Webull Review

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Webull is a stock broker where you can open a brokerage account to trade stocks with no commission or hidden fees. I find the Webull platform very easy to use, with a decent selection of smart trading tools for technical and fundamental analysis to help you find opportunities. I like how the platform accessible across all of your devices so you can get access to the markets as and when you need to. There is no minimum deposit required to get started so you can give the platform a try without needing to make a large financial commitment. You can diversify your portfolio with a comprehensive suite of investment products including stocks, fractional shares, options, ETFs, and ADRs. They are mainly focused towards USA traders whilst I found the leverage and funding options to be quite limited when compared to other brokers.

Summary

Founded in 2017, Webull is a US-based online broker headquartered in New York that offers you trading on multiple global markets including Forex, Commodities, Stocks, Shares, Indices, Metals, Energies, ETFs, ADRs & IPOs. I like how they provide their own all-in-one proprietary trading platform that is user-friendly and has a range of integrated, advanced, and intelligent tools and services. If you are looking to trade a great selection of financial instruments with minimal hassle, they are certainly worth consideration.

Trading Conditions

Webull is customer focused with a leadership team that has years of experience in the financial and online industries. This helps enable them to deliver you state-of-the-art trading technologies with reliable, professional, transparent, and efficient trading products and services. You are empowered by being provided with the relevant information, trading tools, competitive costs, and around-the-clock customer service. Some of the key advantages of Webull include the following:

• Zero commission on stock trading (U.S. listed securities)
• No minimum deposits
• Real-time quotes
• Real-time market data
• Free smart trading tools
• Economic calendar
• Multi-platform accessibility (desktop, web & mobile)
• 24/7 rapid online customer support
• Full extended trading hours (including full pre-market (4:00 AM – 9:30 AM ET) and after hours (4:00 PM – 8:00 PM ET)

Advanced Quotes

The broker has a 7-day free trial for advanced quotes which is a real-time quotes product that is an upgraded version of Last Sale. I like how this product presents the best bid & offer, the detailed transaction records, and more. Some of the available advanced quotes you can get access to include:

• Nasdaq Basic Level-1
• National Best Bid and Offer Level-1
• Toronto Stock Exchange Level-1
• Hong Kong Stock Exchange Level-2
• Taiwan Stock Exchange Level-1
• London Stock Exchange Level-1
• DE Stocks Level-1

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Regulation

The broker is under strict regulation which gives me the confidence my finds will be safe when I am trading with them. The last thing I want to do is worry about the safety and security of my broker. Webull Financial LLC is registered and regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) in the United States of America (USA). I also appreciate that the broker stays up to date with the latest data security in order to protect your personal information and asset data.

Funds

Webull Financial LLC is a member of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC). I find this organization to be quite useful as it protects eligible customers of its members for up to $500,000 (including $250,000 for claims for cash). They have a clearing firm Apex Clearing Corp which has purchased an additional insurance policy. I like how the coverage limits provide protection for securities and cash up to an aggregate of $150 million, subject to maximum limits of $37.5 million for any eligible customer’s securities and $900,000 for any eligible customer’s cash. I find it similar to a SIPC protection as this additional insurance does not protect against a loss in the market value of securities.

Countries

Opening an account at Webull is primarily geared towards the USA and China. However, I am pleased to see that some account types are available for residents of some other countries as well. if your country is not accepted for whatever reason, I recommend checking out our broker ratings for some alternative options.

Platforms

Webull Platform

Overview

I really like the Webull desktop platform as it is fully customisable to suit your various needs. You can create personalised watchlists and trading templates, analyse charts, place/manage positions, set alerts, and more. I appreciate that it has a user-friendly interface and thus is accessible to beginner and advanced traders alike. I was able to easily navigate around the platform and do everything from chart analysis to placing and managing trades without any issues. You can take advantage of the various advanced trading tools and real-time market data options that are readily available (Nasdaq Basic, Nasdaq TotalView & NBBO) which can help with analysing companies, market trends, and spot potential trade opportunities.

