[brianpgordon]

> Anyone who still keeps a balance there is insane.

Robinhood accounts are protected by the SIPC. Although with other discount brokers introducing free trading, I would tend to agree with you that continuing to use RH with its simplistic interface and appalling execution is pretty silly.

[JumpCrisscross]

> Robinhood accounts are protected by the SIPC

This is correct. But SIPC reimbursement can take months. For non-trivial balances, one may need a lawyer to prove ownership.

After that, an accountant would likely be needed to reconcile records, including for tax purposes. (Tax forms are not automatically generated for brokerages in receivership.)

[pesfandiar]

We have a similar insurance for cash deposits in Canada. I've always imagined that for some balance (perhaps in thousands of dollars), you're better off just letting it go if the company goes down. Now that you mention taxes, I think letting go may not even be an option.

[hn_throwaway_99]

For the wallstreetbets folks that like to post account charts: Why in God's name would you use a service that has no values on its y-axis. Doesn't everyone realize that makes the chart meaningless? Every time I see those meaningless charts it makes my skin crawl.

But, I'm sure that Robinhood must be omitting those values on purpose, and the only reasoning I can come to is that they want their users to be less educated because it is more profitable for them.

[brianpgordon]

Usually the point is the account balance and gains at the top above the chart. It's been a few months since I used RH but I believe you have to touch and drag to see the point you're touching be labeled. The real problem with the screenshot is the lack of labels on the X-axis. It might at least be interesting to see what dates the spikes corresponded to.

[caymanjim]

Yeah, I should have said "trades there"; I didn't mean literally keeping a cash balance. I wouldn't worry about losing cash or shares, but about losing the ability to trade during important market events. SIPC isn't going to help you if you were unable to trade.

[quickthrowman]

I switched to TD Ameritrade when they dropped commissions, I figure if I get a .01 better fill (than RH) on an option contract, the 0.65 per contract is worth it.