Trading Curbs Reverse GameStop Rally, Angering Upstart Traders

Trading Curbs Reverse GameStop Rally, Angering Upstart Traders

GameStop vs. Wall StreetBeating Wall Street4 Things to KnowUnderstanding Stock OptionsA Long Time ComingCredit...Alvaro DominguezTrading Curbs Reverse GameStop Rally, Angering Upstart TradersSmall investors accused one trading platform of being “dishonest” and “pandering to the elite” as new restrictions on some stock trades spurred a calmer day in the markets.Credit...Alvaro DominguezBy Kate Kelly, Matt Phillips and Gillian FriedmanJan. 28, 2021, 7:47 p.m. ETA day after GameStop shares rose 135 percent — a wild upswing spurred by an online army of investors on a mission to challenge the dominance of Wall Street — Robinhood, the stock-trading app at the center of it all, clamped down.Almost immediately, GameStop's shares plunged, falling 75 percent in 90 minutes.The limits on trading by Robinhood and other online brokerages, put in place as fears of market instability grew more widespread, set off a furious outcry among small investors. They claimed that the very apps that had democratized trading — Robinhood in particular — were now doing the bidding of Wall Street.Small groups of investors protested outside the New York Stock Exchange and at the Menlo Park, Calif., headquarters of Robinhood, a company that popularized the notion of commission-free trading. At least one aggrieved trader filed a lawsuit.