Robinhood, Charles Schwab and Fidelity Investments have resolved technical issues with their trading apps. The glitches occurred as users rushed to trade amid a massive market slump driven by growing fears of a U.S. recession.
Earlier in the day, American brokers reported that some customers struggled to log in to their accounts. The issues came as Wall Street’s main indexes opened sharply lower due to weak economic data, disappointing quarterly earnings from major technology firms, and escalating geopolitical tensions.
At the peak of the issues, nearly 14,500 Schwab users and over 3,600 Fidelity users reported problems, according to outage tracking website Downdetector.com. Downdetector collates status reports from various sources, including users.
Charles Schwab acknowledged the issue in a post on its X social media account: “Due to a technical issue, some clients may have difficulty logging in to Schwab platforms. Please accept our apologies as our teams work to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. Hold times may be longer than usual.” The firm later announced at 12:38 p.m. ET that the issue had been resolved.
Extreme market volatility can sometimes trigger technical problems, raising concerns about the capacity of brokerages to handle high volumes. These glitches have often frustrated retail investors, especially those looking to “buy the dip” or adjust their positions.
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Many users took to social media platform X on Monday to complain about the disruptions, with some indicating they would seek alternatives.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is tracking the developments, a spokesperson said. “We are actively monitoring for the orderly functioning of markets,” he added.
Earlier in the day, Robinhood Markets resumed overnight trading after a pause, and Vanguard also reported service disruptions. However, Interactive Brokers experienced no system-wide outage. “As of 11 a.m. ET, we have executed 5 million trades, and on Friday, we had 5.9 million trades, which was already a busy day,” said Steve Sanders, VP of marketing and product development at Interactive Brokers.
