Robinhood Shortens Its Restricted-Securities List To 8 Stocks

Robinhood has updated its list of restricted stocks, and the list has grown much shorter than the 50 stocks it was at on Friday.

What Happened: Robinhood updated the "Changes due to ongoing market volatility" page on its site, where it maintains a list of the stocks it has placed buying restrictions on.

The list now shows just eight stocks, and the restrictions on some have been loosened up. Nokia Oyj NOK, for example, has gone from a limit of five shares to 2,000.

GameStop restrictions, however, remain at one share and five options contracts per user.

The restrictions cover the adding of shares and options to positions. They do not affect positions already owned by a trader. But if those positions happen to exceed these listed limits, then the trader won't be allowed to add any more.

Fractional-share purchases are also ruled out.

"These limits may be subject to change throughout the day," the page notes.

Why It Matters: The trading platform has been popular among the traders who've run up the price in stocks in recent weeks in massive short-squeeze plays. Short sellers have been left wrong-footed on their positions against GameStop Corp. GME, AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc AMC and other stocks.

Robinhood on Friday said it was forced to put the restrictions in place because the extreme volume and volatility put it at risk of breaching its deposit requirements with clearing hubs — part of markets' backend plumbing used to settle trades.