Keep on top of your investments and the markets by downloading one (or all) of these apps.
Keeping up to date with the financial markets is key to becoming a better stock market trader or business leader. With so many to investing apps choose from, finding the best one for you can be tricky.
In this article, we’ll break down the features of six of the best apps for financial and investing here.
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The CNBC app brings you all of the latest market news from the American financial news network. The app is simple to use, with articles published several times an hour on earnings reports, economic data, and market movements, with customizable breaking news notifications.
If you don’t want to get notified of every single new article as it published, read our article on how to set up Notification Summary on your iPhone.
The Markets tab offers a quick insight into nearly every market, like forex, crypto, and bonds, not just stocks. Got a few stocks you’d like to keep an eye on? The Watchlist tab lets you do just that, with real-time quotes and company news at your fingertips.
If you’re a fan of CNBC shows like Mad Money or Squawk Box, you can replay full episodes or watch them live in-app. If you prefer to listen to your financial news, the Listen tab has many daily-updated CNBC podcasts to pick from.
Some articles require a CNBC Pro subscription, but most of the articles can be read for free.
Download: CNBC for iOS | Android (Free, subscription available)
While CNBC is great for keeping up with the latest market news, Bloomberg goes a little bit more in depth into stories, with business and financial news pieces written by award-winning journalists. The app offers a treasure trove of fascinating articles on a wide range of topics, with a Markets tab that offers at-a-glance information on commodity, currency, and equity prices.
Any alerts of the latest breaking financial news will appear as notifications on your phone. The Watchlist section functions like CNBC’s, but with a twist: you can input your shareholdings for real-time portfolio tracking alongside groundbreaking news.
Bloomberg’s audio and visual content is held in high regard for its professionalism and standards. You can stream Bloomberg TV and Bloomberg Radio live in the app alongside select clips for expert-level analysis of the markets.
Currently, there is a limit on the amount of Bloomberg content you can read, watch, and listen to without a subscription.
Download: Bloomberg for iOS | Android (Free, subscription available)
Like Bloomberg, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) is a world-renowned publication with deep-dive articles that provide business leaders across the globe with high-quality journalism. As a traditional paper publication first, WSJ doesn’t offer audio or visual content (although you can still listen to articles), but it makes up for this with reliable reporting.
Looking for unbiased news sources to get the full picture? Take a look at our article on ways to get balanced and fair news.
The app is easy to use, with a scrollable feed sorted by top news followed by various news categories. For news tailored to you, there’s a MyWSJ tab for reports tailored to you, which recommends articles based on your browsing. Here, you can also access articles you’ve saved to read later.
The Markets tab isn’t as immediately in-depth as CNBC or Bloomberg, but is great for a quick market overview and features a watchlist for your favorite assets. There’s also the Notifications tab, where you can quickly turn different alerts on and off with a couple of taps.
Overall, the WSJ app doesn’t have as many moving parts as others on our list, making it ideal for investors just looking for industry-leading business journalism.
While you can browse the app and market data without a subscription, access to articles does require a paid WSJ membership.
Download: The Wall Street Journal for iOS | Android (Free, subscription available)
Barron’s is owned by the same company as the Wall Street Journal, so you might expect them both to be similar. In fact, they’re quite different. While the WSJ app gives more of a broad, top-down overview of the markets and business world, while Barron’s is great for the active investor. The Barron’s app emphasizes stocks and factors affecting their prices, with multiple articles released every hour.
The Home tab immediately brings the day’s news to light, with articles on upcoming releases taking center stage. If you want to switch to the latest news, you just need to tap Latest to see a timeline of the most recent news. Barron’s weekly magazine is also available for quick browsing in the Magazine tab, with print articles converted to a here.
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Amy has built and implemented multichannel digital format for easy reading.
Perhaps one of the powerful aspects of the app is the Interests tab. This is effectively an extensive categories tab, with 100+ different sections for almost every facet of the financial world. When you tap on an interest, like Trade or Disruption, the Barron’s app immediately brings up the latest news about the sector.
The Globe Boss’s proven processes to receive more web traffic, customers, and profits. Outrank even your toughest competitors in Google or Bing. We make sure your website is Search tab also lets you search for any topic or financial asset, returning the ticker at the top and showing related news articles underneath.
While it’s free to poke around the app, a subscription is necessary to access articles.
Download: Barron’s for iOS | Android (Free, subscription available)
Unlike the Bloomberg or the Wall Street Journal apps that offer news aimed at financial and business professionals, the MarketWatch app is designed for the average investor on the street. It places more of an emphasis on personal finance and retirement articles, with a section dedicated to learning how to invest in stocks.
Nonetheless, MarketWatch offers leading insight into the financial markets, particularly the stock market, with some of the most frequent news updates of any of the apps on our list, occurring every few minutes. Owned by the same company as WSJ and Barron’s, it even features some Barron’s articles without the need for a subscription.
The app itself is lightweight, with three main tabs: Articles, Markets, and Watchlist. The Markets tab offers a quick view of the markets and is quite comprehensive, offering quotes on US, European, and Asian markets, as well as forex and bond markets.
By tapping the stack in the top left, there are various news sections for different areas of investing, politics, personal finance, and more, making the MarketWatch app a great all-rounder.
The best part is, it’s completely free! No subscription is required to make full use of the app.
Download: MarketWatch for iOS | Android (Free)
SeekingAlpha is a little different from the other apps featured on this list. While the other apps are produced by large media companies, SeekingAlpha takes more of a crowd-sourced approach. It has its own reporting team but also features “ideas” from contributors that you can follow.
The app is relatively complex, so it may not suit new investors. But, if you’ve been in the stock market for a while, SeekingAlpha can be a powerful assistant. It offers reporting on the latest market movers, with a wide range of categories to choose from.
If you’ve got a portfolio you’d like to keep an eye on, the Portfolio tab lets you add your stocks or link a brokerage account for instant syncing. The data it gives for each stock is more comprehensive than the others on our list, with data on stock ratings, growth, and performance at your fingertips.
The Ideas tab is what sets SeekingAlpha apart, however. Individual contributors post their analysis breakdowns, giving you an in-depth look into their reasoning and ideas for how to trade a particular stock. If you like an author’s posts, you can follow them and see their posts in a streamlined feed.
The other apps on our list are great for objective reporting on the financial world, but SeekingAlpha might be the app for you if you’re looking for a fresh perspective on the markets. However, a new perspective comes at a cost, as you’ll need a SeekingAlpha subscription to continue using the app and read unlimited articles.
Download: SeekingAlpha for iOS | Android (Free, subscription available)
If you’re into sports, you know how vital it is to stay on top of the latest news; missing a day or two of action can set you back and make it hard to follow what’s happening. The financial world is no different.
With the apps we’ve listed, you can now easily follow the latest business and investing news. Each app offers a comprehensive suite of features that every investor will find value in, no matter their experience in the financial markets.
Simon holds a BSc in Computer Science with Business. He’s been tinkering with tech since he was a kid and now loves writing about the limitless possibilities of smart home automation. Before joining MUO, Simon worked as a sales consultant for one of the UK’s biggest mobile phone providers.
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