The stock market has been around for various decades, and they’ve been a few alterations to how trading stocks are approached these days. This article will explain the very basics of stock trading and the best stock trading apps will be highlighted.
What Are Stocks?
When a company of any calibre sells a chunk of its organization for whatever reason, the piece sold is a stock or share.
Further, a stock not only grants partial ownership of a company but also a claim of its earnings.
A person who owns one of these shares automatically becomes a stakeholder. Although being a stakeholder doesn’t always mean you get a say in how the company is run.
Most of the time, the larger the shares a stakeholder owns, the more influence they have on decisions.
The Stock Market
The very first stock market came into existence back in 1778 in the United Kingdom, London. A couple of years after another sprung up in Philadelphia in the year 1790.
Moreover, the stock market or exchange comprises shares of companies being traded (bought and sold). Just like a regular commodity like Gold or Silver, the value of a stock rises or falls due to various variables.
On these exchanges, individuals can buy as much stock as they desire with no restrictions.
Stock Trading
Sincerely, there are no complications to the concept of stock trading. It is simply the buying and selling of a part of a franchise on a regulated exchange.
The Mechanics of Stock Trading
How is it that an average retail consumer or investor can buy a stock of a company like Tesla on a random exchange online?
Companies tend to divide themselves into a couple of portions (shares) and then sell to interested investors to raise revenue. Some of the shares are sold to regulated exchanges where the public can get access to them at a fair price per share.
People then proceed to buy these stocks off speculation that they might appreciate over time.
In other words, the funds raised from selling these shares are usually siphoned into other streams that further the growth of a country’s economy.
See the difference between forex trading and stock trading
Stock Trading Apps
There are tons of apps just trading stocks making it hard to choose which to use, here’s a list of the best stock trading apps.
#1. Robinhood
Robinhood is undoubtedly the most popular stock trading app to the masses and is regarded as one of the best stock trading apps. They were the first to introduce zero commission trading and their pleasing layout.
Advanced trading tools cannot be used on this platform since the priority here is to deliver a simple exchange for traders. Various coins can be bought on this exchange and more get added over time- one of the latest being Solana.
#2. Ex Trade
The services provided by Ex Trade can be accessed on both web and on a mobile phone. Its mobile app is particularly popular as it leads the chart on both the application stores for iOS and Android devices.
Further, the layout of the app is not complicated so it is beginner friendly. But enough features are packed into it for it to meet the needs of a veteran trader.
#3. Thinkorswin
A lot of new investors would love to test the waters before going all out to buy stocks. Thinkorswin provides that by allowing users to paper buy stocks at no cost.
The feature is named paperMoney trading simulator, trading strategies can be tested with it too.
Besides, indicators can be added to charts and most importantly study tools that were created by YOU.
#4. Fidelity
Stocks aside, fidelity offers the option to trade other forms of financial markets. Overall, this app tends to appeal to long-term investors since tools to meet long-term goals are specifically provided.
The application is mobile-friendly and extremely customizable which is decent. In-app, economic news headlines are provided and Bloomberg can be streamed too.
A non-trading feature that is provided is the ability to pay bills which can come in handy.
#5. SoFi Invest
SoFi Invest is suitable for new stock traders since it has a simplistic and straightforward layout. All the stocks available on this platform are arranged in categories to ease the search.
Besides, there are loads of educational content to get you up to speed as well. An automated portfolio investing is available for a minimum balance of 100 dollars.
Additionally, other forms of investment like cryptocurrencies can be traded here.
#6. Ally Invest
Ally Invest is one of the best stock trading apps for people looking to combine mobile banking and stock trading all in one app.
Investments can be monitored in an orderly manner and trades can be executed swiftly.
#7. Webull
If a sophisticated platform is what you need, then look no further. Webull launched back in 2018 and it is packed with loads of features to suit your trading needs.
Also, there is no restriction on a defined deposit; any amount of your choice can be picked. Additionally, a paper trading feature that allows users to get accustomed to the stock market without having to risk actual capital is available.
#8. Interactive Broker
This broker offers multiple types of accounts for stock trading, which are all suitable for retail investors.
A major issue with using his app is notifications aren’t sent to your phone directly but to a registered email which can be rather stressful.
#9. Ameritrade
The Ameritrade mobile app dramatically resembles that of thinkorswim- which was previously mentioned on this list. A lot of advanced tools for marking up charts are provided at your fingertips.
Lastly, no minimum balance is required to enjoy all of these features and zero commissions are charged on trades.
#10. Vanguard
Vanguard is suitable for all sorts of investors out there while offering zero-commission trading.
They offer a type of account that allows traders to keep buying more assets which can be applied for.
From a retail trader’s point of view, there’s no need for advanced trading tools. They simply want to purchase stocks as fast as possible.
Robinhood offers this with their mobile application while charging zero fees for commission. There’s no surprise that a large share of the public adopts this app.
Certain stock trading apps give away free stocks as an incentive to gain a larger market share.
A couple of apps on this list do the same, for example, Robinhood and Sofi invest both giveaway 1 free stock to new users.
Webull steps this up a notch by giving a whooping amount of 6 free stocks and $5 worth of crypto.
The first thing is to select a regulated and reliable stockbroker which offers zero-commission trading. Then, learning how to perform research in order to find promising stock is important.
Once that has been settled manage risk and distribute funds appropriately to a variety of stocks. The last thing you would want to do is place all your eggs in a single basket
Summary; The Best Stock Trading Apps
There are countless applications to choose from as they all provide value to an extent. We tailored this list of the best stock trading apps to ease the pressure of this decision.
Each trading app has a distinct feature that makes it stand out, check to see if they provide the services needed for you as a trader.
Lastly, stick to stock brokers who do not charge any commission on trades, it’s the standard these days.