Intro: Sogotrade Review | What You Should Know about the Sogotrade
With a bolded tag line boasting “Trades as Low as $3,” it is hard not to see the immediate advantages of trading stocks with SogoTrade. What is it about SogoTrade that makes them a viable online trading destination?
There have been few in-depth SogoTrade reviews since the company over-hauled its website and updated its fees and policies. This review of SogoTrade, including the SogoTrade mobile app, will help prospective traders fully understand their offerings as well as the SogoTrade minimum deposit and requirements for traders who use this service.
Trading stocks has evolved over the years, just like the companies those stocks belong to. Gone are the days of nervous phone calls and trips to your financial advisor to buy and sell stocks and options. Now, you can buy, sell, and trade your stocks and options from your computer, phone, or even your smart watch.
In business since 1986, SogoTrade, Inc. has been known for their “innovation and deep discounted commissions,” but the company claims that their real value is in their help and support for their customer’s investing and trading goals.
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SogoTrade Review: Trading Platforms
They possess several platforms from which to carry out transactions, including SogoApp, the SogoTrade mobile app that allows you to complete fast transactions from the comfort of wherever you are.
All platforms come with your approved account and SogoTrade minimum deposit of $500. Several reviews of SogoTrade made reference to a $100,000 account minimum to access SogoElite, but SogoTrade’s website makes no mention of this exception.
SogoTrade Offers a Trading Platform for Every Level of Trader
- SogoOnline offers a simple platform with everything that a trader needs to complete their transactions.
- SogoTrader delivers a fully customizable experience that integrates streaming quotes, tools, and controls that offer a competitive advantage for the customer’s trades.
- For options traders, who need more speculative material, there is SogoOptions, a platform that includes analysis and risk management tools.
- For real-time streaming of market information for stocks and options, SogoElite is SogoTrade’s premium platform that delivers information from originating exchanges to your desktop in milliseconds.
- SogoPlay is the newest platform and is only available for SogoTrade account holders. SogoPlay is fully integrated with SogoOptions and is designed to take the mystery out of trading stock options.
SogoTrade Review: Mobile Platforms
- SogoMobile offers the functionality of SogoTrade’s desktop platforms on your browser-enabled mobile device.
- SogoApp is the SogoTrade mobile app that allows you to do it all from your mobile device in the convenience of a downloadable application. The SogoTrade app can be downloaded from the iTunes store or on Google Play for free.
Stockerbrockers.com’s Blain Reinkensmeyer gave SogoTrade’s platforms a moderate three out of five stars in a review of SogoTrade. The company gained points for the diversity of platforms, but it lost points for too much simplicity in regards to the charts and what the reviewer called an “outdated interface.”
A Closer Look at the SogoTrade Mobile App
The SogoTrade app, SogoApp, includes all platforms accessible to the SogoTrade customer. The newest version includes an added statistics display by orders, as well as the ability to sort positions.
Image source: iTunes
While this version is rather new, the SogoTrade mobile app has 3.5 stars on iTunes.
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SogoTrade Review: Getting Started
Signing up for a new account takes as little as ten minutes. You simply fill out a form that includes providing your user name and password; then, you include your personal contact information, verify that it is accurate, and agree to conditions. After you press “submit,” SogoTrade will email you a notification on whether or not you were approved within two business days.
As stated previously, the initial SogoTrade minimum deposit is $500. Once you have deposited your funds, you are ready to start trading! But what if you need a little guidance?
SogoTrade Review: Education Center
Once approved, if you are already a seasoned trader, you can get right into the action and start making trades. However, if you are a beginner or are out of practice, you can learn about the basics of the stock market and associated terms by visiting their education center.
SogoTrade’s education center includes tabs for:
- The Basics
- The Mechanics of the Trade
- Selecting Stock
- Option Education
- Margin Trading
They even have a glossary tab for quick reference to unfamiliar stock market terms.
SogoTrade Review: Research Center
Now that you have brushed up on your terminology and are ready to start trading, you need to know how to minimize your risk by picking the right shares and options. SogoTrade’s research page offers many options to help you make an informed decision on how best to invest your money.
