RobinHood race from $2,500 to $250,000

[Sunset]

I looked at arrowhead, and all my looking caused me to stumble across CELG, so I bough 100 shares at $67.xx
Yes, I'm not a big gambler.

Today I wake up and see it popped, read a little on it, and decided I'd take the $83.68 sale. It's nice to make ~ $1,600 on a down day.

 

[Fermion]

Been lazy and have not updated this thread in awhile. I have not done a lot of trading in RobinHood over the past month but did manage a little and the account is at $6780. It is all cash right now as I ponder the next move(s). I am still quite upset that I missed out so bad on Celgene, having owned it in the $60s then selling there mere days before the buyout. I have to get over that, it is only money. I keep telling myself $6780 from $2500 in about 8 months is still a decent return and I should move on to something else.

I'll try to stop slacking and get the account to $10,000 by spring or summer.

 

[ownyourfuture]

Been lazy and have not updated this thread in awhile. I have not done a lot of trading in RobinHood over the past month but did manage a little and the account is at $6780. It is all cash right now as I ponder the next move(s). I am still quite upset that I missed out so bad on Celgene, having owned it in the $60s then selling there mere days before the buyout. I have to get over that, it is only money. I keep telling myself $6780 from $2500 in about 8 months is still a decent return and I should move on to something else.

I'll try to stop slacking and get the account to $10,000 by spring or summer.

Very interesting thread. I'll be rooting for you to reach your goal.

 

[njhowie]

As mentioned in post #43 above, I likewise did this and it has similarly been going quite well - but again, I don't do options, so no way I am keeping up with Fermion. As I've grown more confident, I've still kept my transaction sizes small - scale in, scale out. I haven't utilized more than 40% of my bankroll at any point in time thus far. In the 3 months, I've done 639 trades! My strategy is like penny-ante poker - simply working off of normal volatility in the shares. I have no particular desire to "invest" long term (I have my other accounts for that) - here, I'm in, small gains, out. As I build up the balance further, then I'll look to begin to look at increasing the trade size.

Just to get it out of my system, about 2 months ago, I did buy $5 worth of bitcoin, and then the next afternoon sold it for 20 cent profit. I've done it, and had a profit, I got my adrenaline rush, and I feel good/lucky. No desire to do it again.

The trade executions have been very good - I watch them through Fidelity's platform, and am able to see that I am getting the pricing I expect or better.

I would highly recommend everyone try it - even if opening a small account. It allows you to do what you would never consider doing if you were paying commissions - and that's how I utilize it, exploiting what they are offering.

In my younger days, 25 years ago, when e-Commerce was still nascent, I started a business where our primary supplier began offering free shipping if we would enter our orders electronically to them. The business approach quickly evolved to how much order volume we could generate, even at cost, because our profit was guaranteed on a per order basis to be at least what we were charging for shipping. As a result, we were extremely competitive, and having our supplier drop ship, handling the packing and shipping all for free was tremendous. I see Robinhood similarly - they are giving a free ride for the transaction costs, so the approach can "devolve" into how much order volume you can generate and how high your portfolio turnover rate can be. You can't do this with traditional brokers, because minimally you have your $4.95 to buy and then $4.95 to sell - so you have to generate a profit of at least $9.90 before you have anything to show for it.

 

[retired1]

Sounds good. I look forward to your postings of progress.

 

[corn18]

Been lazy and have not updated this thread in awhile. I have not done a lot of trading in RobinHood over the past month but did manage a little and the account is at $6780. It is all cash right now as I ponder the next move(s). I am still quite upset that I missed out so bad on Celgene, having owned it in the $60s then selling there mere days before the buyout. I have to get over that, it is only money. I keep telling myself $6780 from $2500 in about 8 months is still a decent return and I should move on to something else.

I'll try to stop slacking and get the account to $10,000 by spring or summer.

If you started with $250k, you'd be at $678k. That ain't too shabby.

 

[DJRR]

If you started with $250k, you'd be at $678k. That ain't too shabby.

True, but volatility is a lot harder on the emotions at those dollar volumes. Not easy to make the same money as I learned

 

[ziggy29]

Been lazy and have not updated this thread in awhile. I have not done a lot of trading in RobinHood over the past month but did manage a little and the account is at $6780. It is all cash right now as I ponder the next move(s). I am still quite upset that I missed out so bad on Celgene, having owned it in the $60s then selling there mere days before the buyout. I have to get over that, it is only money. I keep telling myself $6780 from $2500 in about 8 months is still a decent return and I should move on to something else.

