This Thursday, Dec. 17, 2020 photo shows the logo for the Robinhood app on a smartphone in New York. Robinhood Financial agreed to pay $65 million to settle government charges that it failed to disclose the full details of its dealings with high-speed traders and didn't get the best prices for customers trading on its app, the Securities and Exchange Commission said Thursday. (AP Photo/Patrick Sison)
The popular stock investment app Robinhood has stopped supporting the purchase of new shares on a handful of stocks supported by the recent Reddit fueled frenzy.
Robinhood messages posted to various company pages like GameStop, AMC and Nokia, inform users that the stock is not supported on Robinhood, or not available for purchase. Some are allowed to sell.
Robinhood has not issued any guidance on the halt and it’s unclear how long it will last. The halt was first noticed around 8:30 a.m. on Thursday.
UPDATE: Robinhood released a statement as markets opened:
Our mission at Robinhood is to democratize finance for all. We’re proud to have created a platform that has helped everyday people, from all backgrounds, shape their financial futures and invest for the long term.
We continuously monitor the markets and make changes where necessary. In light of recent volatility, we are restricting transactions for certain securities to position closing only, including $AMC, $BB, $BBBY, $EXPR, $GME, $KOSS, $NAKD and $NOK. We also raised margin requirements for certain securities.
We’re committed to helping our customers navigate this uncertainty. We fundamentally believe that everyone should have access to financial markets. We’re humbled to have helped many people invest in the markets for the first time. And we’re determined to provide new and experienced investors with the tools and resources to help them invest responsibly for their long-term financial futures.
A Reddit group known as WallStreetBets has rallied its members behind several stocks, most notably GameStop, which has increased by nearly 1,000% in the last week.
AMC has increased by 400% in the last week. Since the halt, stocks impacted have dropped in value.
Related: Robinhood sends market volatility warning to brokerage app users
The #RobinHood drama is real this morning. The online trading app is not allowing people to buy recent popular stocks like $NOK $AMC & $GME
However you can sell your current options.
People are NOT happy. pic.twitter.com/cCHCeuMvaT — Logan Sherrill (@LoganSherrillTV) January 28, 2021
RkrSteve on January 28th, 2021 at 18:43 UTC »
AOC and Ted Cruz are in agreement this needs to be investigated.
That's not a typo or misprint. Ted Cruz retweeted AOC in agreement over this not being legit.
This is going to be a wild year.
Fxgohan on January 28th, 2021 at 18:10 UTC »
Not just those. They literally banned every stock that’s been trending in WSB the last few months. They’re labeling them volatile for double digit increases, but they do nothing when bio-techs are surging 1,000% in single days.
kaptainkooleio on January 28th, 2021 at 16:13 UTC »
Not only did they halt support, they canceled all the orders I made after hours yesterday and claimed I canceled them. Here’s the thing though, I didn’t open the app till 9:35 and they were canceled at 9:27...