Robinhood could shut their doors tonight and it would have little impact on Wall St. or the American stock market. Robinhood isn't even in the top 5 for online brokers in terms of assets under management (AUM). Vanguard, Schwab, BAML, Fidelity, and Ameritrade are literally handling trillions of dollars (that's trillions with a T) [0], while Robinhood is estimated to be managing ~$20 Billion. [1] Sure, you could argue that's not all "retail investment", but they are not even in the same ballpark.

[0]: https://www.fool.com/the-ascent/research/online-brokerage-st...

[1]: https://www.brokerage-review.com/investing-firm/assets-under...

EDIT: Added concession in last line that not all in the top 5's AUM is retail, but the point still stands.

It's not about RH at this point, it's about faith in the market. It's like you were winning at the casino and a cop came in, put you in handcuffs, then gave all your chips back to the dealer.

A great metaphor I heard was that it's like you're playing blackjack, and have just placed a huge bet. You're cards are dealt. The pit boss walks up and says "this is a baccarat table now", but you have to keep playing with your blackjack hand.

Again, I think you're overestimating the negative sentiment about the market being driven by the madness that is GME, BB, KOSS, and EXP over the last few weeks. Most retail investors are watching from the sidelines and scarfing down popcorn, not actively participating. You're hearing about a very small portion of the market and extrapolating that out to everyone, but that's simply not the case.

Market manipulation is not new, and it's not impacting most retail investment strategies, which are much longer term. This is exposing inequities in the market that have existed for a long time, but I would be shocked if it has a significant impact on the assets of retail investors. As others have said, what other options are there? The game is imperfect, but that doesn't mean everyone stops playing all the sudden.

It's all over the news. You don't think a story where a company halts buys so an investor can recoup their loss at the expense of the retail investors won't affect faith in the market?

Will it impact faith in the market? No. It will absolutely cause people to think twice about Robinhood as a brokerage, but that is a small portion of the market.

I was able to trade GME all day on E Trade without a single issue.

If you count cards, the pit boss will ask you to leave.

Personally, not a fan of the casino metaphor.

+1, fully agreed. There are definitely people making stupid bets and losing (like they should, IMO), but the notion that markets are this black box beyond human comprehension is laughable. That's especially true when you filter out the noise and find companies with solid fundamentals.

or the media steps in and runs damage control all they have to do is lie for a few months and people will completely forget hell, even if they have to lie for a few years, they already did that with ebil organge man and it only made the public trust them even more

pension funds arent going to stop putting money into private equity, today will just make people less inclined to go retail

I could see a lot of money leaving wall street for emerging markets over the next 10 years but I dont think a full divestment from american markets will happen in my lifetime

Wallstreet feeds off of 401ks and municipal pension accounts. Retail investors can't influence the market broadly. Americans aren't going to stop putting money into 401ks and 401k administrators aren't going to stop shoveling money into their friend's 'funds.'

Unfortunately the odds of winning in the stock market even buying random stocks are still way better than a real casino, and casinos are still around.

Casinos are OK. Gambling is a special tax applied to people with bad understanding of the probability theory.

I feel like the people who say this have never been to a casino, they're pretty fun. I would wager most people going know they will lose money. Gambling addiction is a real problem, though.

I've only been once. Even knowing I would lose money, I still found the loss/fun ratio really awful, and when I walked out of there I knew I'd never go back. For that kind of money I can buy toys I actually get to keep, or buy an experience worth remembering.

Gambling socially, I enjoy. Playing poker with the guys, typically. But the stakes are absolutely tiny, so we really are just playing for fun.

I knew some gaming addicts. Each and everyone of them was living with feverish hope to win big one day.

However, I believe that everyone has a sacred right to destroy themselves in any way they like. If they choose to ignore conscience and indulge in gambling, it is on them.

Preface: I'm totally in favor of people going to casinos if they want to.

People say this and chuckle about how witty they are but it's the only "tax" that we let billionaires extract from the poor and act like we're okay with it.

If you got a bunch of spare money and spare time, enjoy the casino.

If you got a bunch of spare money, enjoy the stock market.

Where else are you supposed to put your money? Bonds? Real estate? A bank savings account? Good luck. People will not be able to live with their own failures. And where will that bring them? Back to stocks.

Crypto enters the chat

Hedge funds already game crypto.

At the root it’s nation state currency being manipulated.

Like in 2008. Privatize the gains and socialize the losses.

The entire ledger needs a wipe. It’s pure emotional bias to suggest the future is obliged to carry the debt of the past. There’s nothing in science suggesting such a truth exists.

This. Alternatives exist and will be created as faith in America keeps falling. The world hasn't run out of smart people.