Robinhood’s Big Moment: S&P 500 Entry, Social Trading, and AI-Cortex Indicators

Robinhood (HOOD) is on a roll. Since our entry at $56/share with an $80 price target in May 2025, the stock has officially joined the S&P 500—a milestone confirming its rising institutional stature.

Shares hit fresh all-time highs in after-hours trading, demonstrating strong investor enthusiasm. That said, valuations remain elevated, so using options strategies or waiting for pullbacks may be the safer approach to limit risk.

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What’s Changed in the Investor Playbook

Once upon a time, investors leaned on brokers or financial media for ideas. Now, many turn to platforms like YouTube or X—but those are often teeming with hype, scams, and unverified claims.

Robinhood reckons it has a better way.

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Live From Tonight’s HOOD Summit: New Robinhood Upgrades for Active Traders

Robinhood used its annual HOOD Summit live from Las Vegas to unveil a major suite of upgrades, positioning itself as a true financial superapp. Here’s what’s new:

Robinhood Social — The Trading Community Arrives

• Launching early next year to selected users (with a broader rollout to follow), Robinhood Social is a built-in social network focused solely on trading.
• Users will be able to follow verified traders, view live, authenticated trades, and discuss strategies in an environment free from hype and fraud.
• Posts will include trade details like entry and exit points, and performance metrics like profit rates—boosting transparency across the board.
• Robinhood sees this as a direct challenge to platforms like Reddit and X by offering credible, trade-backed insights—all at no additional cost.

Robinhood Legend Gets Supercharged With AI & New Tools

AI-Powered Capabilities

• Powered by Robinhood Cortex, users can now build custom financial indicators and market scans through simple descriptions—no coding needed.
• These tools sync seamlessly between desktop and mobile for consistent trading flow.

Expanded Trading Instruments

• Futures trading is now live on Legend, covering 40+ CME Group products—including S&P 500, oil, gold, and Bitcoin—with commissions as low as $0.50 for Gold members. No PDT restrictions, plus real-time Level 2 data.
• A fresh ladder widget supports quick, one-click trades for futures, stocks, ETFs, and crypto—available now in the U.S., with limited UK support.
• Overnight Index Options will soon be tradable 24/5, starting early next year—opening traders to global market moves after hours.
• Short selling, previously unavailable, will launch across mobile and Legend, letting users hedge or profit from declines—rolling out in the coming months.

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AI-Powered Custom Indicators & Scans: Introducing Robinhood Cortex

Going back to Robinhood Cortex - the AI engine behind a suite of new tools for active traders on the Robinhood Legend platform:

• Custom Indicators & Scans: Just describe what you want—Cortex builds it, no coding required.
• These tools seamlessly sync between desktop and mobile, making analysis effortless.
• Launching early next year for Robinhood Gold members (~$5/month or $50/year).

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Recap - New Trading Capabilities: Overnight Index Options, Futures, Short Selling, and Ladders

Robinhood Legend is expanding fast:

• Futures Trading: Access over 40 CME Group products (S&P 500, oil, gold, Bitcoin) with ultra-low fees (as low as $0.50 for Gold members), real-time Level 2 data, and no PDT rules. Trade directly from charts or via the popular ladder.
• Overnight Index Options: Now tradable around the clock—react instantly to global events.
• Short Selling Tools: Sell stocks short with speed and efficiency, even outside ladder view.
• Ladder Widget: Live L2 and P&L data for stocks, ETFs, futures, and crypto—execute with one-click.

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AI Digests: Real-Time Explanations that Speak Human

Part of the Cortex universe, Digests is already live:

• Combines news, analyst reports, technicals, and proprietary data to explain stock moves in plain English.
• Available in the U.S. and U.K., with a 95% user satisfaction rate.

This powerful tool helps users understand why a stock is moving—whether due to earnings, news, analyst sentiment, or other signals.

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Bringing It All Together: The Smarter, More Connected Robinhood

Feature	What It Does
S&P 500 Inclusion	Marks Robinhood’s elevated market status.
Robinhood Social	Community feed of verified trades—across multiple asset types.
AI-Cortex Indicators	Custom, no-code indicators and scans for smart analysis.
Overnight Trading	24/5 access to index options, futures, and global market moves.
Short Selling Tools	Hedge or profit from declines—same rapid access as other trade types.
AI Digests	Clear, AI-driven summaries explaining market movements in real time.

These enhancements signal a major shift—Robinhood is evolving from a broker to a full-fledged financial superapp, blending AI, social features, and high-performance trading tools into one platform.

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Bottom Line

Between S&P 500 inclusion, record highs, and the unveiling of Robinhood Social, AI-Cortex indicators, overnight options, and short-selling tools, Robinhood is entering a bold new era.

Growth is powerful—but so is the importance of risk management. Consider strategies like options, staged entries, and intelligent use of AI tools like Digests to stay ahead and protect your capital.

Stay bullish like we are at GAR Capital— Robinhood one hell of a company.