They’ve ignored predictions from high-profile investors that another crash is on the horizon, and thus far, they’ve been right. They remain a small portion of the market, but there is evidence they’re making a difference along the margins. Whatever the strategy of this new crop of traders - or lack thereof - they have Wall Street’s attention. “You don’t get a rush throwing money at Berkshire Hathaway and waiting 15 years.” “It’s boring watching stocks, it’s not exciting, they’re not making these crazy prices,” said Adam Barker, a 31-year-old software engineer in Massachusetts. Still, for a lot of them, it’s largely a game.
Some are doing well, while others have learned some hard lessons already, and they’re aware things can get out of control - most of the people I talked to referenced a 20-year-old Robinhood trader who died by suicide in June after believing he’d lost hundreds of thousands of dollars on the app. I spoke with more than a dozen traders about where they’re putting their money, why, and how it’s going. She’s not sure what all of this will mean for her taxes. But I think I have enough in savings that I’m willing to take that risk a little bit, because I also really like gambling,” Chang said.
“It’s kind of scary, because I am unemployed right now, I don’t want to put too much at risk. And commission-free trading on gamified apps makes investing easy and appealing, even addicting. Some are taking cues from mainstream sources like the Wall Street Journal and CNBC, others are looking at Reddit and Barstool Sports’ Dave Portnoy for ideas (and entertainment). People are bored at home, sports betting and casinos are largely off the table, and many look at that $1,200 stimulus check they got earlier this year as free money. Online brokerages have reported a record number of new accounts and a big uptick in trading activity. In recent months, the stock market has seen a boom in retail trading. “I take it in stride, because it’s money I had made, but it wasn’t really there.” The day we spoke, she was basically back where she started. Then during the day when it was like we had a really big drop, I lost everything I had made.”Ĭhang, 39, lost her job at a nonprofit in the financial downturn, fell down a “rabbit hole of stock videos” on YouTube, and by now has put about $25,000 into the trading app Robinhood. “And then I started getting really cocky, and I didn’t even think I could even lose so much money. So I was then having days where I would make $1,000 a day, and then I made $10,000 in a day,” she said. “With options, you can make money so much faster. Jennifer Chang got into investing in 2019, but it was only during the pandemic that she started dealing in options trading, where the risk is higher, but so is the reward.
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