Moomoo is an advanced trading platform that offers commission-free trading on stocks, options, and ETFs.
Designers have set a mission to provide investors with an intuitive and powerful investing platform by using the most up-to-date technology. At the same time, Moomoo offers a creative and highly customizable experience for users.
They aim to improve their customer trading experiences with continuous upgrades. Their key focus is on driving industrial innovation backed by independent technology research and development. These fine-tune the entire trading process.
Many platforms out there today allow you to buy and trade stocks, options, and ETFs without having to pay commissions. However, Moomoo makes it easy for you to get free real-time quotes, graphical financial analysis, and press releases on the go.
Instead of just simply offering commission-free trades, which is commonplace today, they offer a wide array of research tools and data. They aim to be a one-stop-shop for placing trades and conducting research on potential investments.
It has plenty of bells and whistles, and although the app offers educational resources for beginning traders, the wide and meticulous scope of data available may be overwhelming to newbies.
Here's our full review of the up-and-coming free trading app Moomoo.
This article is sponsored by Moomoo.
Summary
Moomoo seems to have very competitive offerings.
A common complaint among investors is that other free trading apps out there are lacking the research tools and data they are looking for. Moomoo offers a lot of tools for research, but it might overwhelm a complete beginner. Paper trading is a huge plus, as this allows you to take the platform for a test drive 100% risk free. You can learn the ins and outs without risking real money.
At the end of the day, it is completely free, so you can feel free to give it a shot and see if it's for you.
Pros
Cons
Based in the Silicon Valley in California, Moomoo Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Futu Holdings Ltd.
Futu is a recognized FinTech Unicorn and Asia’s top-ranked online broker, providing one-stop online investing services. This is an online broker-dealer registered and regulated by the Financial Regulatory Authority (FINRA).
Futu Holdings Ltd is backed by world-class investors including Tencent, Sequoia Capital, and Matrix Partners.
Since its inception, Futu's overseas affiliates have used specially designed trading systems, developed in-house. Its designers emphasize these systems are time-tested internationally. They say their innovative trading system solves challenges to traders and drives industry innovation.
Experts designed Moomoo as a next-generation broker/dealer. It cuts out the costs of operating traditional branches and the excess brokerage firm overhead. Combining technology with on-the-go trading, Moomoo aims to offer an enhanced overall trading experience by combining the latest technology with the ability to trade via a mobile app.
Moomoo offers traders Level 2 market data at no charge.
Level 2 market data displays the real-time bids and asks at a certain price for any stock and the trades being executed right in front of you. With this information, you can determine entry or exit points that assure the liquidity needed to complete the trade.
One of the great advantages of this enhanced data is getting real-time quotes. These are the actual price of a security at that very instant in time.
Real-time quotes give active traders the price they will pay when having their order filled. Some platforms offer only delayed quotes.
Unlike real-time quotes, these delayed quotes lag behind the real trading market by about 15 to 20 minutes.
If you base your trade on a delayed quote, you may find you significantly overpaid for the shares you are adding to your portfolio. Many competing trading apps charge for real-time market quotes. With Moomoo, there is no charge for this advantage.
In addition to real-time information prices, you can also view ticker data and Nasdaq best bid and ask data.
Equipt with all of this data, active traders will have a significant leg up when trading on Moomoo.
There are many positive points for the trading app that again, may be too sophisticated for beginners.
However, more advanced traders could find these capabilities very useful:
Beyond the features listed above, here are some other areas where Moomoo stands out:
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In a nutshell, if you open an account and deposit $5,000+ you will earn 4 free stocks with a combined value of up to $3,200!
(Promotional Period 3/1/2020 to 3/31/2020)
There are a number of attractive features on the Moomoo platform that traders will find useful.
One qualm that many investors have with investing apps like Robinhood is the simplistic interface. Many platforms only provide information on basic price movements from day to day. This is often not enough for traders to make informed decisions.
Moomoo offers a much more advanced interface for traders full of charts and technical indicators that can assist traders of all styles.
From candlestick charts, to line charts, to dozens of others, traders are able to visualize price movements in a way that makes sense to them. In addition to tracking price movements, traders can keep tabs on moving averages, bolinger bands, and many other important indicators.
Moomoo provides investors with a fully customizable way to stay on top of the investments and positions that matter to them. Instead of needing to be glued to your screen, you can set up highly-personalized alerts for important events.
Whether you are waiting for a stock price to drop below a certain level, waiting for specific company events, or just want to be the first to know about relevant news, the market monitor feature will be very useful.
