You know it, we know, and Wolf of Wall Street author Jordan Belfort knows it — GameStop's stock has surged and some of the most popular stock trading apps, including Robinhood, TD Ameritrade and Charles Schwab are stopping users from investing in its stocks. What a sham(e).
If you're not in the know, a group on Reddit named 'WallStreetBets' saw that hedge funds took on a large bet that GameStop would go down in price. So they started encouraging everyone, more importantly, retail investors, to start buying to bring the price up, all to increase the losses for short-sellers who bet against it. It's like review-bombing except for this time it's Reddit vs. Wall Street, which definitely as a bit more of a ring to it.
Now, Robinhood and others have barred users from investing in stocks for not just GameStop, but other companies such as Nokia, Blackberry and AMC. Robinhood is known to be one of the better stock trading apps around for small investors, so barring these users from trading certain stocks was a bold, and potentially consequential, choice.
Nevertheless, if you're looking to continue investing, Robinhood isn't the only stock trading platform. In fact, below you'll find the best alternative stock trading apps around. In the words of Jordan Belfort: You wanna know what money sounds like? Try out some trading apps.
E*TRADE
As one of the first brokerages around, founded in 1982, you can bet E*TRADE has a few tricks up its sleeve when it comes to online stock trading. E*TRADE is known for its $0 trades Power E*TRADE platform, which is great for beginners, and it even has another standard E*TRADE for the pros.
For new investors, E*TRADE has easy-to-use tools and guidance on what to do, including video tutorials, along with a slick UI for its mobile app. It's available to download on the Google Play Store on Android and the App Store on iOS. E*TRADE also has around 6,000 stocks to buy and sell.
Acorns
Acorns is easy to use, which is why it's great for beginners, and it starts at only $1 a month. It specializes in micro-investing, with a feature that automatically invests your spare change from your debit or credit cards so you can earn an extra bit of bob on the side without you even knowing.
Acorn is definitely more about earning money to save, as it even has a "Later" feature that invests for your retirement. It also has an "Early" feature that opens investment accounts for kids. Those two will definitely come in handy. It's available to download on the Google Play Store on Android and App Store for iOS.
Fidelity
Another trading platform that's fantastic for long-term and retirement investments, Fidelity shows off by offering keen expert advice on which fund options to consider alongside some expert picks. It's also at a low cost, as it offers up $0 stock and ETF (Exchange-Traded Fund) trades.
Fidelity is one of the few apps that offer up plenty of educational tips and tricks of the trade, and it even comes with a social media-style feed on its apps for user's accounts. It's more catered for beginners, but it definitely does the job well. It's available to download on the Google Play Store on Android phones and App Store for iOS.
eToro
With no limit on trading volume (which is clearly a sought-after feature in stock trading platforms), free access to expert stock analysis and price targets, wiggle room for those starting out in stocks, and a 'ProCharts' tool for in-depth marketing analysis, eToro is the up and coming stock trading platform to look out for.
It's commission-free stock investing, but the catch is that you'll need at least a $200 deposit, which is definitely quite the up-front price. It has over 1,000 stocks to buy and sell, and while its mobile app does have a few kinks to iron out (i.e. bugs, crashes), it's still worth looking into. Especially if you're a stock trading pro who has that $200 handy. It's available to download on the Google Play Store and App Store.
Freetrade
With a simple freemium pricing model, a user-friendly, award-winning app for iOS and Android, and being fairly foolproof by being regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the UK-based Freetrade is definitely one to look into.
Well, here we go thenJanuary 28, 2021
While it does have some shortcomings, including no research to offer users tips or any fancy graphs to deep dive into stocks. Instead, you'll get a low-cost share trading account for as low as £1, with no fees for buying or selling. There are also over 4,000 stocks to buy and sell, so, you know, get buying! It's available to download on the Google Play Store on Androids and App Store on iOS.
