Webull Rating:  

Review of Webull investing app: brokerage fees and commissions, pros and cons, minimum requirements and promotion offer for opening a new online account or IRA with the discount stock broker.

Overview of Webull

Webull was founded as a simple mobile securities trading platform. In its brief existence, it has grown into a formidable brokerage firm with multiple trading platforms and lots of services. It’s well worth checking out.

Bulls Focus On...

Best pricing: No need to worry about commissions or fees.

Lots of ongoing promotions: Easy to earn free stocks.

Multiple order tickets: With several trade types.

Bears Focus On...

Only self-directed trading: Robo accounts are missing.

Limited product lineup: Some asset classes can’t be traded.

Curtailed retirement options: Resources are limited here.

Investment Lineup

In its self-directed accounts, Webull provides trading in stocks, options, closed-end funds, and ETFs. All other products are unavailable. These include precious metals, forex, futures, warrants, mutual funds, and bonds.

The stock category doesn’t include any foreign stocks but it does include American Depository Receipts (ADRs) and over-the-counter (OTC) stocks.

Account Opening

Opening a brokerage account at Webull is a fairly straightforward process on the company’s website. Look for the sign-up link. A mobile phone number is required, and that’s enough to get in the front door and start using Webull’s trading platforms. To actually get an account open for real trading, Webull will require more information, including copies of documents that prove residency.





Besides the American branch of Webull, there are branches in Singapore and Hong Kong where legal residents there can open accounts. A branch in Japan is in the works but not yet up and running.

Webull Promotion For A New Account

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Webull Fees and Minimums

A brokerage account at Webull, either in taxable or tax-deferred mode, has no minimum deposit requirement and no ongoing balance requirement. An incoming transfer does have a $500 minimum.

Webull charges no account fees. There is no annual fee, maintenance fee, or other ongoing account fees.

As for actual trading, there are no commissions on most trades of securities. There are a few exceptions. For example, F-share stocks (OTC stocks ending with the letter F) on the buy side cost $5. And trades of stocks priced under $1 are 0.02¢ per share if the total share amount exceeds 100,000 shares.

Option trades have no per-contract fees, and there are no fees for exercises and assignments, either.

Margin

Webull’s individual account can be either a cash account or a margin account. An IRA cannot be margin-enabled, which means day trading is significantly curtailed.

It’s really easy to upgrade a cash account to margin status on Webull’s website. Head over to the account settings page (the relevant link is under the account icon in the upper-right corner) and click on My Account. Next, click on the Manage My Account link.

With either a taxable or tax-deferred account, Webull’s software will display margin details for an entered ticker symbol. These particulars include:

- Day-trading leverage
- Maintenance requirement
- Overnight leverage

As for actual interest rates, Webull has a traditional, tiered schedule:

Free Webull Account

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Website

Webull’s website is rather simple. It has no trading capability, although it’s quite easy to navigate. A top row of links creates the main menu, and here there is a vital collection of resources.





In the far right-hand side, there is an account icon. Under this sit two really important links: Promotion Center and My Account. The promotion center displays current promotions at Webull. For whatever reason, the mobile app usually shows more specials. And the account hub has some essential account management tools, like a funds transfer tool.

Although the website itself has no trade ticket, Webull delivers a very good browser-based trading platform. Up in the top menu is a trade link. Click on this, and a new tab will be created with the software.

Because the web platform is in the cloud, there is no need to ever update it. It does have some very useful features. During our test drive of the system, we really liked the following:

- Watchlist that syncs with other platforms
- Full-screen charting with many tools and graph styles
- Three order tickets
- Simulated-trading mode

Despite the many strengths of this trading environment, Webull has failed to include live streaming video news and option spreads. Only calls and puts are available. Custom multi-leg trades are not possible, either.

Desktop Platform

The problem regarding option spreads is solved with Webull’s very good desktop program. The software has a lot of the same features as its web browser cousin, although the desktop program is on a slightly higher level.





For options trading, there is now a list of strategies in a drop-down menu. Examples include:

- Iron condor
- Strangle
- Vertical
- Butterfly

Clicking on a bid or ask price with any type of option automatically populates a trading ticket. This ticket is the default ticket on the platform. This default order form includes five order types for stocks and ETFs. They are limit, market, stop, stop limit, and trailing stop. Take-profit and stop-loss orders can be added to option and equity orders.

