While there are lots of different ways to invest in the stock market, there are two overarching strategies: passive or active investing. With passive investing, you don't worry about picking and choosing specific stocks and bonds. Instead, you choose an index fund or ETF and are content with your gains (or losses) tracking one or more market indexes.
Active investors, on the other hand, try to choose individuals stocks that they feel are undervalued and are ripe for above-average growth. Active investing can be more risky since it involves more speculation and (usually) less diversification.
However, many professional investors are able to succeed with individual stock investing by analyzing company's on a variety of financial fundamentals. With the proper research tools, these professionals can more easily identify companies that are primed for capital appreciation.
In the past, the best investing tools and data have only been available to commercial investors. But Atom Finance is a website and app that's trying to change the game by offering loads of stock data and news to everyday investors for free. Keep reading to learn more about how their platform works.
Quick Summary
- Simplified access to relevant stock market data
- Integrates with brokers to provide portfolio analysis
- Completely free to use
|
Atom Finance Details |
|
|---|---|
|
Product Name |
Atom Finance |
|
Investing Tools |
Portfolio Analysis, Brokerage Integration, Real-Time Quotes, Historical Financials and SEC Filings |
|
Cost |
Free |
|
Platforms |
Online, Android, iOS |
|
Promotions |
None |
Who Is Atom Finance?
Atom Finance is a fintech that provides stock market and portfolio analysis. The company was formed in November 2018 and is based in Brooklyn, NY. It’s CEO is Eric Shoykhet. Atom Finance is currently on its Series A and has raised $12.6 million.
“Our mission is two-fold,” Shoykhet told TechCrunch. “To modernize investment research tools through an intuitive platform that’s easily accessible across all devices, while democratizing access to institutional-quality investing tools that were once only available to Wall Street professionals.”
What Do They Offer?
Atom Finance views itself as the "free Bloomberg." What exactly does that mean? Bloomberg is an expensive ($20,000+ per year) terminal service used by institutional investors. Some say that having a Bloomberg terminal provides institutional investors with a market edge that is out of reach for retail investors. Atom is basically trying to change that.
When Charles Schwab announced zero commissions for stock trades back in Oct of 2018, it commoditized trading for everyone. Nearly all of its competitors had no choice but to follow suit by offering free stock trading as well, which caused an overall increase in trading activity. What hasn’t changed is access to institutional-grade stock market content for retail investors.
Many retail investors use websites such as Yahoo Finance or MarketWatch to get their stock market content. However, these sites' tools really can't compare to Bloomberg. While Atom isn’t a complete Bloomberg alternative, it does provide a lot of stock market tools that are often difficult for amateur investors to find.
Service Offerings
Here’s a quick rundown of the various tools that you get access to when you sign up to use Atom Finance:
- Brokerage integration
- Institutional quality news
- Analyst estimates
- Historical Financials
- SEC Filings
- Event transcripts
- Market commentary
- Professional community
- Real-time stock-price quotes
When you log into your Atom account, you’ll see news about your holdings and stocks that you're watching. Unlike a public stock market website, which has content about everything, your Atom content is narrowed down to what matters most to you.
Atom also has a feature called X-Ray that allows you to dig deeper into a specific company. Basically, it's a powerful search feature for finding data and content on a specific company.
The Sandbox is another feature that lets you model financial scenarios, such as future company performance. As you change your assumptions, the model will update. It's meant to replace the need for using complex spreadsheet models.
Brokerage Integration
One thing you won’t find on public stock market websites is brokerage integration. But Atom Finance is able to connect to a large number of brokers and provide view-only access.
The integration is made possible through a popular fintech called Plaid. Plaid is a third-party service that integrates with lots of fintechs, allowing them to access customer data from banks, brokerages, and other financial services. Since Atom does not have direct access to your brokerage login credentials, the integration is completely secure.
Setting up brokerage integration is easy. Once you create an Atom account, you’ll see a link to integrate with your broker. Choose your broker then provide your login credentials. Plaid does all of the work on the back-end. After a few minutes, your brokerage data is pulled into Atom Finance.
From there, Atom will analyze your brokerage account, which includes performance, exposure, comparison to a benchmark, positions/holdings, trades, and more. You can connect multiple portfolios to your Atom Finance account.