The bottom line, IMO, is that as long is this is a small amount of "Vegas money" you can afford to lose in order to speculate if you enjoy it, then so be it. Of course, when it's "Vegas money" it almost hurts more to miss out on a big gain than it does to lose it all.

 

[tulak]

I’ve been meaning to post a question to this thread: how do you deal with taxes?

I was inspired by this thread and started trading options. I’ve had nice gains, but I’m thinking this type of trading for me isn’t practical in an after tax account.

I’ve been busy and haven’t done much trading lately, so it hasn’t been an issue. Plus, markets are up so it’s been harder for me to find a good buy in point. But if I ever start again, I need a better solution to deal with taxes. I thought about using Schwab, or another platform, but really appreciate the ease of trading with Robinhood.

 

[sengsational]

I keep telling myself $6780 from $2500 in about 8 months is still a decent return and I should move on to something else.

We haven't seen the history tab in a while. When did you buy and sell and what did you buy and sell to make this money?

 

[natetheb]

I jumped in about 3 weeks ago, but only with $500. That is all I could comfortably afford. I am going fully in on gambling on the weed industry. So far I am down $30, but I am hoping for some luck.

 

[natetheb]

I jumped in about 3 weeks ago, but only with $500. That is all I could comfortably afford. I am going fully in on gambling on the weed industry. So far I am down $30, but I am hoping for some luck.

Well, after making some initially bad purchases of Weed Stocks, I think I have finally found my preferred trading strategy. Originally, I diversified my initial $500 across CGC, ACB, CRON, APHA, and TLRY. I purchased all of them at a peak so I am still down across those stocks except for ACB. Last week, I was able to sell ACB for a $13.80 profit. Not knowing what to do with the extra capital I sat on it for a few days then stumbled on Penny stocks...


So far, I am really enjoying the penny stocks and doing ok. It is probably all luck right now (though I don't think I have ever been this lucky before). Since Monday, I have purchased and sold 6 times, with a single loss. Total gains are $42, or 8% ROI. I still have a ton to learn and formulate a solid strategy, but this really seems like the kind of market I would enjoy. Very scrappy, quick action but low $ gains, and essentially zero risk since this was play money anyways.

 

[njhowie]

Good job natetheb.

If I can offer one tip - don't go overboard on any position. Remember, there's no cost for placing more orders - meaning you can readily buy a half or quarter position and just keep buying on the way down. Heck - buy a few dollars worth and then another couple every few cents it goes down, there's no additional cost.

I agree - penny stocks are the way to go with Robinhood. You can easily play the volatility and be making money even if the stock goes nowhere over time.

I'm now up to over 900 trades since November - there's nothing wrong with taking profit, no matter how small.

 

[natetheb]

Good job natetheb.
If I can offer one tip - don't go overboard on any position. Remember, there's no cost for placing more orders - meaning you can readily buy a half or quarter position and just keep buying on the way down. Heck - buy a few dollars worth and then another couple every few cents it goes down, there's no additional cost.

Thanks for the tip. Since a majority of my cash is still tied up in Weed Stocks that are down (I am currently not ready to take the loss), I can't fully implement that strategy yet.

I agree - penny stocks are the way to go with Robinhood. You can easily play the volatility and be making money even if the stock goes nowhere over time.

Yes, the volatility is quite awesome! I have a single 50% gain in one day. If I had more liquidity I would have made more than $28.

I'm now up to over 900 trades since November - there's nothing wrong with taking profit, no matter how small.

I agree, gains are gains. I am, quite literally, the person who picks stuff up off the side of the road, turns around and sells it on Craig's List, and brags to his wife that he made $5-$20!

 

[jmp470]

Not to totally high jack this topic, but, can you trade futures on Robinhood? I day trade futures for my living now and would like to drop the commissions if possible.

 

[njhowie]

Not to totally high jack this topic, but, can you trade futures on Robinhood? I day trade futures for my living now and would like to drop the commissions if possible.

