Another crucial part of building the tech is having “a lot of people” using the system, which is an advantage for Blend, according to Ghamsari. Blend’s mortgage banking software processed 23.2% of the total market originations in the second half of 2022, up from 14.5% in the second half of 2021.
Read on to learn more about the opportunities and challenges that AI poses to the industry, what the company has to say about the risk of getting delisted from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), and insight into Blend’s roadmap for profitability.
This interview has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.
Kim:Blend has played a critical role in powering about a quarter of the mortgages that originated during the refi boom. It seems like the next big wave is artificial intelligence. How is Blend preparing for the era of AI in the industry?
Ghamsari: I think on the AI piece, it’s about combining an understanding of what the client is trying to accomplish.
Now that a system can understand the essence of the question the consumer is trying to understand, it (AI) can actually do that work for the LO in the background, and then when the LO shows up, that work is already done.
Some of these borrowers have hundreds of products that they can choose from. How is an LO supposed to keep that in their head? It’s too much context, and this will be a supercharger for them.
In order for that to happen, you have to have a lot of people using it, which Blend does. You have to be connected to all these data sources and internal systems to both the customers and etcetera — and we are. You also have to be something that the LO uses on a regular basis.
So we’re in this position where I think we can really help the industry, and particularly LOs, who are trying to make things work for consumers.
Kim: Then I assume AI could also take that extra step in correcting some information for LOs that they provide for borrowers?
Ghamsari: I think there’s a separate piece, which is for efficiency. There’s a lot more opportunity to understand what’s required to be done on the loan file after it’s already gotten through the space.
Understanding those requirements and documentation, and actually understanding the data and saying, ‘we need this additional piece of information,’ or ‘we extracted this information, and now that loan looks like we need to change something about it to correct it for whatever reason.’
So I think that’s a separate opportunity that I think is also potentially pretty compelling. Almost think about it as like a co-pilot for an underwriter. That same exact capability could exist.
Kim:Are there any features that Blend is trying to build as the industry gets more involved with AI?
Ghamsari: Nothing I’m prepared to share today, but we are definitely looking very closely at the space. Blend has some unique things — like how many people use our system is very important, and all the systems we’re connected to are very important. All the history of data we have is very important.
So Blend is that interface between LO and the consumer today for a lot of our customers.
Kim:I’m curious how in what ways AI can help with homeownership and tapping into a potential customer base.
Ghamsari: I think that’s the area of the market that will benefit the most from AI. Most people who are first time homebuyers, or in underserved markets, don’t understand all the products and all the things that a bank could help them do or a lender could help them do.
Imagine you’re a lender or an LO or a bank who is trying to serve the mass market. In order to serve them really well, you have to be able to do that work on every file, and it’s just not scalable to build something that requires LOs to spend 20 hours on every file bill to answer that question.
So that’s why I think the co-pilot model is especially important here, because you still want that borrower to have that LO. But you want that LO to be able to do a lot less work to serve that customer.
Kim: The big issue when it comes to AI is getting rid of that bias in machine learning.How can we tackle that?
Ghamsari: I think this is where having a human in the loop is important. There are programs – whether it’s the government, or banks – in place to allow for these higher LTV or lower-income borrowers to get access to credit.
I think what this (AI) does is — in theory — this unlocks the ability to make every specific situation as personalized as possible, which is what an LO would do if they could spend 20 hours in every file.
Kim: Are there any other challenges you foresee other than the bias factor in AI?
Ghamsari: I think the technology is extremely difficult to build. It’s not just taking some large language model or adding open AI to your platform. Building something that can understand the complexity of a consumer’s financial situation and understand all the products and programs that are out there — and understand the intent of the consumer. All three of those things are actually extremely complicated.
Kim:I want to shift focus to the notice Blend received from the NYSE about not being in compliance with the bylaws. Blend’s stock price has been up since its first quarter earnings call, trending closer to $1 level led by revenue above target and shrinking operating loss. How confident are you that Blend can meet NYSE’s bylaws?
Ghamsari: We have a plan to meet it. I feel good about that plan.
Obviously, I think there’s just general challenges. We are growing market share a lot right now and helping our customers a lot. What I’ve always said is – first and foremost during times like this – it’s not about selling customers new things. It’s about being there for our existing customers.
I want everyone to use it (Blend) so they can benefit. Let’s get a prescriptive roadmap for our customers to help them, and all those other things will take care of itself.
Kim: I’m curious what the board’s response was when Blend received that notice.
Ghamsari: We knew it was coming. It wasn’t a surprise to us and we had a plan.We wrote a letter back to the Stock Exchange saying here’s our plan.
So we were prepared, we knew it was coming, and we had a plan to deal with it.
Kim: We are in a downturn of a cyclical business. I remember you saying that in Q4 of next year, Blend will have positive operating profit numbers. What are some of the crucial external and internal factors for Blend to recover its share price, which once traded above $20?
Ghamsari: We said net operating loss will be less than $20 million in Q4 of this year, and then we’ll be profitable next year. We’re going to hit that plan.
We have different levers in our business. We have a lot of discretionary investment that we’re doing for the sake of our customers. Blend has the balance sheet to do it. We have the customer base that needs it, and will stick with us. So we have to keep investing; that is our job.
If the macro gets materially worse, we’ll pull back on some investment. But we have now scoped it out to where we feel really good about that.
In terms of getting the stock price back to a certain number, all I think about is, how do I keep making our customers get more value from us even for things they don’t pay for? How do I use that to get customers to want to do more with us? Because if we make them more successful, they’re going to want to do more with us.
