Once upon a time, you needed a broker to buy and sell stocks – but today, if you have a computer with access to the Internet, you can effectively conduct your own stock transactions almost instantaneously. Or maybe instead of “today”, that should be “before iOS device” because now with ETRADE for iPad (E*TRADE), you may even forget about your poor old computer and do all your trading with E*TRADE Mobile Pro for iPad.
With ETRADE for iPad (E*TRADE), you can buy and sell stocks and options, transfer money around on your E*TRADE accounts, set up or manage watch lists, monitor your orders, manage and receive alerts, monitor your portfolio, get stock quotes, and get news, all from within this very well-designed and elegant iPad app – and the company has done an excellent job of putting all that screen real estate to use.
ETrade for iPad (E*TRADE) has centered the interface on two rows of panels that each contain tools and report you’ll need to watch the markets, monitor your portfolio, and get financial and business news. As you can see in the figure on the left below, the bottom row is reserved for larger panels for more involved reports (options chains, major indices, a great news panel, a watch list, and a panel for your portfolio). The upper row (also in that figure) is made up of smaller panels (alerts, accounts, orders, transactions, transfers, charts, quotes, markets, and a panel for CNBC videos that only works for Power E*TRADE customers).
Both rows have navigation dots to show you where you are in that list – and you can independently scroll through them with a horizontal swipe. What’s even cooler is that any panel with more information that you can see is also scrollable with a vertical swipe. In fact, the News panel has two columns, one for article titles and one for the actual articles, and both scroll independently of each other. It’s slick it makes sense, and it works, which is a great combination to me.
At the bottom of the screen in that same figure, you’ll notice small buttons for Log Off, Menu, Accounts, Research, and Trading (you can also turn streaming on and off, or quickly enter a stock symbol to get that company’s chart). These buttons pull up panels in both rows that work together, another thing I love about this app. For instance, the research button pulls up the News panel in the bottom row and the Quotes and Market panels in the top row (in landscapes mode, you get a third panel up top, but I preferred portrait mode). If you first selected a stock from your Watch List or Portfolio, all three panels will be specific to that stock – otherwise it defaults to general market news. The Accounts button brings up Portfolio, Alerts, and Accounts; the Menu button pulls up a pop-up window with a list of all included panels; and the tradings button pulls up a panel where you can quickly place an order, as you can see in the figure on the right below.
Now, most of these features require an E*TRADE account. You can’t buy or sell stocks, for instance, without such an account, and you can’t have a portfolio of stocks or get alerts, and so on. What you can do, however, is get stock quotes, company news articles, and see the stock indexes – even without an account.
ETRADE For iPad (E*TRADE) – Best Features
I love the way E*TRADE made all the pieces fit together. If you’re an E*TRADE customer, I would be surprised if you went back to managing your account in a browser on a computer.
ETRADE For iPad (E*TRADE) - Worst Features
You have to have an E*TRADE account to use all of the apps features. For those who don’t, I’d recommended Stockwatch – iPad Edition (which I talk about below) for monitoring stocks and a portfolio.
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