“Finance Is Not Worth Losing Your Life Over” – Family Tragedy Should Be Lesson For All Margined Robinhood-ers

Presented with little comment (as to be frank, it speaks for itself)…

One twitter user (@BillBrewsterSCG) exposes the very real downside of the speculative mania occurring in American stock and option markets currently (emphasis ours):

This is still really raw and I have more questions than answers.

But, it’s very important and intersects with what I speak about here. Hopefully my family’s tragedy can help another family avoid tragedy.

My cousin in law was interested in investing.

He opened a Robinhood account. And, he seemed to be enjoying the markets. As many of us do, or have done, he got interested in options. He believed he had “no margin” selected on his account.

So, he began buying and selling options.

Fast forward to sometime this past week and his account showed him owing $700k+. How does a 20 year old with no income get access to that kind of leverage/exposure?!

The emotional stress from the exposure caused him to take his own life. I don’t feel right sharing this, but I also don’t feel right keeping it from the world.

Why? Because recently I’ve been joking about how much I love DDTG. I’ve laughed at the Robinhood memes.

But here’s the truth. AND PLEASE PAY ATTENTION TO THIS IF YOU’RE YOUNG.

The markets are bananas right now. It’s not the time for amateurs. Really really pay attention to position sizing. Stay away from exotic instruments like options and futures.

These are the times Buffett talks about being more careful because others aren’t.

Almost everything you see on this platform is coming from someone with a bias, myself included. Don’t pay attention to how many followers someone has, where they work, etc.

Judge investments on their own merits, as you understand them.

And, if you find yourself in a world of shit please talk to your family. Listen to @QTRResearch and @sanglucci pod about blowing up. Shit, hit me up. You are not alone. Finance isn’t worth losing your life over.

I do have one ask- if you know of Robinhood willingly extending way too much credit/margin please let me know. They are squarely on my radar and I have time for a research project.

Alex, R.I.P. You will forever be missed.

PS. And a bit of a cover my ass here. I haven’t seen the actual account. I only know what his final note said. He cited the figure, I am relaying what he said.

So, while it all well and good to mock the likes of Dave Portnoy who has become the poster-child for the current round of speculative mania (whether for real or otherwise), the fact of the matter is that the dollars being levered into worthless stocks are real to many people and when this liquidity-fueled shitshow ends, there will be hell to pay… and this time everyone knows The Fed is responsible for enabling it.