- Market Movers opens up a chart that allows you to research trending companies
- Stock Screener gives insight into historical information of the stock
- Symbol Lookup helps you find the correct company and their symbol
- ETF Center delivers an area to research exchange traded funds (ETFs)
- Gainers gives you access to a list of stocks that are currently on the rise
- Losers shows you what stocks are trending downward in the market
- Most Active gives reference to what stocks are currently the most traded
- 52 Week Highs gives perspective on how stocks are behaving compared to their 52-week high
- 52 Week Lows shows activity in relation to their 52-week low
- Trending Up brings up a list of shares that are showing a sustained growth
- Trending Down produces a list of shares that are showing a sustained loss
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SogoTrade Review: The Costs of Doing Business
To buy shares during exchange hours, customers will pay $5 per trade or $3 per trade if more than 149 trades are made during a quarter. SogoTrade offers prepaid packages of 20 trades for $4 dollars as another money saving option.
For after-hours or extended hour trading, the trader’s base rate increases with a $.005 per share fee. These orders can only be done online. Reviews have pointed out that charging an after-hours fee is “nearly nonexistent in the industry”; however, you must weigh all of your costs to determine if this is the money-saving broker for you.
If orders are made during regular market hours and assisted by a broker, there is a $25 fee assessed plus the standard cost of trading shares.
For online, unassisted trades of options, the base rate is $5 plus $.50 per contract. Customers can add $25 to that if they need help from a broker.
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SogoTrade Review: Customer Service
Where SogoTrade believes that they completely outdo the competition is in their customer service and how it helps traders get the most for the least amount of money.
Traders have several options in regards to how they can get assistance from customer service agents on SogoTrade. Patrons can choose to call, email, or get assistance through live chat.
Customer Service Ranks Well in a Review of SogoTrade
In a review of SogoTrade done by Blain Reinkensmeyer of Stockbrokers.com, after a series of phone calls, emails, and live chats, SogoTrade was given four out of five stars for customer service. As a relative newcomer to the online brokerage market, this was the first year for a SogoTrade review to be done by Stockbrokers.com.
Reinkensmeyer, and others recruited to test the customer service standards, reported quick pick up times for phone calls, with most tests resulting in an answer time of sixty seconds. They felt the calls were answered “warmly” and closed in a “pleasant” manner.
Image source: Pixabay
The negatives that kept this review of SogoTrade from getting the whole five stars had to do primarily with the lack of contact information being offered when there were more questions and not being asked if the callers had any more questions.
These testers also had good reports to give for email and live chat support. Emails were answered in a prompt manner, less than one business day, and live chat calls were answered usually in less than a minute and a half. One live chat took twenty minutes to connect, however, resulting in a less than perfect score.
What Finance Giants Have to Say about SogoTrade
Overall, SogoTrade ranks a solid three out of five stars in a couple of SogoTrade reviews done by well-established finance magazines and websites.
Barrons.com ranked SogoTrade three out of five stars for overall customizability and the modern feel of the new SogoTrade mobile app, SogoApp.
After finding the company in a list of discount brokers compiled by Forbes.com, Brokerage-Review.com gave another three-star review of SogoTrade. The company got high accolades for the ease of opening an account and the number of platforms available for traders to work with. Brokerage-Review.com also enjoyed the fact that commissions were very low and that there were no inactivity or maintenance fees for non-IRA accounts.
They didn’t score well because of “limited investment choices” and fees added to stocks priced under $1. They also scored this review of SogoTrade unfavorably for the increased price of stocks and shares purchased after hours.
What Others Have to Say
Online-Brokers relies on user reviews, and of six reviewers, SogoTrade had an overall rating of 4.3 stars out of five. One reviewer gave a five-star review of SogoTrade simply for customer service. Another gave a four-star SogoTrade review after having bad experiences with other firms.
Is SogoTrade the Right Online Broker for You?
With a newly updated website and a diverse offering of trading platforms tailored for every level, SogoTrade reviews are on the rise. With the addition of the SogoTrade mobile app and no SogoTrade minimum deposit, SogoTrade is appearing quickly in the rankings as a contender in the online discount trading business.
If you have been looking for a new online broker that delivers competitive shares and options trading on a budget, then SogoTrade could be a smart choice for you. With reviews of SogoTrade ranking well in customer service, price, and ease of platform use, it seems logical to get excited about SogoTrade.
See how your current broker compares to SogoTrade and download the SogoTrade app to see how it works for your needs. The goal of this review of SogoTrade is that you find the best online broker that suits your needs and helps you meet your financial goals.
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