Related: These Are The Best Stock Brokers of 2020 (According To Our Readers)
Are There Any Fees?
No. At present, Atom Finance is completely free. However, they will soon be releasing a fee-based service called Atom+. It will provide real-time, institutional-quality access.
No pricing information or hard-fast release data for Atom+ is yet available. But interested investors can join a waiting list for the service now.
How Do I Open An Account?
Investors can visit the Atom Finance website to open an account. You can also access your account on your mobile device. They have an Android and iOS app and you can find links to both on their site.
Is My Money Safe?
Yes, no money is transferred to Atom Finance and it is not able to make any changes to your brokerage account. It also uses a well-trusted, third-party service in Plaid, which is used by many other companies to provide customer access to banks and brokerages.
While Atom says that it takes protecting your privacy seriously, they do share your data with other service providers. Their privacy policy states that there are restrictions on what those providers can do with your data, “Unless we tell you differently, our vendors and service providers do not have any right to use the personal data we share with them beyond what is necessary to assist us.”
Is It Worth It?
Atom Finance provides simplified access to relevant stock market data without the hefty price tag that similar tools charge. The portfolio analysis and easy access to market data it offers make it a service worth trying.
However, Atom Finance isn't the only company trying to bring professional-level stock market analysis to the average investor. So while there's no real risk in trying Atom, you may also want to try other popular portfolio analysis tools like Personal Capital, Portfolio Visualizer, and Morningstar to see how Atom compares.
Atom Finance Features
|
Investing Tools |
|
|
Company Financial Modeling? |
Yes |
|
Real-Time P&L? |
Yes |
|
Tax Modeling? |
No |
|
Cost |
Free (Paid tier called Atom+ to be released soon) |
|
Desktop Access? |
Yes |
|
Mobile Apps Availability |
iOS and Android |
|
Access to Human Advisors? |
No |
|
Wealth Management Services Available? |
No |
|
Customer Service |
None |
|
Mobile App Availability |
iOS and Android |
|
Promotions |
None |
The post Atom Finance Review: Advanced Investing Tools For Everyday Investors appeared first on The College Investor.
from The College Investor
While there are lots of different ways to invest in the stock market, there are two overarching strategies: passive or active investing. With passive investing, you don't worry about picking and choosing specific stocks and bonds. Instead, you choose an index fund or ETF and are content with your gains (or losses) tracking one or more market indexes.
Active investors, on the other hand, try to choose individuals stocks that they feel are undervalued and are ripe for above-average growth. Active investing can be more risky since it involves more speculation and (usually) less diversification.
However, many professional investors are able to succeed with individual stock investing by analyzing company's on a variety of financial fundamentals. With the proper research tools, these professionals can more easily identify companies that are primed for capital appreciation.
In the past, the best investing tools and data have only been available to commercial investors. But Atom Finance is a website and app that's trying to change the game by offering loads of stock data and news to everyday investors for free. Keep reading to learn more about how their platform works.
Quick Summary
- Simplified access to relevant stock market data
- Integrates with brokers to provide portfolio analysis
- Completely free to use
|
Atom Finance Details |
|
|---|---|
|
Product Name |
Atom Finance |
|
Investing Tools |
Portfolio Analysis, Brokerage Integration, Real-Time Quotes, Historical Financials and SEC Filings |
|
Cost |
Free |
|
Platforms |
Online, Android, iOS |
|
Promotions |
None |
Who Is Atom Finance?
Atom Finance is a fintech that provides stock market and portfolio analysis. The company was formed in November 2018 and is based in Brooklyn, NY. It’s CEO is Eric Shoykhet. Atom Finance is currently on its Series A and has raised $12.6 million.
“Our mission is two-fold,” Shoykhet told TechCrunch. “To modernize investment research tools through an intuitive platform that’s easily accessible across all devices, while democratizing access to institutional-quality investing tools that were once only available to Wall Street professionals.”
What Do They Offer?
Atom Finance views itself as the "free Bloomberg." What exactly does that mean? Bloomberg is an expensive ($20,000+ per year) terminal service used by institutional investors. Some say that having a Bloomberg terminal provides institutional investors with a market edge that is out of reach for retail investors. Atom is basically trying to change that.
