How Robinhood Investors Robbed Themselves

Following the crowd works—until it doesn’t. A new generation of traders getting their tips from social media and using apps like Robinhood to choose stocks are learning that the hard way.

Back in 2020 when millions of mostly young people opened brokerage accounts for the first time while sheltering from the Covid-19 pandemic, it seemed like they could do no wrong, even as some legendary investors could do no right. Dave “Day Trader” Portnoy poked the most revered one of them all to his millions of Twitter followers: