January 2021 brought some of the most fascinating stock market news stories of the decade. Reddit’s r/wallstreetbets successfully caused the price of stocks like Gamestop, Nokia, and Blackberry to surge, causing large hedge funds to lose money as they were betting against the stock. With increased interest in the stock market, new investors may be looking for an app to start investing in. With so many choices to choose from, new investors may be overwhelmed by the choices, but I can assure you that there are a few excellent apps to pick from. Whether you’re looking for basic investing, options trading or passive investing, there are plenty of apps to choose from. If you want to grow your savings, speculate in new companies, or invest in established companies, there are apps that can help you with any of your investing needs and wants.
As usual, none of this is financial advice, and please do your own research before investing. All investing requires financial risk. Never invest more than you’re willing to lose.
Recent surging in stock market news has caused Google searches for stock market related terms to surge. According to Google Trends, searches for “Gamestop” reached their peak on Jan. 28, the term being searched more on that day than any other day for the past five years. (1) On Jan. 29, “Robinhood” reached its peak interest as a result of the controversy surrounding the app halting investing for specific stocks related to the reddit subreddit pumping stocks. (2) With major news network CNN interviewing the CEO of Robinhood regarding the controversy, investing to increase savings has come to the forefront of ideas for many of those who did not consider investing before. This article will outline some good picks for investing apps to consider and maybe even use.
Social investing for beginners:
Public app
The app Public is a relatively new app with a major focus on the social aspect of investing. The Public website writes, “Public makes the stock market social.” (3) Public also supports fractional shares which means you can buy parts of a stock without paying for the entire stock. The platform is extremely intuitive, and the design is extremely user friendly. For beginner investors, I would highly suggest this platform as an investing platform to get familiar with buying shares of a company. At the moment, the app is only available on mobile, but a web version should be in the works.
Passive Investing:
M1 Finance
M1 Finance is one of the best apps when it comes to passive investing. M1 Finance allows you to create a “pie” of companies you want to invest in. Then, you pick the weighting of each company within the pie, and what percent of your portfolio you want each company to take up. Then, you deposit $100 and let time do its work. American investor Ken Fisher said, “Time in the market beats timing the market—almost always.” (4) M1 Finance is designed for the passive investor looking to hold investments for a year at least.
Whether its Public or M1 Finance, or another investing platform, there are pros and cons to any investing platform; however, for beginner investors, the Public App and M1 Finance are some of the best options for those looking to begin their investing journey. For anyone with any questions about how a fellow university student is investing, or questions regarding frugal investing, do not hesitate to email me at [email protected].
- https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=today%205-y&geo=US&q=Gamestop
- https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=today%203-m&geo=US&q=Robinhood
- https://public.com/
- https://acquirersmultiple.com/2018/09/ken-fisher-time-in-the-market-beats-timing-the-market-almost-always/#:~:text=The%20Blog-,Ken%20Fisher%3A%20Time%20In%20The%20Market,Timing%20The%20Market%20%E2%80%93%20Almost%20Always