Terrance Odean on the $2.8bn catch in zero-commission trading

Berkeley professor’s research on the true cost of retail trading has caught the eye of regulators

Terrance Odean might have become a psychologist if not for Daniel Kahneman, one of the pioneers of behavioural economics, who convinced him it would be easier to make fresh discoveries in this newly emerging field – and that if the research failed to take off, he could easily land a higher paying job in finance.

“I’ve thanked him many times,” the Berkeley finance professor says.

Parts of the industry may have less cause to be grateful. Three decades on, Odean’s most recent research is raising