Webull is a solid stock and ETF trading platform that won’t cost you a penny in trading commissions. There are also no deposit minimums for cash accounts.
Experts created Webull for active traders looking for more in-depth tools than most free platforms are offering. These include easy to access technical indicators, research agency ratings, financial calendars, live data and more.
With all this info at your fingertips, Webull wasn’t designed for new or longer term passive investors, who may find it overwhelming. Instead, it’s for investors who are most likely involved in day trading. However, due to the simple design, both new and long term investors can also benefit from its offerings.
Webull offers two types of individual accounts: Cash and Margin. Each user can have one of each. If you already own one kind, you will need to create a new login before applying for the other.
Here are the differences between the Webull cash account and the Webull margin account.
A cash account is a type of brokerage account in which you, as an investor, must pay the full amount for the securities you buy. In other words, you must have the cash in your account to place trades.
Your money is your buying power. You cannot borrow funds to place trades.
For a Webull cash account, you need to keep a close eye on both your settled and unsettled funds.
Unsettled money includes cash received from liquidating securities over the previous two days. Settled funds are immediately available for you to use to buy securities and make trades.
However, you can’t access unsettled funds until the two-day window has been completed.
A Webull margin account differs vastly from a cash account. In order to qualify for a margin account, you need to have a minimum of $2,000.
While the trades using a Webull margin account are commission free, they does have an interest fee from 3.99% to 6.99% depending on the account size.
A margin account lets you leverage the money and securities you already own to basically borrow money from Webull to invest more.
In other words, you don’t need to have the cash on hand to cover your trades. Instead, it is based on the value of your portfolio at that snapshot in time. Traders borrow on margin to access more money to invest, hoping to end up with higher profits.
Sure, it gives you an opportunity to help increase your return on investment. But on the flip side, the percentage of your losses could be huge. At the end of the day, your portfolio could be worth a fraction of what it was that morning. Margin is risky.
A Webull margin account allows you to borrow and trade up to 4 times the amount in your cash fund. For example, if you have $5,000 in a margin account, you could access additional margin funds of up to $20,000 supplied by Webull, to buy $25,000 worth of stock.
The number of trades you can make on margin depends on the value of your account. If you have $25,000 or less in your account, you are limited to 3 trades in 5 business days.
However, if your account is worth more than $25,000, your trading is unlimited.
Always be cautious using a Webull margin account, as it is far riskier than trading with the cash you have available. Keep in mind, you will be paying margin interest to Webull as well based on how much you borrow.
Webull is an online trading platform whose demographic is more experienced traders, such as day traders. If you are new to investing or have a lower tolerance for risk, it may be in your best interest to open a cash account only with Webull.
If you are a professional day trader or have a deep understanding and experience trading, Webull offers a margin account that gives you 3x your cash buying power.
But proceed with caution!