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How did retail investors respond to the COVID-19 pandemic? The effect of Robinhood brokerage customers on market quality

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  • Pagano, Michael S.
  • Sedunov, John
  • Velthuis, Raisa

Abstract

Using data on stocks held by individual investors at retail brokerage firm Robinhood, we document that these investors are actively engaged in both momentum and contrarian trading strategies. In response to the increased volatility and uncertainty in financial markets due to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, we find that retail investors reduce momentum trading and increase contrarian trading activity during the initial phase of this crisis. We also find that the impact of Robinhood investors on several measures of market quality varied depending on market conditions, coinciding with better market quality during less-stressful periods and worse market quality during the early weeks of the pandemic in the U.S.

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  • Pagano, Michael S. & Sedunov, John & Velthuis, Raisa, 2021. "How did retail investors respond to the COVID-19 pandemic? The effect of Robinhood brokerage customers on market quality," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:finlet:v:43:y:2021:i:c:s1544612321000271
    DOI: 10.1016/j.frl.2021.101946
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    Cited by:

    1. Ülkü, Numan & Ali, Fahad & Saydumarov, Saidgozi & İkizlerli, Deniz, 2023. "COVID caused a negative bubble. Who profited? Who lost? How stock markets changed?," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    2. Chung, Kee H. & Chuwonganant, Chairat, 2023. "COVID-19 pandemic and the stock market: Liquidity, price efficiency, and trading," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    3. Berger, Allen N. & Demirgüç-Kunt, Asli, 2021. "Banking research in the time of COVID-19," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    4. Buti, Sabrina & Rindi, Barbara & Werner, Ingrid M., 2010. "Diving into Dark Pools," Working Paper Series 2010-10, Ohio State University, Charles A. Dice Center for Research in Financial Economics.
    5. Clancey-Shang, Danjue, 2023. "COVID lockdown, Robinhood traders, and liquidity in stock and option markets," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    6. Kuvvet, Emre, 2022. "Robinhood investors and corporate misconduct," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    7. Iyer, Subramanian Rama & Simkins, Betty J., 2022. "COVID-19 and the Economy: Summary of research and future directions," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 47(PB).
    8. Kwak, Jun Hee, 2024. "Individual investor trading and stock returns after the Covid-19 pandemic: Evidence from Korea," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    9. Baig, Ahmed S. & Blau, Benjamin M. & Butt, Hassan A. & Yasin, Awaid, 2023. "Reprint of: Do retail traders destabilize financial markets? An investigation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    10. Umar, Zaghum & Yousaf, Imran & Zaremba, Adam, 2021. "Comovements between heavily shorted stocks during a market squeeze: Lessons from the GameStop trading frenzy," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    11. Baig, Ahmed S. & Blau, Benjamin M. & Butt, Hassan A. & Yasin, Awaid, 2022. "Do retail traders destabilize financial markets? An investigation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    12. Chen, Zhongdong & Craig, Karen Ann, 2023. "Active attention, retail investor base, and stock returns," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 39(C).
    13. Al Guindy, Mohamed, 2022. "Fear and hope in financial social networks: Evidence from COVID-19," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 46(PA).
    14. Yang Gao & Chengjie Zhao & Bianxia Sun & Wandi Zhao, 2022. "Effects of investor sentiment on stock volatility: new evidences from multi-source data in China’s green stock markets," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 8(1), pages 1-30, December.
    15. Paola Deriu & Fabrizio Lillo & Piero Mazzarisi & Francesca Medda & Adele Ravagnani & Antonio Russo, 2022. "How Covid mobility restrictions modified the population of investors in Italian stock markets," Papers 2208.00181, arXiv.org.
    16. Arturas Kaklauskas & Edmundas Kazimieras Zavadskas & Natalija Lepkova & Saulius Raslanas & Kestutis Dauksys & Ingrida Vetloviene & Ieva Ubarte, 2021. "Sustainable Construction Investment, Real Estate Development, and COVID-19: A Review of Literature in the Field," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-42, July.
    17. Djalilov, Abdulaziz & Ülkü, Numan, 2021. "Individual investors’ trading behavior in Moscow Exchange and the COVID-19 crisis," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(C).
    18. Nobanee, Haitham & Ellili, Nejla Ould Daoud, 2023. "What do we know about meme stocks? A bibliometric and systematic review, current streams, developments, and directions for future research," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 589-602.
    19. Gempesaw, David & Henry, Joseph J. & Velthuis, Raisa, 2022. "Piecing together the extent of retail fractional trading," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    20. Alexander Guzmán & Christian Pinto-Gutiérrez & María-Andrea Trujillo, 2021. "Trading Cryptocurrencies as a Pandemic Pastime: COVID-19 Lockdowns and Bitcoin Volume," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 9(15), pages 1-15, July.
    21. Ingar Haaland & Ole-Andreas Elvik Næss & Ingar K. Haaland, 2023. "Misperceived Returns to Active Investing," CESifo Working Paper Series 10257, CESifo.
    22. Sabrina Buti & Barbara Rindi & Ingrid M. Werner, 2022. "Diving into dark pools," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 51(4), pages 961-994, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    COVID-19 pandemic; Financial markets; Individual investors; Retail trading; Herding; Robinhood; Robintrack;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G41 - Financial Economics - - Behavioral Finance - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making in Financial Markets
    • G01 - Financial Economics - - General - - - Financial Crises
    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading

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