IMPORTANT: Why we had to limit the US market on 29th January (not our choice and we engineered a solution)

Two quick points. I received no notification of this dramatic event, maybe because I requested notifications in app were turned off due to the number I was getting? I think there should be a critical level notification thatā€™s separate so if the ā€œweā€™ve released some ETFsā€ news is off we still get the very important stuff!
Secondly Iā€™m finding reviewing the currently available list in Android quite difficult - formatting issue as Iā€™d like to see a ā€˜view listā€™ option please.

Overall ft come across as transparent and I love the lack of trading fee.

Hopefully the teamā€™s efforts this weekend will be worth it.

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No one was forced to sell? This isnā€™t T212 or Robinhood.

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Hi all. Iā€™m new to Freetrade having signed up yesterday. This is meant ONLY in a constructive way, and I really am sorry for those of us who have been b*ggered financially by recent events.

Having read Viktorā€™s note just now, I get the intial feeling that Iā€™m signed up to a platform with a good mission and values - based on the transparency so far and lack of ā€˜squirmish/avoidanceā€™ type language used in the note. It contrasts with previous experience Iā€™ve had of organisational/comms PR messages that arenā€™t so down to earth.

Feels like a good signal to me, but please keep true to that @Viktor and team! Thanks, Jonan

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Welcome to the community @jonanboto :wave:

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appreciated Jonny sir!

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The scary thing about this whole saga, is just how few people actually understand how the stock market actually works.

They have this idea that things should work seamlessly, instantly and stock purchases should be available 24/7 365 days a year.

It took me a year of research before I started dipping my toes into the Stock market. It seems there is a huge number of people in the world whoā€™s research consists of a youtube video and a facebook or twitter meme.

The reddit push is over, the hedge funds will now jump quickly everytime someone mentions anything on reddit, They wonā€™t be caught with their pants down again

The only ones holding any stock will be the retail investors, falling for an artificially pumped up stock mania, and will crash, burn, and lose their shirt, when it eventually comes tumbling down.

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Theyā€™ve not even named and shamed them other outlets have instead had to go digging to find the information.

Also rather than using Barclays as the FX bank whom have a massive investment banking arm (in instances like this where they force you to not allow certain access to markets or select equities) could that not be opening up to criticism that there may be a conflict of interest, like in the case of RH and Citadel. Could you not instead have chosen a banking provider whom doesnā€™t have such a huge investment banking arm?

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Surely you can see why they wouldnā€™t immediately offer up the name to the twitter hordes on Friday? Iā€™m sure there were harsh words behind the scenes but you donā€™t just slam the partner you rely on when things fall apart.

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Of course theyā€™re not naming and shaming them. Businesses are run by adults, not children. Itā€™s sad that this even needs clarifying. :smiling_face_with_tear:

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Is there any update for Monday? Will US trading still be heavily restricted. I really like FT and I understand this is not fully in its control but I may need to transfer to a competitor who has not had these issues.

Pretty obvious whoā€™s controlling who in this situation though isnā€™t it? They havenā€™t been able to resolve via their banking partner for Monday. They are still in a position where they need to rely on backcoding a new system to try and workaround what they are given (admirable by the way) rather than the bank themselves returning service back to normal.

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Which one? :wink: Most if not all brokers have had problems to varying levels, some self imposed, others, like freetrade, had problems imposed on them.

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Although to be fair, it probably should work this way. :wink:

Iā€™m not sure this is over just yet. Many of the people using that subreddit have been emboldened by this crisis and trained by the crypto bubble to expect ever increasing returns with no fundamentals, so why not buy buy buy? Many people joining freetrade Friday are desperate to buy this stock and angry they canā€™t.

I wouldnā€™t personally buy GME or other heavily shorted stocks (which sometimes have some good reasons to be shorted), but the short squeeze might take a little while to play out - see VW for a historical example. Perhaps we have seen the high, or perhaps this was just a rehearsal for the high. You can guarantee if it does go very high though that retail traders buying near the peak and trying to get out will be unable to sell until it is too late. I just hope they donā€™t blame their broker for problems selling if the markets freeze up.

All the indicators for asset prices in general and the US stock market in particular being overpriced are looking pretty convincing to me (CAPE, ZIRP forever, low growth, increasing volatility and concentration - 5 all tech stocks being ~ the top 25% of the S&P, blank cheque companies, increasing manias, asset bubbles, retail investment at all time highs), and we are of course in the middle of a global recession caused by a pandemic, which should be driving prices down as profits will not recover for a while. So the fundamentals are damaged, while prices are hitting all time highs. This is just the sort of black swan event which can have repercussions far beyond the expected ones, so we may well see further disruption in the markets next week.

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Iā€™d like to point out that the disruption affected all members of free trade yet only plus members get their subscription refundedā€¦ what about the rest? standard members should also receive the same courtesy.

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So you want back what you paid for the whole service freetrade provides while it was down? I am sure freetrade will happily send you Ā£0.

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I definitely canā€™t sell. See Pending cancellation for 48 hours

Itā€™s now approaching 72 hours that they have been locked. I understand the market doesnā€™t open until tomorrow but this has been half of Thursday and all of Friday that I have been unable to sell due to a pending cancelled sell order.

Personally, I think Freetrade are doing an excellent job. This situation was foisted upon them and not of their own making. A relatively small company like :freetrade: shouldnā€™t reasonably be expected to have a backup FX provider when theyā€™re building out their product and working hard to improve in all sorts of other areas. I also use T212 and HL, but prefer FT and have my S&S ISA with them.

I have great respect for them working all weekend and refunding the January Plus fee to everyone. I donā€™t want it back, though. Iā€™d much rather they used it to buy one of their hardworking staff a nice :coffee: and some :doughnut:

Obligatory :rocket: and :large_blue_diamond: :raised_hand:

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You should contact in-app support. From my understanding all pending orders have been cancelled and many people have reported this on the forum, so if this has not yet happened for you, you should let their customer support know and they can fix it for you.

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