Webull Trading

Analysis

It is great how the platform enables you to access fundamental analysis including analyst recommendations, revenue, and historical earnings per share data, along with key statistics, insider trades, stock information such as earnings, dividends, and stock splits and news feeds to keep you up to date with the latest market happenings. In terms of technical analysis, I’m glad the platform offers real-time bar, candlestick, and line charts with time frames ranging from 1 to 60 minutes. There is also a set of historical data that goes back over the past 5 years. Other additional technical tools include most popular indicators such as Bollinger Bands, Moving Average, RSI, CCI, MACD, oscillators, and many more.

Webull Chart

Accessibility

The platform is very accessible as one account can be conveniently accessed across all of the Webull platforms for desktop, web, and mobile. This means you can seamlessly switch between the platforms depending on your current situation. The desktop version has the most functionality, with lots of indicators for complex market analysis. The mobile application I think will be very useful for those of you who need to trade on the go and wish to manage your accounts from anywhere in the world provided you have an internet connection. I often find myself checking my trading apps to see how my positions are going and what is happening around the markets.

Webull App

Tools

You will find that Webull offers a range of in-depth analysis tools which are already built within the brokers proprietary platform. The platform has an intuitive user interface and powerful advanced charts including over 22+ technical and fundamental indicators for conducting detailed market analysis. Whilst this may be enough for the average retail trader who just wants to perform some basic analysis and follow prices, I think the more advanced traders amongst you will feel slightly restricted. Although the platform is modern and user-friendly, it is lacking in functionality compared to some of the best trading platforms such as MetaTrader and cTrader. If you have more complex trading strategies and want a platform that is universally available, IG can be a great alternative.

Webull Tools

Education

I found Webull’s market research information to be quite useful. It can be accessed via the platform and includes market news, individual stock overviews, and a screeners page.

Screeners

I like the screener’s page as it provides you with the option of which stocks to track and the specific technical parameters to keep an eye on. You can customise the screener to follow the instruments that matter the most to you.

Economic Calendar

There is an economic calendar that displays the date and time of upcoming releases. You can set smart alerts via email, SMS, or the app to alert you when a specific event occurs. This is great as it means you will not need to be staring at the charts all day waiting for a signal to occur. It can also warn you in advance if there is some major news that can have an impact on your existing or pending trades.

Community

You can join millions of other traders in the Webull Community for discussions about the market and exchange strategies. Users can exchange thoughts, ideas, strategies and more.

Learning Centre

The broker also provides you with a good range of potential trading ideas and trading courses via a dedicated learning centre. These courses can be used to familiarise yourself with the markets, platforms offered, and trading in general. In addition to this, I really appreciate that they’ve provided a trading simulator on the platform which lets you use a demo account so that you can try out the platform and practice trading ideas. This can be an ideal way to master your trading skills before trading on a real account.

Webull Learning Center

Markets

The Webull platform lets you trade and invest on worldwide financial markets covering 5 main categories in more than 90 countries/regions. They have an extremely diverse selection with over 25,000 Stocks, Equites, ETFs, Indices, Forex, Cryptos and Futures. There is a vast range of more than 100+ exchanges covered such as the NASDAQ, NYSE, LSE, HKEX, SGX, NSE, BOM & more. I’m quite impressed how the broker has a total of over 100,000+ investment subjects. This puts them up there with some of the best stock brokers from the hundreds that I have tested and reviewed over the years. Under the markets tab of the Webull website you can see an overview of the markets offered along with quotes. You can see top gainers, top losers, most active, hot industries & more. They are one of a few brokers that I have come across who offer fractional shares, along with the likes of Robinhood.

Accounts

Webull supports individual cash and margin accounts only. You are required to have a minimum of $2,000 in your account to trade on margin. For a margin account with at least $2,000, Webull offer leverage that is 4 times day-trade buying power and 2 times overnight buying power. If the account has less than $2,000 than no leverage is offered. Leverage may also vary depending on the stock being traded. For a more free access to leverage, I suggest checking out Traders Way.

If your margin account has $25,000 or more in net equity, you gain access to unlimited day trades. If the net account value is less than $25,000, you can make 3-day trades within 5 successive business days. I don’t like how cash accounts can only day trade with settled funds. For example, if you have $1,000 settled in a cash account, you can only use up to the amount of $1,000 for day trades.

