The market has various stock market apps and software programs that allow you to chart stock prices, watch earnings announcements, track share price performance, and see recent trading activity. However, keeping track of what you own and what you want to buy and sell can be difficult. The top-rated apps and software programs can help you with research and keep track of your portfolio.
Whether you need a trading app that will help you take a deeper look into a company’s fundamentals, or you want to research a fund that you have the option to buy and sell on the app itself, it is worth it. The common market software includes TD Ameritrade, E*Trade, Fidelity, Charles Schwab, and Ally Invest. All these five also come with their apps. In addition, Robinhood is another great trading app. You can click OTCMKTS LNVGF to check on various price targets.
TD Ameritrade
TD Ameritrade offers a full suite of mobile options, and all are equally easy to use. The mobile trades are all available on the same platform that investors use to keep track of their brokerage account balances and check their portfolios, so you won’t have to manage multiple apps. In addition, you can see how the Dow Jones is trending with the Investor Dashboard.
You can find current market quotes, and you can even add symbols, exchange names, or tickers to search for specific stocks and their latest performance. Unfortunately, mobile trading is not available for accounts with less than $10,000, and you can’t use mobile trading on tickers and symbols with market caps of more than $200 million.
E*Trade
Among others, E*Trade offers free stock trading. According to the latest stats from Bespoke Investment Group, E*Trade is the third-most-used trading app. That may seem surprising at first. However, unlike trading apps for individual stocks, many stock apps also offer access to an investment portfolio or self-directed 401(k). The investment portfolios or 401(k)s on offer vary, though they all look similar.
Fidelity
Fidelity offers a wide selection of actively managed and index mutual funds, plus individual stocks and ETFs for sale. Funds offered come from all around the world, including from Fidelity’s home country of the U.S. and from around the world. Because Fidelity is so widely known, it appears on this list a few times, but its stock-trading app remains among the most powerful and feature-rich. For example, the Fidelity Select Automated Trader (FSAXT) comes with all of the other platform options, and it is offered on a mobile app and desktop. In addition, it offers commission-free trades and has an educational portal with education resources and videos.
Robinhood
Robinhood was the highest-scoring free stock trading app, earning an “excellent” rating from Money and Tech Reviews. But both of the more expensive apps, Charles Schwab 2X Direct and Robinhood 2X Direct, beat out Robinhood in the upper-range price category.
Schwab 2X Direct gets a “superb” rating because it charges a flat rate of $4.95 per trade (no commissions), offers longer hold periods than Robinhood, and includes comprehensive research tools. However, with Robinhood 2X Direct, you’re on the hook for your brokerage account fees, and you can only open an account if you have at least $5,000 in your account.
Charles Schwab
Intelligent Portfolios is a portfolio management tool designed to provide investment guidance and intelligent investment recommendations. It does not involve trading but can assist a user in developing a strategy to buy or sell stocks.
To navigate between sections of Intelligent Portfolios, users are encouraged to connect to a mobile device. The platform offers options to create portfolios with no fees, invest money for a set period automatically, and compare risk-adjusted returns between individual stocks and the stock market. Like many other free stock trading apps, Intelligent Portfolios displays charts and graphs to show charts and provide information on a user’s portfolio.
Ally Invest
You can use it for free, but you can only trade 500 shares per day or 10,000 shares per quarter. Also, Ally Invest limits trades to no more than a total of $2,500 per week. Since you’re limited to buying a maximum of 500 shares per day, this means you can invest a maximum of $5,500 per week. Of course, no one can do that all the time, and you’re going to have to be consistent with your trading. You can see how many shares you have available to purchase on the chart at the top of the app. To make a trade, simply drag your finger over the information on the chart. None of the selected apps above is perfect. For example, the free options offered by the major banks are no longer free, some of the service offerings are still better than others, and some of the commission-free options don’t have the best user experience. However, if you want an app that gives you access to the world’s best exchange-traded funds and low-cost foreign stocks, it might be worth investing in the app of your choice—even if it’s a free one.
