Platform Financial News

Robinhood Financial agreed Thursday to pay $65 million to settle allegations from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that the investment platform misled customers and provided overpriced trades.

Shortening the time it takes to settle a trade might have helped smooth out the volatile ride investors took on GameStop trading last month, Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev told the House Financial Services Committee last week.And now, it appears one of Wall Street’s major clearing firms agrees.

Markets were resilient last week in the face of extreme volatility and high volume after an army of retail investors on Reddit banned together to buy GameStop shares and force a short-squeeze among hedge funds, regulators said Thursday. However, regulators said they still want to take a closer look at trading practices to ensure markets are fair for all investors—with an emphasis on all.

Robinhood Financial, which runs a popular commission-free online trading application, has been hit with a record $70 million penalty for misleading customers, approving ineligible traders for risky strategies, and not supervising systems that failed and ended up locking millions of people out of trading.

The trading isn’t over, but maybe the party is. Robinhood Markets, known for its popular trading app, says it’s doing away with the shower of confetti that typically animates an app user’s screen after trades and other transactions. 

Young investors trading meme stocks based on social media haven’t caused a financial meltdown yet, but the Federal Reserve said it’s keeping an eye on them.

Employees of some companies will soon have a new option in their retirement accounts: crypto. But government regulators remain cautious about Bitcoin and other digital currencies and warn that the volatile assets are speculative.

During a pandemic year that wreaked havoc on people’s finances, many workers—even those who faced employment instability—contributed to retirement plans at a record rate, data from Fidelity Investments show.

In a battle of the old guard against retail disruptors in the investing world, popular trading app Robinhood Financial is clapping back at the legendary billionaire investor Warren Buffett, who suggested over the weekend that Robinhood was like a “casino” for gamblers.

It's a new day for retail investors: The CEO of AMC Entertainment has given them a shout-out, offering a direct line to his company and special perks at his theaters. And they rewarded him handsomely by pushing AMC shares up more than 100% in one day to a record high.

A tracking tool introduced Thursday by Nasdaq opens a window on stocks and exchange-traded funds with the most activity among small, individual traders. 

Robinhood, after being accused last year of luring inexperienced investors to open accounts and make trades, on Tuesday launched new educational tools on its trading app.

It’s July and OPEC — the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries — is expected to make all the right noises and moves to try and “seize back” the narrative in oil. The trouble is the Fed will also have something to say this week on why it paused rate hikes at last month’s meeting. And then, there’s that all-important U.S. jobs report for May.

Micron Technology Inc. (MU) said it will cut 10% of its workers and suspend 2023 bonuses after it posted a quarterly loss, the latest Big Tech firm to retreat on jobs as the global economy slows.

Billionaire Mark Cuban amassed his fortune in several ways: a savvy bet on the early internet, cryptocurrencies, and even owning a professional sports team. Yet after all that, he hasn't aspired to be king—until now. That's his role in Royal Runaway, his latest film set for release at the end of 2023. He plays Philippe, the top royal in the fictional European nation of Caminelle, where his son, Prince Alex, is in line for the throne. Instead, Alex, played by sports announcer Alex Day, flees to Long Island, applies for work at a winery, and falls in love with a woman who isn'taware of his past. «Mark Cuban is considered a bit of American royalty, so it's really fun to have him playing King Philippe in my latest holiday film,” said the film's writer and director, Candice Cain.

Roku Inc. (ROKU), among the nine most-downloaded entertainment apps in the U.S., will likely report its first-ever year-over-year revenue decline in the first quarter as a tepid advertising market outweighs the growing popularity of its Roku Channel.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle stepped down as working members of the British royal family in 2020—and since then, they have signed a series of lucrative, multi-year deals including documentaries, books, podcasts and more, worth an estimated total of $135 million, according to Forbes. 

BuzzFeed shares dropped more than 20% after CEO Jonah Peretti said the company is shutting down its news division as part of a 15% workforce reduction affecting 180 jobs.

Actor Matthew McConaughey is reuniting with his True Detective co-star Woody Harrelson in a new comedy series based on their friendship for Apple TV+. Created by David West Read, Apple TV+ describes the show as a “heartfelt odd couple love story revolving around the strange and beautiful bond between Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson.” The pair will also executive produce the as-yet-untitled series alongside Read.

2022 proved to be another record year for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) of registered investment advisors (RIAs), as big buyers snapped up strategic opportunities to expand tech capabilities and international positions, according to a report by Echelon Partners. 

Politicians on both sides of the Atlantic are speaking out against Twitter and its owner Elon Musk after the embattled social media company suspended the accounts of a competitor and several journalists, many of whom have written critically of Musk.