Robinhood Offers Extended Trading Hours to Lure More Idiots to the Platform

WEAK. That’s quite honestly all I have to say about this. In an effort to assuage their already trash reputation, Robinhood offers quite possibly the worst incentive for people to use their stupid brokerage. And the mother of all incentives? The company said that they’d extend trading hours to cover between 7:00am – 8:00pm ET. The future of investing? I think not. Although I guess the market didn’t seem to agree with my sentiment, as the stock went fairly nuclear during Tuesday’s trading session as a result (up over 24%).

While I will say that Robinhood was at the forefront of trading platforms, in that they had a unique campaign to bring people onboard (free stock when you sign up and/or referral), and they were one of the first brokerages to incorporate crypto exchanges, all of that changed in 2021 amidst the GameStop & AMC fiasco where trading was halted, only allowing users to exit positions they were likely already down astronomically in. Peak 2021 was when Vlad Tenev (the Robinhood CEO) went on a live stream with Dave Portnoy to discuss the whole halted trading debacle.

Robinhood has faced lower growth in a general slowdown in the allure of trading within the general public. There was a huge insurgence of users throughout 2020 and the first half of 2021, only to slowly fade away as the brokerage ostensibly lost their charm & luster within the community.

I’m honestly not quite sure what the allure of this incentive is, though. At first glance, traders are likely somewhat excited that they can spend more time in whatever positions they desire throughout the extended trading day. Although it’s fair to say that after-hours trading is likely harder, as traders are more apt to see larger bid-ask spreads in a generally more illiquid trading environment. I can’t imagine many Robinhood traders making money to begin with during normal market hours, let alone during after-hours trading sessions. To each their own, I suppose.

The Robinhood crowd doesn’t seem to think that’s the case, though. Alex Matuszak, a bio technician, said that he felt confined by Robinhood’s limited availability for trading. But apparently now he’s “…more likely to trade than ever before.” I’ll be damned! I can’t imagine this will do much, if anything, to improve the brokerage’s already diminishing user base. Robinhood user counts struggles well through this year. Book it.