Five Tech Ideas That Have Made Stock Investing Easier

Most people can buy stock easily today and do so for just about any reason. It might be for making an investment for an IRA, or even a more short-term purpose like trading for a profit, or receiving a dividend. The old way of investing in the market nearly always required going through a brokerage firm and involved high costs both for trades made as well as the access of information. While there are still licensed brokers and wealth management advisors out there, technology has also changed their landscape as well and investors can gain even more insights into the market because of it. There are five ways, in particular, that technology has made stock investing easier for the average consumer.

Live Market Updates and Insider Moves

You don't need to be tuned into your favorite cable news channel all the time to see how the Dow Jones is currently doing. There are many websites and apps that you can open and track market indexes, or track the individual movements of a company's stock. One thing you may want to pay attention to is the movement of insider buying stocks because this could indicate the direction of the company. There are times when executives will buy up more stock when a company is in a downturn to gain more control of it, but most times it will be a sign of confidence if they acquire more shares in it.

Electronic Publication Access and Email Newsletters

One thing that makes investing easier today is the relatively easy access to expert advice and investing tips. Through digital subscriptions and even free newsletters that some financial publications offer, investors can get information on opening and maintaining brokerage accounts without needing hours of research. They can also go to the SEC website and check on the public financial records of certain companies. Contrast these research tools today from the time when you needed to make a trip to a library or public records place to get this information.

Portfolio Tracking Apps and Live Agent Chat Platforms

Many wealth management firms have apps or web portals that allow you to log in and get great overviews of your portfolio as well as other market data. You can also connect with an advisor through online chat and find out whether it's a good time to buy more or sell your current stock holdings. You can also set up automatic transfers or 401k rollovers to fund your IRA or brokerage account through apps.

Robo-Advisor Trading Platforms

If you're an investor who isn't interested in going into the stock markets or buying into mutual funds with a lot of capital, but you'd like to get a feel for how they work, you might be interested in buying stocks through a robo-advisor platform. Robo-advisors are fairly new, and as their name implies, they offer investors advice using bots instead of human agents. There are both upsides and downsides to opening investment accounts with robo-advisors. The upside is that you can usually start investing with very little, which means even only $5 could buy you part of a stock, and it doesn't have to be a penny stock.

Also, commission fees tend to be pretty low compared to most household brokerage firms. The downside is your investment choices will usually be very limited compared to other options offered by quality brokers, and you don't always get the best prospectus or advanced stock insights that regular wealth managers have.

Apps for Completely Independent Investors

There are also platforms where investors can make trades basically without any broker fee-free. Apps like this one enable investors to get in not only with a low amount, but they can buy stocks, bonds, ETFs, mutual funds and even alternative investments like cryptocurrencies if they want to diversify even more. These kinds of apps are often far riskier because investors need to be self-educated and understand what kind of investment they are making. But for those who truly believe the best source for investing information is themselves, and want to take on their own risks, self-directed apps like this could be what they're looking for.