Kragero/Melbourne/New York | Alex Kearns was an ordinary 20-year-old. He played the trombone, studied at the University of Nebraska and, like millions of other Americans, traded stocks to pass the time or make some money when the coronavirus shut down schools and workplaces. Unfortunately, his youthful dabbling ended in tragedy.
On June 12 back at home in Naperville, Illinois, Kearns took his own life, after believing he had lost nearly $US750,000 ($1.1 million) in a soured options bet made on Robinhood, an online brokerage that has become emblematic of a new era in retail investing.