You're also able to customize your alerts around velocity. For example, you could set an alert if the price on one of your investments increases by 2% or more within 5 minutes to be notified if there is a major development that you want to react to.
When paired with the native stock screener, this becomes a powerful tool for traders to make quick decisions.
Moomoo has a paper trading application that many of the competing online investing platforms do not offer.
The term “paper trading” comes from the stock exchange, where investors would write their picks down on paper and track the market movements.
Paper trading simulates actual money trading. This means you are just practicing buying and selling stocks and ETFs and building a diversified portfolio without worrying about losing money.
You chart progress and market fluctuations up and down and tally up your results at the end.
It's important to keep in mind that the psychological effects of trading real money differ from the effects of paper trading, so be prepared to make the shift into putting your hard-earned cash on the line.
Moomoo lets users open margin accounts them borrow money against the value of the securities in their accounts.
Margin gives investors access to increased funds without having to sell off all the assets in their current portfolio.
When you use a margin account, you open the door for both major profits or huge losses. This is because it’s possible to lose not only the borrowed money but also the value of the securities in your cash account.
Your broker can trigger a margin call if you start to show losses that are greater than the limit they set. When this happens, the brokerage platform can force the sale of securities or other assets in your account.
The firm can also sell your securities or other assets without contacting you. While you are in a margin call, laws do not require your broker to grant you a time extension.
Interest rates for margin vary based on the federal funds rate. Check the Moomoo site for the most current margin rates.
Within the Moomoo app, there is an online community where you can communicate with other investors. The community is extremely active with over 100K+ users and is a great way to find new perspectives about investment opportunities.
Within the community, investors can post, share, create polls, and anything else you would expect from an online community.
While you shouldn't take anyone's opinion about investments too seriously without a reason to, it can be a good way to get a pulse on your investments.
Moomoo has a very comprehensive, up-to-the-minute news section to keep you in the know about important current events that will affect the market.
Recent topics have included:
News events like this can have a massive impact on your portfolio. Moomoo aims to keep you updated on the companies that matter most to you.
As a newer investing platform, it's reasonable to wonder whether Moomoo is legit, or whether it is a safe place to invest.
Moomoo is a member of the Security Investment Protection Corp (SIPC). This corporation protects your investments in the unlikely event that Moomoo closes when the firm is bankrupt or in financial trouble, and your assets are missing.
The SIPC insures the value of your investment portfolio, as well as any cash you have in reserve. This insurance covers up to $500,000 in your portfolio, of which up to $250,000 can be cash.
You are ultimately responsible for monitoring your total to be certain you do not exceed SIPC insurance limits. This could mean some of your funds are uninsured. If that is the case, you may want to move some of your cash to another broker to maintain full coverage.
However, always remember there are limits on the safety and security of your accounts. Any losses you incur on the money you invested – such as a dip in the market value – are not covered by any type of insurance.
Investing carries risks. You need to know your tolerance for risk and invest accordingly. Some take a conservative approach, some are middle-of-the-road, and others are comfortable with swings in the stock market.
Moomoo or any other governing agency will not refund any money you lose on your investments and trades.
The Moomoo app is extremely intuitive and allows investors to set up an account and begin investing in a matter of minutes. Through either the desktop or mobile app, you can submit an application to create an account on the platform.
In order to use Moomoo, you must be a U.S. Citizen, 18 years or older, and have a social security number.
To get started on Moomoo, follow these instructions:
Once your account is approved, you can make a deposit and the first $1,000 will be accessible instantly. The rest of your deposit will need time to settle before it can be invested.
This brokerage seems to have very competitive offerings when compared to many of the other options out there.
A common complaint among investors is that other free trading apps out there are lacking the research tools and data they are looking for. Moomoo offers a lot of tools for research, but it might overwhelm a complete beginner.
The app is clearly tailored towards investors who plan to take more of an active approach. The real-time data, advanced charting features, and intuitive graphs make the process of placing effective trades more streamlined.
Paper trading is also a huge plus, as this allows you to take the platform for a test drive 100% risk-free. You can learn the ins and outs without risking real money.
The free stock bonuses for signing up are also some of the best out there! All of these investing apps are fighting for users and as investors, we get to benefit from this competition in the form of lucrative signup incentives.
At the end of the day, it is completely free, so you can feel free to give it a shot and see if it's a good platform for you. If not, there are countless other investing apps for beginners for you to try out.
