Core Insights - The rise of fractional shares allows investors to buy portions of stocks and ETFs, making investing more accessible for those with limited capital Group 1: Fractional Share Programs - Fidelity offers fractional shares starting at $1, allowing investment in over 7,000 stocks and ETFs with zero trading commissions [1] - Charles Schwab's Stock Slices enables fractional share purchases of S&P 500 stocks for as little as $5, with the ability to buy up to 30 slices at a time [2] - Interactive Brokers provides fractional shares on its Pro and Lite platforms, with varying commission structures [6] - Robinhood allows purchases of fractional shares down to one-millionth of a share, with eligibility for stocks over $1 and market caps above $25 million [10] - Firstrade offers fractional shares for over 4,000 stocks and ETFs starting at $5, with commission-free trades [11] - SoFi Active Investing allows fractional shares starting at $5, with dividend reinvestment options [14] - WellsTrade launched its fractional share program in late 2023, requiring a minimum investment of $10 [16] Group 2: Benefits of Fractional Shares - Fractional shares facilitate diversification, allowing investors to spread their capital across multiple stocks [4] - Investors can receive dividends proportional to their fractional share ownership, ensuring full investment of available funds [5] - The ability to invest in fractional shares supports dollar-cost averaging, making it easier for new investors to enter the market [3]

Tien Tran logged into his wife’s Roth IRA one afternoon to check on a solar energy stock. Instead, The New York Times reports, he stumbled onto a nightmare — nearly half of her retirement holdings, worth about $120,000, had vanished. (1) The securities had been quietly transferred from her Vanguard account to a Merrill Edge account — without her authorization. A criminal had opened two new accounts in her name and initiated the transfer using the Automated Customer Account Transfer Service, or ACATS, a sy ...

Market Performance & Outlook - Q3 saw major averages rise, with the S&P up 7%, NASDAQ up 105%, Dow up 45%, and Russell up 11% [2] - The rally is expected to continue, but not necessarily at the same pace as Q3 [2] - US XUS is performing even better, with some stocks like Santandere up 130% year-to-date [3] - Over half of the portfolio is up over 20% year-to-date, with financials like Goldman and JP Morgan performing well [4] Portfolio Adjustments & Strategy - Goldman is up 70% and JP Morgan is up 50% over the last 52 weeks, leading to trimming positions and adding to Berkshire [5] - Berkshire is viewed as insurance, providing a safety net in case of an economic slowdown, with a large cash pile for potential deployment [6] Individual Stocks & Sectors - UBS includes Amazon and Disney on their highest conviction calls list [7] - Disney needs to regain momentum through earnings, particularly from streaming growth including ESPN [8] - Apploving is on the list, with skepticism built into the stock price despite revenue growth [12] - Snowflake, a software name related to AI, has performed well year-to-date and is differentiated in the AI software conversation [13][14] - Mastercard is a long-term holding, with potential opportunities related to stable coins [15] Fintech & IPOs - Wealthfront, a robo advisor, is going public after VCs have been invested for 13 years [17] - Robo advice has become a commodity offering, with limited unique value proposition [18][19] - Wealthfront's business model is primarily a customer acquisition cost (CAC) business [19] - Despite a hospitable tape for fintech investments, the potential for Wealthfront as a great investment is uncertain [20]