Popular trading app Robinhood Markets launched presidential election trading on Monday.

Popular trading platform Robinhood Markets (NASDAQ: HOOD) announced its entry into presidential election trading on Monday, October 28, 2024, allowing U.S. citizens to trade contracts tied to either Kamala Harris or Donald Trump through its Robinhood Derivatives unit and ForecastEx, operated by Interactive Brokers.

The move comes just eight days before the presidential election and marks a significant expansion of prediction market trading following a recent favorable ruling for competitor Kalshi against the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

Robinhood Opens US Election Trading

The launch positions Robinhood alongside established players in the growing prediction markets space, including Kalshi, Interactive Brokers (NASDAQ: IBKR), and international platform Polymarket. The industry recently gained momentum after Kalshi’s victory against the CFTC, which had attempted to halt election outcome trading.

Despite the CFTC’s ongoing appeal, platforms are moving forward with election-related products. Recent controversy emerged when Polymarket investigated multiple accounts from a single French user who spent millions on Trump contracts, though the platform concluded no market manipulation occurred. Industry experts caution that these prediction markets, which often operate with light trading volume, use different methodologies than traditional polling and should not be considered substitutes for political polls.

Robinhood Stock Continues Gain Through the Year, Up Over 112% YTD

Robinhood’s stock has demonstrated remarkable strength in 2024, with shares climbing 112.40% year-to-date, significantly outperforming the S&P 500’s 21.77% gain. In pre-market trading on Monday, HOOD shares rose 2.92% to $27.85, adding to the company’s $23.94 billion market capitalization.

The company maintains a strong financial position with $11.32 billion in cash and a 12.96% profit margin, though its valuation metrics remain elevated with a P/E ratio of 87.29 and a price-to-sales ratio of 10.77. Despite the recent surge, the stock remains down over longer periods, showing declines of 31.65% and 28.79% over three and five years, respectively.

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