Stock - yes
Options - yes
ETF - yes
Crypto - yes
Futures - no

However, you could always work around the limitation using these: https://etfdb.com/etfs/commodity-exposure/futures-based/ - these are all available to trade on RH.

If you want to day trade in and out, then you need the account to be at least $25k, otherwise you are limited to no more than 3 daily round trips over a 5 trading day rolling period.

 

[jmp470]

Stock - yes
Options - yes
ETF - yes
Crypto - yes
Futures - no

However, you could always work around the limitation using these: https://etfdb.com/etfs/commodity-exposure/futures-based/ - these are all available to trade on RH.

If you want to day trade in and out, then you need the account to be at least $25k, otherwise you are limited to no more than 3 daily round trips over a 5 trading day rolling period.

Thank you for the information. This topic is very close to what I’m doing, this week, I took all my money out of TDAmeritrade, except $10,000 which I’m using to trade futures. Actually it was yesterday that the money completed the transfer so I just started my own challenge.

Futures trading is not regulated the same as stocks for day trading, meaning you can day trade them with $5000. Also, the taxes are significantly difothan stocks. 60% is treated as long term gains, while 40% is treated as short term gains.

I’ve sold all my stocks, cashed out our IRA’s, etc and went to all cash. I took the tax penalty last year.

Time will tell if it’ was a smart or dumb decision!

 

[njhowie]

Thank you for the information. This topic is very close to what I’m doing, this week, I took all my money out of TDAmeritrade, except $10,000 which I’m using to trade futures. Actually it was yesterday that the money completed the transfer so I just started my own challenge.

Futures trading is not regulated the same as stocks for day trading, meaning you can day trade them with $5000. Also, the taxes are significantly difothan stocks. 60% is treated as long term gains, while 40% is treated as short term gains.

I’ve sold all my stocks, cashed out our IRA’s, etc and went to all cash. I took the tax penalty last year.

Time will tell if it’ was a smart or dumb decision!

As long as you have a plan, have thought it out, and are comfortable with the risks, then go for it. You only get one life to live, so you may as well live it for all it's worth. The super wealthy did not get there without taking some risks along the way.

Just be sure you have a backup plan that you can live with if things do not work out.

 

[Fermion]

Hi guys! Been awhile. I have broken through $8000 on the Robinhood account and it is coming up on the one year since I started this adventure. Looks like my yearly gain is around 220% which is not too bad imo.

I'd like to hit $10,000 by the actual one year anniversary but not sure that will happen. I am already mentally thinking what I will do after turning $2500 into $250,000....maybe try for $2,500,000?

Here is a screenshot of the ups and downs...volatile!

 

[jmp470]

Very nice

 

[sengsational]

We haven't seen the history tab in a while. When did you buy and sell and what did you buy and sell to make this money?

 

[Fermion]

Today marks the one year anniversary since I started this Robinhood account and challenge, funding it with $2500 and the goal of making at least 60% a year. This would net me at least $250,000 in just ten years.

And today I crossed $9,000 (the good direction!). Total one year and total return of 260%. I mean that is a pretty good start?

I had some hiccups along the way as you can see from the chart but in general it trended up. Some mistakes were trying out S&P500 puts....which really really don't work out...I had to take a $260 loss on those recently. Make a bit of coin in Gilead when it was downgraded to sell, then rose by $8. Good downgrade Goldman! Made a bit more this past couple of days on BMY, buying the relatively cheap 2020 call options after it crashed 7.5% on news of a delay in the Celgene aquisition then riding it back up and selling them on the small recovery, then buying them again (at a slightly better price!). Made some money on Celsion (CLSN) but if that is my next Endocyte it is slow to get out of the gate....it could take off though! Maybe one day I wake up and Celsion has gone from $1.70 to $17. Nah....but maybe?

 

[ERD50]

Today marks the one year anniversary since I started this Robinhood account and challenge, funding it with $2500 and the goal of making at least 60% a year. This would net me at least $250,000 in just ten years.

And today I crossed $9,000 (the good direction!). Total one year and total return of 260%. I mean that is a pretty good start? ...

It's far more than "pretty good"!

Why only $2,500 initial?

-ERD50

 

[corn18]

Can I send you $100k to do the same thing for me?

Congrats! I am rooting for you!

 

[W2R]

Total one year and total return of 260%. I mean that is a pretty good start?

Wow!! Time to party!