Introduction to My Robinhood Investment Journey
My investment journey began somewhere around the summer of 2018 when I decided to take a chance and invest in the stock market. I had heard about investing with Robinhood, a commission-free stock trading platform, and decided to give it a try. I was immediately drawn to the platform’s user-friendly interface and the ability to trade stocks without paying any commissions. I was also intrigued by the idea of being able to invest in stocks without having to pay a broker or advisor. I quickly became an avid user of Robinhood and began to invest in stocks and ETFs.
It feels like I started with about $800 but surely it had to be much less than that but by late 2019 I had grown my account to enough to start day trading without being marked as a pattern day trader. I did great swing trading and now I was throwing much bigger money at stocks with good news. In 2019 it was very hard to lose money in the stock market because we was very much in a bull market.
Then I jumped into a stock that I got stuck in because it brought my account below that 25k and I had already bought and sold that same stock multiple times that day. I was now forced to hold that stock overnight. At close I was down 12k on that stock. But then something miraculous happened the next morning. I woke up at 4am and saw my Robinhood was up 48K for the daily. Excited as I was, I couldn’t sell and not because I didn’t want to. I wanted to lock in those profits but couldn’t because Robinhood premarket at that time didn’t open up til 8am.
I watched my 48K of profits dwindle back down to $1200 by the time Robinhood opened up at for me to sell 8am. Right then and there I was done with investing with Robinhood and stopped trading for about 2 weeks to allow my money to be withdrawn from Robinhood and be added to Webull. At first Webull charts and tools was overwhelming with all the information at my disposal. But the advantage webull had was I could buy premarket before 4am central.
Rediscovering My Love for Robinhood
Other than keeping and maintaining a few smaller crypto positions I virtually stopped using Robinhood completely. But Robinhood did have some advantages that Webull didn’t. Like when I deposited money into Robinhood it was available in 2 days vs. Webull taking 5 for the funds to settle. The bull market we had way back then has since disappeared thanks to our fearless leaders destroying the economy. Trading strategies have had to be adjusted for reality.
I’ve been going back to the basics and investing a lot more for long term growth. And because of this along side my other Stash and Acorns micro-investing apps I’ve decided to use Robinhood for building yet another long term portfolio similar to what I have with Stash and Acorns. Unlike Webull, Robinhood allows you to reinvest your dividends. And when I’m investing long term and doing reoccurring investments on a weekly basis with Robinhood I don’t need all those fancy charts I need for swing trading with Webull.
What I Still Hate About Robinhood
Despite my love for Robinhood’s ability to implement DRIP and have reoccurring investments, there are still some aspects of the platform that I don’t like. It’s not just that the charts suck because I don’t really need the charts for how I’m using it now. But Webull has that P&L calendar and its very easy to look and see how much you gained and lossed on each and every stock you’ve ever traded on Webull. To find that information on Robinhood its a pain in the ass frankly.
Once you look up the stock you’re absolutely sure you once traded on Robinhood you must do some math to figure out your individual gains or losses for that stock.
Reflection on My Investment Journey
Overall, my investment journey has been a positive experience. I have learned a lot about the stock market and have been able to make some profitable investments. It is really Robinhood that opened the door for me and started my interest with the stock market in general. Even though I believe I’ve had acorns for longer and it was my first intro to micro-investing.
But for someone new to investing its hard not to appreciate the platform’s ability to provide commission-free stock trading on Robinhood. While there are still some aspects of the platform that I don’t like, I am still a loyal user of Robinhood and will continue to use the platform for my long term holdings as a method of not keeping all my eggs in one basket. I have money in Robinhood, Webull, Acorns and Stash all of which are easy for me to check and adjust from my phone.
