If you would like to receive weekly updates like this, sign up here.

Are you a Millennial or a Gen-Z?

Do you use a no commission broker to trade stocks?

It’s a hot segment of the online brokerage market right now.

Take Superhero (what a name by the way!).

Online broker Superhero will launch free-to-trade US share market access from this week as competition heats up between the local fintech companies vying for the hearts and minds of globally focused and cashed-up Millennial and Generation Z investors.

This would give its 80,000 customers the ability to buy and sell US-listed equities from early this week.

Companies like Superhero and Stake are raising large amounts of capital from global venture funds.

This is due in no small part by the hype generated by US based trading apps Robinhood or Israeli based eToro, used by certain Reddit based groups to take speculative positions in stocks.

Stocks like Game Stop.

There is now a clear race to the bottom in terms of offering zero commission and ever falling currency conversion rates.

But what if I told you these same companies are manipulating you? And are blatantly lying to you!

Regardless of how successful you’ve been in the markets or not using these tools, it’s time to wake up and recognize what’s really going on here before you potentially make a mistake and lose everything!

Want to know more?

Read on.

They have you right where they want you.

It’s generally accepted that this trend really took hold during the dark days of the COVID lockdowns across the globe in 2020.

Young people forced to stay inside and bored out of their wits allied with a strong and sustained rebound from global stock markets in mid-March saw an increased interest from these new entrants.

And many of them, at least those in the US, turned their stimulus checks into trading accounts. Something similar happened in the UK with furlough payments.

But the rocket that launched apps like Robinhood into the stratosphere was the social media fueled speculative options trading in stocks like AMC and Game Stop.

Research house Investment Trends estimated that more than 450,000 Australians made their first trade last year, with more than half under the age of 40.

There is your first red flag.

Young people approaching their peak earning capacity in their careers with little to no experience of the markets being urged on via their favourite social media platform to get involved.

But for me, it gets worse from here.

The best advertising in the world is designed to make you feel you are part of something special should you buy or use a product.

They want to make you feel that you’re ahead of the curve, that you are part of the “in” crowd and represent the dawning of a new era for your generation.

This is the plan to engage with younger generations.

Take that in while you read the below comments from Demographer Mark McCrindle, a regular on the TED talk circuit.

“Think about the new generation of wealth accumulators…”

“…They are global in outlook and digital in tool, social in influence channel and mobile in how they work and interact.”

If I thought those terms related directly to me, I’d feel damn good right now.

And that is the point.

These brokers know full well that this generation strive and want to be associated with names like Tesla, Netflix, and Apple.

Now imagine for the first time ever being able to use these app-based brokers to own shares in the “coolest” companies amongst you and your friends.

It’s very seductive.

We have inexperienced young people with government stimulus cheques or high paying jobs (or both) being indoctrinated to be influencers, not ask questions and hand over their hard earned to these companies.

And with Stake and Superhero now busy offering retail superannuation products and even self-managed ones, they want your weekly pay cheque AND your retirement funds as well!

But here is where it gets downright morally reprehensible.

It’s always the small print that ends up killing you.

Mister McCrindle said something else during these TED talks.

Per the above quote, he said that the next generation of wealth accumulators will be heightened by Generation Alpha, those born after 2010.

Yes, that’s right, today’s 11-year-olds.

And this line of thinking isn’t aspirational either.

Superhero has now added trading accounts for minors, enabling parents, grandparents, or other adults to make investments on behalf of Generation Alpha loved ones.

This is sold as providing an alternative to Dollar mites-style student banking.

Is this the blind leading the blind here?

You expect grandparent to be able to teach their grandkids how to trade?

Superhero chief executive John Winters said this about it.

“The difference between having money in a savings account or investing in markets is pretty stark…And as your child gets older, it’s also a good opportunity to teach them about investing and have conversations with them about managing risk and diversification.”

As long as you have these conversations using Superheroes suite of trading products, right John?

Stock markets around the world since March 2020 have only gone in one direction: up.

It’s the perfect time to draw in inexperienced young people and their money with the “don’t ask questions, just join and make money” advertising.

Is that you?

And if so, did you fall for the ‘zero commission’ nonsense?

Here’s a fact for you.

Recently eToro announced it had doubled its commissions for the first quarter of 2021. That was worth almost $350 million USD.

But wait! They don’t charge commission, right? Wrong!

You didn’t read the small print.

To buy or sell stocks, sure. No commission for those. However, the seamless ease of transition from that to using leverage and buy options, Contracts for Difference (CFDs) or buying crypto is their trap.

And the fees for that are very hefty. You can see that’s true via their announced first quarter results.

Recall this is the preferred method of Reddit groups like WallStreetBets when they scream at you via social media to take the fight to Wall Street.

Can you understand that it’s a trap?

Inexperienced and untrained young traders are being eaten alive, taking leverage that eats their capital.

Do you know what to do should the markets have a period of below average growth?

Have you spent any length of time or money to diligently teach yourself the basics of investing or trading? Hint: it’s not what fellow Gen Z’s or Millennials tell you on Tik-Tok.

Even more important is the timing.

Consider this; when the last real estate cycle peaked, between 2008 and 2012, 465 banks, a lot of them investment banks, failed in the US alone.

You need to know when to be in the market, but more importantly you need to know when to be out also.

So, if you have money to invest via these brokers then I’m confident you’d have $47 USD to invest into your own education a year?

That’s what it will cost to get the Boom Bust Bulletin.

This bulletin will teach you the 18.6-year Real Estate Cycle, why it repeats and crucially the timing necessary to maximize your investment returns.

Future editions will provide you the solid technical grounding necessary to enter the market using these online brokers and allow you to begin your trading journey with confidence.

All for a few cups of coffee a year.

Incredible value folks!

Sign up now.

Best wishes,

Darren J Wilson
and your Property Sharemarket Economics Team

P.S – Find us on Twitter under the username @PropertySharem1

P.P.S – Go to our Facebook Page and follow us for right up to date information on the 18.6-year Real Estate Cycle.