The stock market is changing, and not by its own accord. Just like nearly every other industry, the stock market is experiencing disruption. From access to information, to easier, cheaper trades, it seems the traditional barriers and learning curves to investing in stocks are disappearing.
Here’s four very different apps that’ll turn you into a stock market pro in no time.
INDX.guru (indx.guru)
Shockingly, 98% of investors are underinformed when they trade stocks. INDX.guru’s value proposition is nicely aligned with this market pain point: to provide education to the investing community.
Self-dubbed as the “most beautiful” (and fast, and free) stock market monitor on the planet, the responsive web-based (and soon to be released on iPhone and Android) app is in private beta, soon to be open beta.
The reason this app is so powerful and instantly useful, is that no hoops need to be jumped, and information is displayed ‘as is’ and bias free, which is important due to most existing information elsewhere providing ‘stock tips’ generally are a result of the agenda of the tips provider.
It does what it says on the box, and displays over six million points of data in a streamlined, modern dashboard. When something changes, you’re instantly notified, so you never miss a thing.
Traditionally, to get this kind of information, you’d need to either manually research your information from five or more sources, or spend up to USD 28,000 per year on monitoring software. An offering like this, and free, makes it hard to resist.
At present, it offers access to all ASX-listed companies with NYSE and NASDAQ data ‘coming soon’ as per the technical notes. The dashboard is alive with data and contains two unique metrics: heat (being the volume of media coverage) and sentiment (being a measure of recent price performance relative to a selected market index).
It also streams current market position, relevant news, blogs, tweets, videos and announcements in a single dashboard.
Early users of the product have been experimenting with other uses for the app, including using it as a media monitoring service, a competitor tracking dashboard, and research purposes.
You can join INDX.guru’s beta here (disclaimer: I work with INDX.guru).
Robinhood (robinhood.com)
Robinhood allows users to make stock trades for free, and with no minimum deposit required. At present, it is limited to mainly US-based stocks and does not currently have a web interface (though they mention it is coming).
It is a very simple and streamlined app that plays to the strengths of its limitations more than anything. The interface is exceptionally simple to use, allowing for even beginners who are interested in trading stocks to proceed without feeling overwhelmed. The sign-up process is also very simple, and they do not ask for any personal information aside from what is typically expected with any stock brokerage software e.g a user’s social security number is a normal request.
The community engaged in Robinhood trades have collectively saved over USD 22 million by executing trades with the app. Without trading fees, Robinhood make money largely in the margin lending interest and uninvested customer cash deposits. Many have found it to be a great app to trade stocks. from beginners to seasoned investors.
eToro (etoro.com)
eToro is one of the more established apps that comes with fairly high ratings, and is friendly for beginners who are looking to get started in the stock market and stock trading. Offering an unlimited and free demo account, eToro allows users to step in and get comfortable with their interface and with their unique ‘copytrading’ function – the ability to mimic another trader’s actions.
With tight security and a lower-risk approach, traders are able to copy currency, commodity and stock trades, and eToro will not allow a user to lose more than the amount that they initially deposited (at present, the minimum deposit is USD 50).
eToro performs best as the web based platform, though is also available on iOS and Android. Their “practice account” that comes with 10k of play money that replenishes itself when the amount drops below $500.
The community of eToro is vast, with over 4.5 million users in more than 170 countries worldwide. With a simple interface, large community and beginner-friendly options in place, many stock broker experts agree that making a substantial amount by using eToro is entirely possible, so long as users go in informed and understanding of the learning that is involved with stock trading as a whole.
StockTwits (stocktwits.com)
The inventor of the ‘cashtag’, StockTwits is a different approach than the other apps listed here, as it is most noted for being a message board that hosts people’s opinions about the events occurring in the stock market.
This can include reviews of stocks, conversations about a stock rising and is generally considered a sort of ‘Twitter for stock traders’ or those interested in the stock market. To put it simply, users on StockTwits are introduced to a communications platform that is specifically for the investing community.
It pulls streams of information from various sources of information on stocks from across the web including social media. These streams are offered to provide information to the community so that they can develop their own opinions, be better informed and manage their investments with information that is summarized in 140 character messages, much like Twitter.
As a platform, it is integrated with several other platforms that include Yahoo! Finance, CNNMoney, Reuters, TheStreet.com, Bing.com, The Globe and Mail, as well as social media platforms Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
Users can select to follow certain stocks or specific contributors to appear in a personalized stream in StockTwits’ $TICKER system that is operates much the same way as a ticker stream seen at the bottom of the screen during news casts.
Some users have claimed that StockTwits is a helpful tool that they helps them stay up to date on stocks and interact with a knowledgeable community that is like-minded. Others have been a bit more critical of it, claiming that the message boards are unhelpful and filled with, to put it nicely, other users who don’t know what they are talking about.
Featured photo credit: sleeteye via flickr.com
