Category: Stocks

  • JP Morgan Launches New Investing App with Free Trades

    Chase bank is rolling out a digital investing service that comes bundled with free or discounted trades, a sophisticated portfolio-building tool and no-fee access to the bank’s stock research. Anyone who downloads J.P. Morgan’s mobile banking app or uses its website can get at least 100 free trades in the first year.

    • J.P. Morgan’s new digital brokerage service comes with free trades, portfolio building tool and access to research.
    • The bank’s new trading service will be available to its 47 million mobile or online users.
    • All customers get 100 free stock or ETF trades in the first year.
    • CEO Jamie Dimon hinted at this move in 2016, citing Amazon Prime as his inspiration.

    This move from J.P. Morgan Chase comes a few years after Apps such as Robinhood have already attracted more than 5 million users and a $5.6 billion valuation.

    This could be a threat to the current marketplaces as Chase is the the biggest U.S. bank and It already has financial ties with half of American households. More than 47 million people who already use the company’s banking app or website will gain access to the new service called “You Invest”.

    The bank is known for their high fees such as charging $24.95 for online trades as recently as last year.

    How to get Free Trades

    Signing up through the bank’s app can be done in three minutes, and moving money between Chase accounts happens instantaneously. Users can also seamlessly fund their investments from outside accounts. You can actually see the offer inside the Chase Bank App on the left menu under J.P. Morgan. There is no minimum required to open an account.

    All customers get 100 free stock or ETF trades in the first year, an offer that becomes permanent for those with Premier-level bank accounts, which require a combined $15,000 held at the bank.

    Those with Chase Private Client, a higher account that typically requires at least $100,000 in holdings, get unlimited trades. The bank is currently considering adding other tiers that would incentivize people to pull money from other brokerages.

    Users can construct diversified portfolios with an automated tool called portfolio builder by inputting their risk tolerance and objectives.

    Compare to Popular Online Brokerages

    The number of free trades a user has left is prominently displayed on the app. Most investors don’t typically need more than 100 trades a year, but if they exceed that amount, they’ll be charged $2.95 per trade, which is far cheaper than rivals E*Trade and Ameritrade.

    TD Ameritrade and E*Trade charge $6.95 per trade. Charles Schwab charges $4.95 a trade. Although they do all offer free trades for a fixed amount of time for new clients who deposit enough money. Bank of America offers customers of its Merrill Edge service 30 free trades per month, but that perk begins at $50,000 in balances. Otherwise, trades cost $6.95.

  • Get a Free Share of Stock from Trying Out This App

    Robinhood is a trending stock trading app that charges absolutely no commissions. They recently raised $110 million at a $1.3 billion valuation and are giving away tons of stocks with their latest promotion. They’ve started rolling out different promotions for referring new accounts as you will read below.

    The most exciting of which is a free share of stock for new accounts. This is basically your sign-up bonus for trying out their app. Who would turn down a free stock of possibly Amazon, Clorox Bleach, McCormick or Apple?

    Step 1: Open Account and Get Free Stock using our link (more…)

  • Are Margin Loans the Payday Loans of Stocks?

    What You Need to Know About Margin Loans
    When investing, an individual can choose to operate a cash account or a margin account. With a cash account, the account holder buys stocks with his or her own money and is limited by the amount of money in his or her account. When an individuals buys on margin, he or she puts up some of the money to make a purchase and borrows the rest.

    Example of a Margin Loan

    Let’s say that a broker offers a 50 percent margin. This means that to buy a $100 stock, the buyer pays $50 of his or her own money and borrows the other $50. At some point, ideally after you sell a stock that has increased in value, you repay the loan plus interest.

    Pros of a Margin Loan

    The best reason to buy on margin is that you have more buying power. Typically, a broker will give you a margin of 4 to 1, which means you can trade $4 for each $1 that you have in your account. If a stock grows in value, your return is higher because you put up less of your own capital. For instance, if you paid $1,000 for $1,000 worth of stock in a cash account and you finished the day with $1,100, that would be a 10 percent gain. However, if you bought $4,000 worth of stock with that same $1,000 and the stock went up 10 percent, you would make a profit of $400. That would be a 40 percent gain on the money that you actually put up yourself to make that purchase.

    Cons of a Margin Loan

    A big downfall with margin trading is that you could lose more than you risked if the stock declines in value. Additionally, just as your gains are larger when stocks appreciate, the losses are amplified as well when you trade with a margin account. You also have to pay interest on the borrowed funds as you would with any other loan product. Finally, if the equity in your account drops below the minimum required amount, you could be subject to a margin call. This means you have to deposit additional money or risk having portions of your portfolio liquidated.

    Who Offers Margin Loans?

    Most major brokers offer margin loans assuming you have enough capital and want to trade with margin. Examples of those who offer such loans include TD Ameritrade, E*Trade and Fidelity. While Charles Schwab doesn’t offer margin trading, Options Xpress, which is operated by the company, does offer them.

    Trading with a margin account carries risks that may not be suitable for all investors. Therefore, you should only trade with cash unless you can afford a potential margin call or are willing to accept the potential pitfalls that come with such a trading arrangement.

    While margin loans may be good for some you should really check out the interest rates on these products as they have higher rates. One person called them the payday loans for stocks. So be careful out there investing with a loan with either a credit card or one of these options.

  • Simple and Easy Ways to Invest Money Starting with Pocket Change

    Acornsinvesting

    Investing these days is much simpler than it was in the past and is not always a one-size fits all for everyone. Mainly because as the market has grown people have different strategies, different goals with small vs. large amounts to invest in risky or conservative investments.

    We have put together a list of ways to invest that are simple and do not require a huge amount of money. You can actually just invest pocket change to a few dollars each time.

    These are different ways to invest that are not the norm compared to a retirement plan at work such as a 401(k) or 403(b) where your employer is in charge. These plans normally only deal with a brokerage and plan the employer choose. These are great for tax advantages and investing in your future especially due to the employer matching. In addition to your employer plan or if you do not work a traditional job and work from home you need ways to invest your money without all the brokerage hassles.

    Acorns is a free mobile app with plans for a web-based application. This app allows you to automatically invest your digital spare change beginning with $5. You basically give the Acorns app permission to round up your purchases on debit or credit cards and then invest the difference by automatically pulling it out of your bank checking account.

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  • TradeKing $200 New Account Bonus + $150 Transfer Offer

    tradekinglogoTradeKing has a $200 New Account Bonus Offer which is one of the biggest in the industry that’s available through April 30, 2015. They usually offer a $100 bonus so this is one of their best. If you are not familiar with TradeKing they serve as a discount online broker and rated #1 in customer service by SmartMoney with a 5 out of 5 rating. You can do trades for only $4.95, which is at least half the price than most competitors.
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