One way to see free (non-streaming) real time stock quotes on the iPhone
If you use the iPhone to watch or trade stocks (when away from your desktop), you’ve probably noticed prices shown on the Stocks app are delayed by 15 to 20 minutes. Even if your online broker service offers real time quotes your iPhone might have trouble accessing that (Java or Flash) based part of their website – for whatever reason. In short, using the iPhone gives you a chance to see what you could have done 15 minutes ago, rather than right now. Rather than searching for another way to see real time stock quotes, which will cost at least $15 a month, there is another way. It’s not streaming real time quotes but it might prove to be close enough – for free.
Press Safari and sign into your online broker service. It should have a section where you can view your Portfolio, which shows all your securities. Although the layout of your online broker service may be different, their website should display your stock symbols, number of shares, and other qualities. Most important in this case, it should show the current (real time) stock value, usually listed as the “Last Trade”.
Merely pressing the iPhone’s Refresh button causes the page to refresh, which immediately updates your Portfolio, including the prices of your securities. By buying even 1 share of every stock that you want to keep track of, this allows you to see the current real time price for all of your stocks, within the past few seconds, for free.
Plus, using this tactic, once the stock hits your target price, you can buy or sell immediately, since you’re already signed into your online broker account. If too much time has passed since you used the iPhone and the website logs you out (for security purposes), just sign back in.
Just a friendly FYI to fellow stock traders out there.
Press Safari and sign into your online broker service. It should have a section where you can view your Portfolio, which shows all your securities. Although the layout of your online broker service may be different, their website should display your stock symbols, number of shares, and other qualities. Most important in this case, it should show the current (real time) stock value, usually listed as the “Last Trade”.
Merely pressing the iPhone’s Refresh button causes the page to refresh, which immediately updates your Portfolio, including the prices of your securities. By buying even 1 share of every stock that you want to keep track of, this allows you to see the current real time price for all of your stocks, within the past few seconds, for free.
Plus, using this tactic, once the stock hits your target price, you can buy or sell immediately, since you’re already signed into your online broker account. If too much time has passed since you used the iPhone and the website logs you out (for security purposes), just sign back in.
Just a friendly FYI to fellow stock traders out there.
Comments
If you use the iPhone to watch or trade stocks (when away from your desktop), you’ve probably noticed prices shown on the Stocks app are delayed by 15 to 20 minutes. Even if your online broker service offers real time quotes your iPhone might have trouble accessing that (Java or Flash) based part of their website – for whatever reason. In short, using the iPhone gives you a chance to see what you could have done 15 minutes ago, rather than right now. Rather than searching for another way to see real time stock quotes, which will cost at least $15 a month, there is another way. It’s not streaming real time quotes but it might prove to be close enough – for free.
Press Safari and sign into your online broker service. It should have a section where you can view your Portfolio, which shows all your securities. Although the layout of your online broker service may be different, their website should display your stock symbols, number of shares, and other qualities. Most important in this case, it should show the current (real time) stock value, usually listed as the “Last Trade”.
Merely pressing the iPhone’s Refresh button causes the page to refresh, which immediately updates your Portfolio, including the prices of your securities. By buying even 1 share of every stock that you want to keep track of, this allows you to see the current real time price for all of your stocks, within the past few seconds, for free.
Plus, using this tactic, once the stock hits your target price, you can buy or sell immediately, since you’re already signed into your online broker account. If too much time has passed since you used the iPhone and the website logs you out (for security purposes), just sign back in.
Just a friendly FYI to fellow stock traders out there.
And you feel confident enough to send your trading account login information over the iphone so it can be picked up by any amatuer hacker? Good luck claiming those trades weren't yours, or worse having your account completely cleaned out.
I’m not worried about it because it’s not going to happen.
mroberto1, there are very few “hackers” (and no amateurs) walking around with mobile equipment that can break into a cellular network, analyze the data packets being exchanged with a specific cell phone at a specific time, then determine from that exactly what my account login information is. For the most part, that’s only in the movies.
Whether you use DSL, cable, or wireless, the network that you use to access the net is reasonably secure. What the end user does on their end typically isn’t. Anyone that actually has the advanced technology to get wireless information from someone’s cell phone (without actually touching that phone) is wasting their time targeting me. It would also prove they’re a clueless idiot.
It would make far more financial (and practical) sense for them to go after the cellular phones used by billionaires, CEOs, senators, foreign dignitaries, and naturally, Ben Bernake – the chairman of the Federal Reserve. Why stop there? Why not target a large bank or brokerage instead? What about listening to what the armed secret service agents are saying on their wireless channels when they guard the president?
Again, for the most part, breaking into such networks is only in the movies. The very last thing any such “hacker” would do is waste their time targeting me. That's assuming "hackers", let alone "any amatuer hacker", could do it in the first place.