Investment apps

[skianth16]

Does anyone have any investment apps they use that they would recommend to a fellow scooper?

Here's some background about where I'm at - Rather than sending a few hundred bucks a month to the bank to fund a property tax escrow account, I take that money and invest it. Unfortunately, this forces me into short-term investments with semi-frequent trades (relative to my retirement accounts). After using e-trade for a while, I started to get annoyed with all the commission fees, since I was at minimum buying once per month, and since this is just an escrow account, the commissions represented a higher percentage of fees relative to the total balance than I'd like.

I eventually found Robinhood, which doesn't charge commissions but has a sub-par interface and doesn't offer much in the way of information. Right now, I do my research in e-trade and trading in Robinhood. It's fine, but I assume there's got to be other apps or even other brokerage sites that could fit my needs better. Any suggestions?

[StillAWarrior]

Does anyone have any investment apps they use that they would recommend to a fellow scooper?

Here's some background about where I'm at - Rather than sending a few hundred bucks a month to the bank to fund a property tax escrow account, I take that money and invest it. Unfortunately, this forces me into short-term investments with semi-frequent trades (relative to my retirement accounts). After using e-trade for a while, I started to get annoyed with all the commission fees, since I was at minimum buying once per month, and since this is just an escrow account, the commissions represented a higher percentage of fees relative to the total balance than I'd like.

Have you tried Robinhood?

I eventually found Robinhood, which doesn't charge commissions but has a sub-par interface and doesn't offer much in the way of information.

Never mind.

[4th and State]

Does anyone have any investment apps they use that they would recommend to a fellow scooper?

Here's some background about where I'm at - Rather than sending a few hundred bucks a month to the bank to fund a property tax escrow account, I take that money and invest it. Unfortunately, this forces me into short-term investments with semi-frequent trades (relative to my retirement accounts). After using e-trade for a while, I started to get annoyed with all the commission fees, since I was at minimum buying once per month, and since this is just an escrow account, the commissions represented a higher percentage of fees relative to the total balance than I'd like.

I eventually found Robinhood, which doesn't charge commissions but has a sub-par interface and doesn't offer much in the way of information. Right now, I do my research in e-trade and trading in Robinhood. It's fine, but I assume there's got to be other apps or even other brokerage sites that could fit my needs better. Any suggestions?

I use Charles Schwab and love it.  If you want to keep transaction costs low (or zero for that matter) you can buy non-transaction fee funds offered on their platform.  They have several ETFs and mutual funds (SCHB, SCHZ, SCHF, SCHE, and many others) that have no transaction fees and expense ratios even lower than vanguard funds (the ones listed above).

Unless you want to trade stocks, then its $4.95 a trade.  Schwab's research is pretty good as well.

[MU82]

A good research site is Seeking Alpha. They have a free mobile app.

They do charge for some of their content, but the vast majority of it is free.

[skianth16]

A good research site is Seeking Alpha. They have a free mobile app.

They do charge for some of their content, but the vast majority of it is free.

I check seeking alpha for news stories and commentary pretty often too. I think their free content is some of the best stuff out there. Plus, it's nice that you can sign up for alerts and get earnings and other alerts sent right to your email. I'm a big fan.

[skianth16]

I use Charles Schwab and love it.  If you want to keep transaction costs low (or zero for that matter) you can buy non-transaction fee funds offered on their platform.  They have several ETFs and mutual funds (SCHB, SCHZ, SCHF, SCHE, and many others) that have no transaction fees and expense ratios even lower than vanguard funds (the ones listed above).

Unless you want to trade stocks, then its $4.95 a trade.  Schwab's research is pretty good as well.

I didn't realize Schwab had any free trading options. Are the funds offered in that category pretty limited, or do you get a decent variety?

One reason I still use e-trade a little bit is to have a wider access to investments than what Robinhood offers. I've found a few little pharma companies that I can't access on Robinhood but have some great short-term potential, so I deal with the fees to have that wider access. I might be trying to have my cake and eat it too looking for an app with no fees and a better platform and access than Robinhood, but I'm hoping I'll stumble across something in the app store eventually.

[Benny B]

A good research site is Seeking Alpha. They have a free mobile app.

They do charge for some of their content, but the vast majority of it is free.

Good research, sure... but have you read any of the stuff from their contributors?   Yeesh... it's as if you gave an investment account to the likes of Eamonn, Myron, Seth, and Goody and told them to starting writing.

I asked the OP's question a few months ago... FWIW, I'll second for Schwab and throw in the 'D' and 'V' ETF's for good measure.  StreetSmart interface is pretty decent, but heavy on the CPU and will lag if you're not running on hardware built in the last few years.

[MU82]

Good research, sure... but have you read any of the stuff from their contributors?   Yeesh... it's as if you gave an investment account to the likes of Eamonn, Myron, Seth, and Goody and told them to starting writing.

There's some good analysis on Seeking Alpha and, as you say, some really really bad stuff.

You get what you pay for!

Every investor is responsible for conducting his or her own due diligence. Anybody who takes the advice of anybody - even the pros - is asking for trouble.

I'll see a stock mentioned on Seeking Alpha I might not have heard of or one I hadn't thought of in awhile and use it as the jumping-in point for doing my own research. The vast majority of the time I do not end up buying ... but sometimes I do. But only if I think it's the right thing to do - and I never blame the guy who gave me the tip. My money, my responsibility!

[skianth16]

There's some good analysis on Seeking Alpha and, as you say, some really really bad stuff.

You get what you pay for!

Definitely agree with this perspective. Some of the user stuff is bad, but it can be interesting to get different takes that aren't so rigid like some of the pros offer. I've learned some unique things about companies and the sectors they play in from the site, even if it wasn't necessarily sound investment advice. It at least gave me some insights or a new perspective.

[4th and State]

I didn't realize Schwab had any free trading options. Are the funds offered in that category pretty limited, or do you get a decent variety?

One reason I still use e-trade a little bit is to have a wider access to investments than what Robinhood offers. I've found a few little pharma companies that I can't access on Robinhood but have some great short-term potential, so I deal with the fees to have that wider access. I might be trying to have my cake and eat it too looking for an app with no fees and a better platform and access than Robinhood, but I'm hoping I'll stumble across something in the app store eventually.

The free trading vehicles are Schwab products and then a select list of the fund companies they have agreements with.  I wouldn't call it a robust selection, but they have something across all asset classes available.   The Schwab products are mostly passive ETFs or mutual funds and they are extremely cheap.  I believe the $4.95 per trade is pretty competitive to a lot of other brokerages, but certainly not at the Robinhood level.

Its a race to zero for all these platforms so I imagine you will have it all in one place soon!

[TSmith34, Inc.]

I check seeking alpha for news stories and commentary pretty often too. I think their free content is some of the best stuff out there. Plus, it's nice that you can sign up for alerts and get earnings and other alerts sent right to your email. I'm a big fan.

Yeah, and there are some good authors to follow as well, like, oh I don't know, off the top of my head Mike Nadel...

[Benny B]

Yeah, and there are some good authors to follow as well, like, oh I don't know, off the top of my head Mike Nadel...

I knew I was missing someone.  Fixed.

Good research, sure... but have you read any of the stuff from their contributors?   Yeesh... it's as if you gave an investment account to the likes of Eamonn, Myron, Seth, Nads, and Goody and told them to starting writing.

[TSmith34, Inc.]

I knew I was missing someone.  Fixed.

I feel like I just made the perfect set for you to spike

[Benny B]

I feel like I just made the perfect set for you to spike

People must often mistake you for Sinjin's little brother.