It's Warren Buffett vs. Robinhood

Old guard of investing criticizes day trading company, which fires back
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted May 3, 2021 10:25 AM CDT
Old Guard of Investing Snipes at Newcomer, Which Snipes Back
Warren Buffett, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.   (AP Photo/Nati Harnik, File)

Warren Buffett and his Berkshire Hathaway lieutenant Charlie Munger have a combined age of 187. And they made clear over the weekend that they're not fans of day trading upstart Robinhood, which caters to millennials, reports CNBC. The company has "become a very significant part of the casino aspect, the casino group, that has joined into the stock market in the last year or year and a half," Buffett, 90, said at his company's annual meeting on Saturday. These new investors aren't interested in buying and holding shares of companies, he says, but capitalizing on short-term price movements on stocks. "There is nothing illegal to it, there's nothing immoral, but I don't think you build a society around people doing it," says Buffett. He also warned that many novices would get burned in the long run. Munger was more harsh in his assessment, notes Reuters.

"It's just god-awful that something like that would draw investment from civilized man and decent citizens," he said. "It's deeply wrong. We don't want to make our money selling things that are bad for people." Robinhood, which says its mission is to "democratize" trading, wasn't having it. "If the last year has taught us anything, it is that people are tired of the Warren Buffetts and Charlie Mungers of the world acting like they are the only oracles of investing," says a company statement, per Axios. The "elites" of the stock world have become wealthy off the stock while keeping everyday Americans sidelined, it adds. This disparity is why what Robinhood refers to as "retail investing" is so popular right now, the company says. (Robinhood ran into much controversy over the GameStop frenzy.)

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