Simplify your stock-picking process with these apps

Investing in the stock market made easy — that’s the goal of these apps, which make investing more convenient and help you keep tabs on the market updates. And you don’t have to be a finance whiz to work them.

Robinhood

Trade stocks without fees on Robinhood. After a quick registration, use Robinhood to access market data and quotes in real time, build a personalized watch list and track your portfolio.

The startup has been gaining significant traction in the finance app space and is backed by celebrities including Snoop Dogg, Jared Leto and Nas. Robinhood almost makes it too easy to put money on the stock market, so be careful with those impulse purchases.

Robinhood is an Apple Design Award winner and a Crunchies nominee. The app is free on the iPhone and Android. There is also an Apple Watch app.

StockTwits

Stocktwits

Forget hashtags, on StockTwits, it’s about the “cashtag.” The social media platform is tailored for people who want to get real-time insight into what others are saying about the stock market.

A Twitter for investors, search for chatter about companies by putting a dollar sign before the ticker symbol. Follow your favorite stocks and get notified when they’re trending.

Investors mark whether they are bullish or bearish and you can see if there is positive or negative sentiment around a company right now. Share insight and build a following, or simply see what others are saying. StockTwits is free on the iPhone and Android. They also have an Apple Watch app.

Acorns

Put those pennies to work. Acorns is all about investing your spare change. Attach a credit card and the app rounds up to the next dollar on each transaction, investing it into a customized and diversified portfolio of stocks and bonds. In other words, every time you spend $3.75 on a latte, a quarter goes into the stock market.

Acorns charges a dollar per month for accounts under $5000 or .25% per year for accounts with more. But while Acorns may be great at motivating you to invest, do your research and make sure their ETF investments fit with your strategy.

The venture community is betting big on Acorns and the team has raised $32 million to date from Greycroft and others. The app is free and is available on the iPhone, Apple Watch and Android.

Acorns