When Charles Schwab announced zero commissions for stock trades back in Oct of 2018, it commoditized trading for everyone. Nearly all of its competitors had no choice but to follow suit by offering free stock trading as well, which caused an overall increase in trading activity. What hasn’t changed is access to institutional-grade stock market content for retail investors.
Many retail investors use websites such as Yahoo Finance or MarketWatch to get their stock market content. However, these sites' tools really can't compare to Bloomberg. While Atom isn’t a complete Bloomberg alternative, it does provide a lot of stock market tools that are often difficult for amateur investors to find.
Service Offerings
Here’s a quick rundown of the various tools that you get access to when you sign up to use Atom Finance:
- Brokerage integration
- Institutional quality news
- Analyst estimates
- Historical Financials
- SEC Filings
- Event transcripts
- Market commentary
- Professional community
- Real-time stock-price quotes
When you log into your Atom account, you’ll see news about your holdings and stocks that you're watching. Unlike a public stock market website, which has content about everything, your Atom content is narrowed down to what matters most to you.
Atom also has a feature called X-Ray that allows you to dig deeper into a specific company. Basically, it's a powerful search feature for finding data and content on a specific company.
The Sandbox is another feature that lets you model financial scenarios, such as future company performance. As you change your assumptions, the model will update. It's meant to replace the need for using complex spreadsheet models.
Brokerage Integration
One thing you won’t find on public stock market websites is brokerage integration. But Atom Finance is able to connect to a large number of brokers and provide view-only access.
The integration is made possible through a popular fintech called Plaid. Plaid is a third-party service that integrates with lots of fintechs, allowing them to access customer data from banks, brokerages, and other financial services. Since Atom does not have direct access to your brokerage login credentials, the integration is completely secure.
Setting up brokerage integration is easy. Once you create an Atom account, you’ll see a link to integrate with your broker. Choose your broker then provide your login credentials. Plaid does all of the work on the back-end. After a few minutes, your brokerage data is pulled into Atom Finance.
From there, Atom will analyze your brokerage account, which includes performance, exposure, comparison to a benchmark, positions/holdings, trades, and more. You can connect multiple portfolios to your Atom Finance account.
Related: These Are The Best Stock Brokers of 2020 (According To Our Readers)
Are There Any Fees?
No. At present, Atom Finance is completely free. However, they will soon be releasing a fee-based service called Atom+. It will provide real-time, institutional-quality access.
No pricing information or hard-fast release data for Atom+ is yet available. But interested investors can join a waiting list for the service now.
How Do I Open An Account?
Investors can visit the Atom Finance website to open an account. You can also access your account on your mobile device. They have an Android and iOS app and you can find links to both on their site.
Is My Money Safe?
Yes, no money is transferred to Atom Finance and it is not able to make any changes to your brokerage account. It also uses a well-trusted, third-party service in Plaid, which is used by many other companies to provide customer access to banks and brokerages.
While Atom says that it takes protecting your privacy seriously, they do share your data with other service providers. Their privacy policy states that there are restrictions on what those providers can do with your data, “Unless we tell you differently, our vendors and service providers do not have any right to use the personal data we share with them beyond what is necessary to assist us.”
Is It Worth It?
Atom Finance provides simplified access to relevant stock market data without the hefty price tag that similar tools charge. The portfolio analysis and easy access to market data it offers make it a service worth trying.
However, Atom Finance isn't the only company trying to bring professional-level stock market analysis to the average investor. So while there's no real risk in trying Atom, you may also want to try other popular portfolio analysis tools like Personal Capital, Portfolio Visualizer, and Morningstar to see how Atom compares.
Atom Finance Features
|
Investing Tools |
|
|
Company Financial Modeling? |
Yes |
|
Real-Time P&L? |
Yes |
|
Tax Modeling? |
No |
|
Cost |
Free (Paid tier called Atom+ to be released soon) |
|
Desktop Access? |
Yes |
|
Mobile Apps Availability |
iOS and Android |
|
Access to Human Advisors? |
No |
|
Wealth Management Services Available? |
No |
|
Customer Service |
None |
|
Mobile App Availability |
iOS and Android |
|
Promotions |
None |
The post Atom Finance Review: Advanced Investing Tools For Everyday Investors appeared first on The College Investor.
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