COVID has created a situation where millions of people are quarantined at home. Some are under lockdown rules, others have been laid off; and some have decided it’s just better to stay at home.
This has caused huge surges in business that can be done online, and one of those businesses is trading. Trading firm Robinhood was in the right place at the right time, but was unable to handle the huge surge in business. They clumsily paved the way for efficient, fee-less trading. In 2020 alone, more than 400 complaints were filed against the firm, roughly four times more than competitors.
The paradigm shift in the business of online trading was not pioneered by Robinhood however; it has been taking place for years. Now, more firms are competing for the business of new day traders and smaller retail investors, such as LevelX.
And the best part is that LevelX offers Pre IPO investing for accredited investors, all under one roof. At least there is a silver lining in the clouds, traders now have more choices for commission free trading other than Robinhood. But the great thing about Wall St. it’s non-competitive. LevelX offers for accredited investors’ access to Robinhood shares Pre IPO.
Since Trump has been in office Americans have been unusually following politics (it used to be right up there with daytime TV). The last 18 months have brought us closer together in a tie that binds us all together: Capitalism. Whether you are white, non-white, Hispanic, or “Other” we Americans all share in the golden dream. Two groups of people that primarily settled early America were merchants looking to get rich, and religious zealots. That makes the unusual mix we have here.
And at the heart of modern capitalism is capital markets. They are the heart and soul of any Capitalist economy. As much as the Monopolists would like you to believe it is they who are most needed it’s the opposite. For example, banks need businesses (customers) but businesses don’t need banks. [A bank cannot lend money to itself, it needs counterparties in the real economy to securitize and hypothecate]. You can trade your CBD muscle rub for my fancy toothpicks, no bank needed. Big banks are just one example of Monopolies, there are many others. But Monopolies are, by their very nature – antithetical to Capitalism. The reason is simple: they don’t want competition, they don’t want fair and free markets. They want to put in the fix, without any risk. They want to create demand artificially, and not take risks. This is extremely un-American.
Trading is extremely risky, traders are entrepreneurs and risk takers. They are hedge fund managers, even if their portfolio is just enough for them to stay ahead of inflation and live a good life. Liquid and efficient markets allow the market itself to determine capital flows, nearly as a form of independently developed artificial intelligence. Capitalism is in itself, a form of intelligence.
And the SEC believes in this. Just recently they rolled back rules that have not been changed in more than 30 years:
“Today we modernized our public company business disclosure rules for essentially the first time in over 30 years,” said SEC Chairman Jay Clayton. “Building on our time-tested, principles-based disclosure framework, the rules we adopt today are rooted in materiality and seek to elicit information that will allow today’s investors to make more informed investment decisions. I am particularly supportive of the increased focus on human capital disclosures, which for various industries and companies can be an important driver of long-term value.
This is perhaps the most business friendly environment we’ve had in this country since the 1880s. But of course, stocks are not going to go straight up, companies will encounter problems and new companies will be founded. Markets will fluctuate, unexpected things will happen. Unfortunately there is no solution whereby you just press a button and your life is lived for you (that’s only similar to watching TV). And that’s a good thing – it’s natural, and allows markets to evolve like nature.
Try it out at LevelX – and participate real-time in the greatest of all human achievements, called Capitalism.
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