Like most of its major competitors, I like how they also do not charge a commission on U.S. stock trades or to open and maintain an account. However, SEC and FINRA fees do apply. The interests of margin trading are charged daily. For a long position, the daily interest= Borrowed Cash*Margin Rate/360.

• SEC fees: A $13 charge for a total of $1,000,000 of principal on stock sales only, with a $0.01 minimum.
• FINRA fees: A trading activity fee (TAF) of $0.000119 per share on stock sales only, with a minimum of $0.01 and no more than $5.95.

You can only short a stock on Webull if your account value is $2,000 or more and you are using a margin account. For a short position, you need to borrow shares. The cost associated with a short sale is the fee for borrowing said stock. This fee changes every day for every available stock and is charged on a daily basis. If a stock is issued overseas (non-US) and is traded in US through ADR. The ADR depositary bank will be charged ADR fees. ADR fees generally range from $0.01 – $0.03 per share, the amount and timing differ by ADR.

Account Signup

Opening a Webull account is a quick and easy process. You simply need to complete the short registration form. You will then need to verify your identity with a government issued ID card including your photo, name, and date of birth (e.g. passport or driver’s license). I like how their applications are normally approved in a day but not instantaneous as is the case with some brokers. Once your account has been reviewed, you will be informed by push notification if using the app and email.

Support

I really appreciate that the Webull customer service is available 24/7 to answer all general and technical questions. However, it would’ve been nice to see them provide support through a live chat as well instead of just through email and telephone. Though I believe they do aim to respond within the hour in any case. In addition to email support, there is an FAQ section that covers a vast range of common questions from account opening, trading platforms, funding, fees and more. This can get you an answer to most questions right away without needing to reach out to the broker.

Funding

Webull accept ACH or US domestic wire transfer. ACH is free of charge, but you can only transfer a maximum of $50,000 from your bank account to your Webull account each day. U.S. Domestic Wire transfers have fees associated with them, but the limits are greater. It can take between 1-5 days for transfers to be available in your trading account. I found the deposit and withdrawal options to be very limited with no e-wallet or online payment processers offered.

If you deposit funds by ACH transfers, your deposits need to stay in your account for a minimum of 7 trading days. If you deposit funds by wire transfers, the withdrawal holding period will be 1 trading day. Withdrawal and deposit accounts must be the same for ACH, otherwise, you’ll have to wait for 60 days to withdraw into a different account.

If you do not have a U.S. bank account, you can only transfer the funds in via international wire. For international wire transfers, the remitting bank and intermediary bank may also charge fees depending on their own policy.

It would be more convenient for some users if they offered instant funding via Skrill, PayPal or a similar service. I personally prefer the convenience and speed of digital wallets. I might need to quickly act on some market news and wouldn’t want to be waiting around days for a bank transfer to clear if that was the case. Alternatively, you can always keep some funds set aside in your Webull account for when you might need it for trading. Trading 212 support more payment options if this is something you are looking for.

Conclusion

Overall, Webull is an online broker that gives you access to trade an excellent selection of financial instruments across various asset classes. They support margin trading and short trading. You can go long (buy) or short (sell) your preferred markets on modern desktop platforms and trading apps with real-time market data. I like that they have no commission, no minimum deposits and no hidden fees.

I found the Webull platform to be intuitive and suitable for the average retail trader. The learning centre and demo account can be good for those of you who are new to trading and want to improve your knowledge and skills before making a commitment. If you are an active trader then you will be pleased with a decent range of trading tools that include technical indicators, economic calendars, ratings from research agencies, margin trading and more.

Despite the many positives, I think professional and institutional traders may find certain aspects of the platforms limiting. They also do not have much of selection when it comes to account funding and I think adding live chart support would be an improvement. To conclude, if you are based in the USA and just want a quick and easy way to trade online, then they should do the job.

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Webull is an online brokerage where you can trade an extensive selection of financial products via user-friendly platforms for desktop and mobile. They have some good tools for market analysis and learning materials for beginners. Whilst they charge relatively low fees with no minimum deposit, there is a limited choice of payment options.

Trading investment products involves substantial risk of loss.

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