Kids are ditching video games to day trade

Kona

Kona

Crow
Gold Member
Robinhood is a lot like a video game. The charts make losses and gins look a like bigger. It's like the lines are not proportional. You'll see a huge upward line and think you just 10x'd but you only went up a penny.

I think the htz and chk jumps are being fueled by wacky robinhood cults and chatrooms. Sometimes you'll get good tips in them, but there's tonsof people just posting wack stuff.

You still have to do the Patriot Act financial stuff when you sign up. That sometimes requires an ID, and for sure a ss# so I don't know how kidsget on there.

Aloha!
 
V

Victor Vaughn

Pigeon
There's definitely been a huge uptake in day trading and risky YOLO options gambling in the past 3 months. Part of it has been fueled by a lack of sports to gamble on so a lot of these addicts need a way to get their fix, so they've moved to the financial markets.
 
M

MovingForward2050

Pelican
Victor Vaughn said:
There's definitely been a huge uptake in day trading and risky YOLO options gambling in the past 3 months. Part of it has been fueled by a lack of sports to gamble on so a lot of these addicts need a way to get their fix, so they've moved to the financial markets.
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Did e-sports ever really catch on, in a similar way to real world sports? I am not into sports myself, other than MMA and the Olympics, but I do recall people enjoying John Madden Football. But I guess heavily watched (with profitable advertising) online tournament play never caught on. I always got a kick out seeing Michael Jordan play a console basketball game, or Tom Brady playing a console football game.
 
V

Victor Vaughn

Pigeon
MovingForward2050 said:
Did e-sports ever really catch on, in a similar way to real world sports? I am not into sports myself, other than MMA and the Olympics, but I do recall people enjoying John Madden Football. But I guess heavily watched (with profitable advertising) online tournament play never caught on. I always got a kick out seeing Michael Jordan play a console basketball game, or Tom Brady playing a console football game.
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E-sports is growing massively, the kid who won the World Fortnite Championships won $3 million in prize money for example. But it's still tiny compared to the big 4 sports in the US and football (soccer) in the rest of the world.
 
M

MovingForward2050

Pelican
I will have to track down video play of the kid who won 3 million dollars playing Fortnite! Damn... I remember the Korean world champion of Starcraft, whose alias was the "Fingers of God!" He was lightning fast and lightning smart, and would utterly overwhelm his opponents, before they had a chance to do much.
 
V

Victor Vaughn

Pigeon
18 year old "trader" kills himself after racking up $700,000 in debts to Robinhood.

www.marketwatch.com

Rookie trader kills himself after seeing a negative balance of more than $700,000 in his Robinhood account

The stock market, particularly in its current state, is no place for amateurs. Sullimar Capital analyst Bill Brewster delivered that message to followers in...
www.marketwatch.com www.marketwatch.com

Knowing what I do about the Robinhood platform, it's unlikely his actual debt was $700k, but if he held certain positions over the weekend when markets were closed it's possible the algorithm showed his account as being -$700k. Either way it's absolutely tragic.
 
Crunchyeater

Crunchyeater

Pigeon
Victor Vaughn said:
18 year old "trader" kills himself after racking up $700,000 in debts to Robinhood.

www.marketwatch.com

Rookie trader kills himself after seeing a negative balance of more than $700,000 in his Robinhood account

The stock market, particularly in its current state, is no place for amateurs. Sullimar Capital analyst Bill Brewster delivered that message to followers in...
www.marketwatch.com www.marketwatch.com

Knowing what I do about the Robinhood platform, it's unlikely his actual debt was $700k, but if he held certain positions over the weekend when markets were closed it's possible the algorithm showed his account as being -$700k. Either way it's absolutely tragic.
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That's heart-wrenching to hear.

Being on the younger end, several friends started trading recently due to the virus , particularly a couple where trading seems out of their character.

While I doubt it's dopamine-chasing, there's certainly an uptick in new, younger investors since I think a lot of folks have money lying around they can't just blow at a bar or on other trifles. They're in their late teens and early 20's though, I don't think brokerage firms would allow children to try their hand at the market. At least... I hope not...
 
V

Victor Vaughn

Pigeon
Crunchyeater said:
That's heart-wrenching to hear.

Being on the younger end, several friends started trading recently due to the virus , particularly a couple where trading seems out of their character.

While I doubt it's dopamine-chasing, there's certainly an uptick in new, younger investors since I think a lot of folks have money lying around they can't just blow at a bar or on other trifles. They're in their late teens and early 20's though, I don't think brokerage firms would allow children to try their hand at the market. At least... I hope not...
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The wisest quote I've ever heard regarding investing is "When the dumbest person you know starts talking about the stock market, it's time to sell everything"

This reminds me of the crypto boom back in 2017 when everyone and their dog became an overnight crypto expert. I had friends who quit their jobs (one even sold his business) to try and make it as crypto day-traders. Needless to say, every single one of those didn't pan out. I don't doubt for one second they're trying to strike it rich again right now.

You're right in that people simply have nothing else to do. Which is why we've seen an uptick in day trading and pr0n - arguably the 2 largest dopamine inducing activities you can do without leaving your bedroom.

As for whether children as involved. I doubt it. It's impossible to get accepted onto one of these platforms without a basic ID check - so unless their parents are opening accounts for them, or they're somehow getting hold of random passports/drivers licenses... it just wouldn't happen.
 
M

MovingForward2050

Pelican
Victor Vaughn said:
The wisest quote I've ever heard regarding investing is "When the dumbest person you know starts talking about the stock market, it's time to sell everything"

This reminds me of the crypto boom back in 2017 when everyone and their dog became an overnight crypto expert. I had friends who quit their jobs (one even sold his business) to try and make it as crypto day-traders. Needless to say, every single one of those didn't pan out. I don't doubt for one second they're trying to strike it rich again right now.

You're right in that people simply have nothing else to do. Which is why we've seen an uptick in day trading and pr0n - arguably the 2 largest dopamine inducing activities you can do without leaving your bedroom.

As for whether children as involved. I doubt it. It's impossible to get accepted onto one of these platforms without a basic ID check - so unless their parents are opening accounts for them, or they're somehow getting hold of random passports/drivers licenses... it just wouldn't happen.
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My memories of crypto date back to 2010, when I was told by a friend about Bitcoin and sent a link, but I just could not get my head around it! Argh!!! I could have bought it for around twenty-five cents a Bitcoin! I will think about that on my future death bed, I suppose... Lol
 
C

Castelnau

 
Banned
Honestly might not be the worst trend in the world. More people should learn about stocks. Imagine if all those poor people buying lottery tickets every week put their money into mutual or index funds.
 
V

Victor Vaughn

Pigeon
Castelnau said:
Honestly might not be the worst trend in the world. More people should learn about stocks. Imagine if all those poor people buying lottery tickets every week put their money into mutual or index funds.
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I fully agree. Except many of them are not putting their money into mutual or index funds. Instead, they're using excess leverage to either day trade or gamble on options close to expiry.

For a few, they'll get burned and then come back with a smarter gameplan later, for others they'll get in over their head and suffer the consequences.
 
T

Towgunner

Kingfisher
Assuming this is true, these market participants are a net positive for professional traders. They do two things, 1. increase market liquidity and 2. make stupid decisions. So, when a professional trader is exiting a position because they know the stock is going to tank, there will be more incremental buyers to help him exit at an optimal price. These incremental buyers are called suckers. That said, this is not true. I can see how trading can be "fun", but, its not nearly as fun as playing a video game like COD or even fortnite.
 
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