Markets Magazine
Playing for Zero
The iPhone app Robinhood lets you trade stocks for free. What could possibly go wrong?
Robinhood co-founders Baiju Bhatt and Vladimir Tenev in the middle of their merry band
Matt Taylor/Bloomberg MarketsThis article is for subscribers only.
The pitchman for Robinhood, the no-fee stock brokerage, looks a little like actor Seth Rogen: bearded, chubby, and, to some viewers, possibly stoned.
In the company’s 80-second online ads, he takes aim at millennials, assuring them that they don’t need much cash to triumph in the stock market. Using Robinhood, he says, you don’t even have to pay the industry standard trading commissions that can erode profits on the small trades newbies tend to make. All you’ll need is Robinhood’s sleek iPhone app. (Android and Web versions are in the works.)