The regular ticket also has three choices for quantity: share, dollar, or percent. The last one can be used to specify a percent of buying power.

Then there’s the active trade ticket. This one has pre-installed red and green buttons to quickly enter a trade. The buttons can be customized with any number of order types, like “sell $10 at market.”

The third and final order ticket is the order entry ticket. This one is designed for conditional orders, such as OCO (one cancels the other). It can also be used for single-leg trades.

Not surprisingly, the charting program is on a high level. Tools include multiple graph styles, technical studies, and several drawing tools. A graph can be displayed full screen, and a drop-down menu includes a trade link along with other resources.

As with the web browser platform, there are some features missing on the desktop platform we would like to see (video news, for example), although the desktop system does have more features. For example, it’s possible to create and save custom layouts. This is not possible on the website platform.

Mobile App

The third and final platform Webull offers is its mobile app. During our trial run of it, we found it very useful with lots of features. Of particular importance is Feeds, a community forum for market and security news. This will be found in the bottom main menu and on an asset’s profile. Only the mobile app has this.





At the bottom of an asset’s profile is a trade button with a discrete button for options trading. Tapping on the options button pulls up chains with a selector for integrated spreads. Tapping on an information icon will generate a pop-up window with an explanation of the strategy along with a simple profit-loss diagram.

The trade ticket for equities has some really advanced order types, including OTO (one triggers the other) and limit + take profit & stop loss. Charting is pretty good for a mobile app with several technical studies and drawing tools.

As with the other two platforms, paper trading is possible. The big failure of the app is the lack of mobile check deposit.

Customer Service

Webull’s customer service has strong points and weak. On one hand, it does have several channels to connect with an associate. There is a service email address (customerservices@webull.us) and a phone number (888-828-0618). And the customer service desk is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The mobile app also has a messaging widget with an attachment tool.

On the other hand, there are no brick-and-mortar locations, and the company doesn’t have any investment advisors. Everything is self-directed. And there aren’t many other service features on the website, such as a forms download or a chat widget, which are further weaknesses.

A Help Center appears on both the website and mobile app. It does a decent job of answering lots of questions that customers will inevitably have.

Education and Research

Although we have seen many good features at Webull, the brokerage firm doesn’t deliver a great deal in terms of learning resources. There is a Learn tab at the top of the website. This section hosts articles and videos on a variety of topics. Examples include:

- What is OPRA Real-Time Data?
- Technical Indicators
- How to Trade OTC Stocks

Both articles and videos tend to be rather short.

As for asset research, there is a decent stock screener on the desktop and browser platforms. It can scan the American, Canadian, and mainland Chinese markets, although only American securities can actually be traded at Webull.

The scanner on the desktop platform has more search criteria. Underneath the filter tab, we found many variables, including:

- Dividend yield
- P/E (TTM)
- Exchange
- Diluted EPS

A stock’s profile has a good amount of information on it. News articles, financial statements, insider activity, and corporate actions are standard fare. A really useful tab is the Analysis tab. Underneath this will be trade recommendations and price targets from multiple analysts.

We wanted to see but didn’t find downloadable stock reports in pdf format. Webull also doesn’t have an ETF search engine. Although exchange is one of the search criteria on the equity screener, OTC is not one of the available choices.

Supplementary Services

Extended Hours: Webull traders can buy and sell securities from 4:00 am until 8:00 pm.

Initial Public Offerings: Webull has an extensive IPO service. To find upcoming releases, go to the Markets page on the mobile app and scroll down to the IPO section.

Individual Retirement Accounts: Webull offers two IRA versions: the Roth and Traditional accounts. It’s only possible to open one of the two (you can’t have one of each). A QRP (qualified retirement plan) can be rolled into an IRA. Due to the lack of margin capability, it is not possible to short securities or trade option spreads inside a Webull IRA.

Fractional-share Trading: Securities can be traded in whole dollars. There is a $5 minimum for equities.

DRIP Service: Not available.

Webull Review Judgment

Webull has grown from a simple mobile app with few services to a sophisticated brokerage firm with lots of trading resources. It improves and introduces new features faster than any company in the industry. This is one of the brokers definitely worth a try.

Webull Promotion

Grab your last chance to get up to 75 free stocks when you deposit at Webull!

Open Webull Account