Scene 1

How to Get Started Trading With Robinhood

Scene 2

Robinhood is our favorite trading platform for beginners.  It’s extremely easy to navigate, which is important if you’re just getting started with the stock market.

Scene 3

Before we dive in, please take a moment to like our video and subscribe to our channel.

Scene 4

To get started with Robinhood, you need to meet the following requirements:

You must be at least 18 years of age. You must have a valid Social Security Number. You must be a U.S. citizen, permanent resident, or have a valid visa. You must have a legal U.S. residential address within the 50 United States or Puerto Rico. If you meet the above requirements, you’ll be able to fill out Robinhood’s application, either on their website or via the company’s downloadable app.  If you use our link in this video’s description, you’ll receive a free stock when you sign up!

Scene 5

Next, you’ll need to fund your Robinhood account using one of your established bank accounts. The company makes this easy and all you need to do is follow the prompts.

Scene 6

I got started with $1,100 from my savings account; however, you can start with a much smaller amount if you need.  In fact, Robinhood has no minimum balance requirements, so you could even start with $1! Once your account is approved and funded, you’re ready to get started.

Scene 7

Log in to your account. You’ll see a search bar along the top of the screen. This is where you search for the stock you’d like to buy.  You can type in either the company name, or the stock’s ticker symbol if you know it. So, if I wanted to buy stock in Carnival, I’d either type “Carnival” or “CCL” in the search box.

Scene 8

Once you pull up a stock, you’ll see a chart to the left that reveals the current stock price, as well as how the stock has been trading over the last day, week, month, 3 months, 1 year and 5 years.  To the right, you’ll see the “buy” and “sell” box. To buy a stock, simply choose whether you want to buy it in shares or dollars and then list the amount. Click “Review Order” and then “Buy.”  To sell a stock, you’ll follow the exact same procedure; however, you’ll need to click “Sell (name of stock)” first, as it’s automatically set the buy tab.

Scene 9

Depending on the particular stock, you may also find news, analyst ratings, and earnings reports underneath of the stock’s chart, so make sure you scroll down for that additional information.

Scene 10

Robinhood has five tabs across the top right-hand side of the page that are super easy to navigate. The “Free Stocks” tab lets you see any free stocks that you received.  It also provides a referral link in case you want to invite others to join Robinhood. The “Portfolio” tab provides information on all of the stocks you’ve purchased and still own.  If you click the “Cash” tab, you’ll see exactly how much money you have remaining to spend on stocks. Click the “Messages” tab to read any new messages that Robinhood has sent your way.  Finally, the “Account” tab is where you want to go to check your trading history, update your banking info, upload documents or adjust your settings.

Scene 11

It’s important to note that mutual funds and bonds are not offered on Robinhood. Most cryptocurrencies are available though.

Scene 12

Scene 13

Many stock market traders eventually explore the world of options trading, because options have the potential to make more money in a shorter period of time and without risking as much capital.

Scene 14

Graphical user interface, text, application

Description automatically generated

When you enter a ticker symbol in Robinhood, if the stock is optionable, a box will appear at the bottom right of the screen under the “Buy - Sell” box, labeled “Trade Options.” Click on this box to enter the options screen.

Scene 15

Table

Description automatically generated

Along the top of the options screen are buttons for BUY or SELL, and CALL or PUT. Click on BUY or SELL and then CALL or PUT, depending on whether you want to buy or sell an option, and whether you want a Call or a Put option.

Scene 16

To the right of this box is the expiration date. Click on this box for a drop-down menu of available expiration dates.  Option strike prices are shown on the left in a vertical column, and the premiums are shown to the right. Scroll up or down to display other strike prices.

Scene 17

ORCL Buy Call
Buy
Strike Price
$76
$75.5
$75
$74.5
Sell
Break Even
97.50
$77.27
$77.03
$76.83
Put
To Break Even
+2.00%
Expiring April 30
% Change
0.00%
Share Rice: $75.98
+1.70%
+1.3896
+1.12%
0.00%
0.00%
0.00%
Change
so.oo
$0.00
$0.00
so.oo
Price
$1.50
$2.03
$2.33

The current stock price is shown in an oval in the center of the screen. This separates out-of-the-money strike prices from in-the-money strike prices. Click on the premium box of the strike price you want.

Scene 18

Details for each strike price are displayed by clicking on the strike price itself. A drop-down menu shows Bid and Ask prices, open interest, implied volatility, option Greeks and more. Simply click on the strike price again to close the menu.

Scene 19

Graphical user interface, application

Description automatically generated

Robinhood allows you to trade combinations of options for trading option spreads. Let’s suppose you want to trade a Bull Put Credit Spread on Twitter. Click on the SELL and PUT boxes.  Then click on the premium box of the strike price you want. We’ll select the $70 strike. The premium is $4.23.

Scene 20

Next, click on BUY and the lower strike price of $69, with a premium of 3.70. Notice that the $4.23 premium box turns gray.  The transaction box at the right says “Put Credit Spread,” which is a nice confirmation that you have correctly constructed the trade you want.

Scene 21

The transaction box also shows the total credit you’ll receive, which is 53 cents per share, or $53, since one option contract controls 100 shares of stock.  It does not matter if you enter the “sell Put” option or the “buy Put” option in any particular order.

Scene 22

Click the CONTINUE button and you can review and submit your trade. If you want to change the Put options, there is an “X” next to each Put in the transaction box. Click on the X to delete the option.

Scene 23

While many trading platforms show both Call and Put data on one screen, Robinhood only shows Call or Put option chains, but not both at the same time.  This makes for a much cleaner and easier to read screen, which is especially nice for those who are new to trading options.

Logo

Description automatically generated

This Photo  by Unknown author is licensed under  CC BY-SA .

Scene 0

avatar

 This Photo  by Unknown author is licensed under  CC BY-SA .

How to Get Started Trading With Robinhood

Page 1 (0s)

Page 2 (6s)

Page 3 (21s)

Page 4 (34s)

Page 5 (1m 18s)

Page 6 (1m 32s)

Page 7 (1m 55s)

Page 8 (2m 19s)

Page 9 (2m 59s)

Page 10 (3m 13s)

Page 11 (4m 2s)

Page 12 (4m 15s)

Page 13 (4m 22s)

Page 14 (4m 37s)

Page 15 (4m 56s)

Page 16 (5m 14s)

Page 17 (5m 36s)

Page 18 (6m 5s)

Page 19 (6m 24s)

Page 20 (6m 51s)

Page 21 (7m 14s)

Page 22 (7m 34s)

Page 23 (7m 51s)