything properly. If it was not for trading options, it would've been something else the way that he handled things.
Thanks to RH I bet they will end up restricting Options trading. Hopefully it will just be something like requiring 25K balance in the account in order to have options trading ability and not some super draconian law restricting options trading to only those who are licensed etc.
I was 44 in the year 2000. I had done covered calls and puts to buy back those calls. I knew the dot com bubble was going to happen (Pets.com type of companies...No income at all). My broker at the time didn't want me to go to level two. I had 20 years of trading...Morgan Stanley. I had to go into the brokerage and sign agreements on the risk...How times have changed. I bought a put on QQQ and waited. I had the right concept, but my timing was off by six months...Expired worthless (lost $500.). Then the bubble hit!! Fast forward...Just doing covered calls for the most part. Yet, with the government printing money, I don't even do calls anymore. Buy and hold...Protect assets. Run to stocks like ADM or a Canadian mutual fund. Robinhood knew what they were doing. How much is on them...A judge or jury will decide.
I agree. A good start would be making them pass the options section of the Series 7, or equivalent, exam.
Tragic story. Negligence seems plausible, but wrongful death is a real stretch here IMO. Robinhood's negligence caused him to think he had massive losses. This is totally different than causing his death. The decision to suicide was his alone, and likely influenced by other factors like preexisting depression or mental illness. I believe the parents should be much more to blame than Robinhood, for not giving him the support he needed. Why did he feel that suicide was the only option here? If he had been able to talk to anyone about his problem, they probably could have told him that the worst case scenario was declaring personal bankruptcy. Hardly a life-ending issue for a highschooler.