Redwood Trust Inc., a real estate investment trust (REIT) based in Mill Valley California that has residential operations focused on nonagency jumbo loans, recently reported a second-quarter 2022 net loss of $100 million, after recording a net gain of $31 million in the prior quarter.
Likewise, Atlanta-based Angel Oak Mortgage Inc., a real estate investment trust focused on nonqualified mortgages, or non-QM, recently announced that it was struggling with red ink — recording a net loss of $52.1 million for the second quarter ended June 30, bringing its total losses for the year so far to $95.7 million.
The common theme in the earnings results for both REITs is the impact of fast rising interest rates and general rate volatility on their residential mortgage holdings and operations. In general, lower-rate mortgages are at a competitive disadvantage in terms of pricing in securitization and loan-trading liquidity channels in such an environment because they are worth less than the newer crop of higher-rate mortgages. Keith Lind, CEO of non-QM lender Acra Lending, put it this way: “These aren’t bad loans, just bad prices.”
“We continued to experience a challenging economic environment in the second quarter of 2022,” said Robert Williams, president and CEO of Angel Oak Mortgage (AOMR). “Historic inflationary pressures resulted in continued volatility, both in nominal interest rates and in the widening of interest rate spreads, driving unrealized losses on our portfolio of target assets.”
Because they are deemed riskier loans than conforming agency-eligible mortgages, rates for non-QM loans generally average around 150 basis points higher than conforming rates in a normal market, according to industry experts.
AOMR is a publicly traded REIT that is part of Angel Oak Cos., a long-term player in the non-QM mortgage market. It is externally managed and advised by an affiliate of Angel Oak Capital Advisors. The Angel Oak Cos. family of affiliates also includes non-QM lenders Angel Oak Home Loans and Angel Oak Mortgage Solutions.
Is now a good time to invest in real estate automation technologies?
HousingWire recently spoke with Michael Valdes, president and founder of Axis Technical Group, about investing in automation technologies as a way to prepare for the next boom cycle.
Presented by: Axis Technical Group
AOMR has bulked up its warehouse lending arsenal to help bolster liquidity to better cope with the volatility of the current market. Its earnings report shows that it added a new $340 million warehouse financing facility during the second quarter and since the end of the quarter it increased the capacity of an existing warehouse line by $260 million — to a total of $600 million. The added warehouse financing capacity brings “the maximum availability on all financing lines to $1.9 billion,” the REIT reports.
Rapidly rising interest rates also negatively impacted the bottom line for Redwood Trust. Since the beginning of the year, rates are up more than 2 percentage points — with the most recent Primary Mortgage Market Survey from Freddie Mac showing the conforming 30-year fixed-rate mortgage with an average rate of 5.22%.
Redwood reported in a review of its second-quarter earnings performance that “profitability in the quarter was impacted by deterioration in the prices of jumbo loans….”
“Our financial results reflect the historic volatility and spread widening that characterized markets during the second quarter,” said Christopher Abate, CEO of Redwood. “The magnitude of rapidly rising rates impacted our residential mortgage banking business, while demand for shorter-term financing from our business-purpose lending borrowers [including bridge loans and single-family rental property loans] proved more resilient.”
Redwood, too, is ensuring it has adequate liquidity to ride out the rough patch in the market. Redwood reported in the earnings-review report that in addition to $412 million in cash and financeable loans as of June 30, “we also have over $450 million of other unencumbered assets and approximately $2.7 billion of unused warehouse capacity to support go-forward mortgage banking production.”
The REIT, however, warns that there are still plenty of low-rate jumbo mortgages for the nation’s housing market to digest. Redwood’s earnings-review report states that the majority of jumbo inventory “yet to be sold or securitized in the current market is at lower coupons [3.5% or less],” which will “impact executions for those seeking to securitize.”
“We believe this overhang will clear in the coming quarters,” Redwood’s earnings-review report states, adding that the REIT’s inventory of jumbos now has an average coupon greater than 5%.
“Redwood has sold substantially all of its lower-coupon jumbo mortgages, which should benefit our margin performance going forward,” the REIT earnings-review report states.
For another REIT focused on the non-QM market, Pasadena, California-based Western Asset Mortgage Capital Corp.(NYSE: WMC), the story is similar, though arguably more dire.
Western Asset, which is managed by investment advisor Western Asset Management Co. LLC, recently announced that it is exploring a potential company sale or merger in the wake of posting a $22.4 million net loss for the second quarter ended June 30 — on the heels of posting a $22.2 million loss in the first quarter. The REIT, with some $2.8 billion in assets, has a diverse portfolio of residential and commercial real estate assets.
A closer look at Western Asset’s books shows that as of June 30 its residential whole loan portfolio, nearly all of which is comprised of non-QM loans, was underwater by some $44 million. That’s based on a comparison of the principal balance of the loans on the books and an assessment of their fair market value as reported by the REIT as of that date.
The fallout in the non-QM market, due in large measure to the volatility of rates this year, is not limited to REITs. Non-QM lender First Guaranty Mortgage Corp. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection at the end of June — leaving four warehouse lenders on the hook for more than $415 million. Then, in early July, another non-QM lender, Sprout Mortgage, shuttered its doors suddenly, leaving employees out in the cold.
Just weeks later, a text message leaked to the media revealed that Flagstar Bank is ramping up scrutiny of non-QM lenders prior to advancing warehouse funding. Flagstar will now require advance approval for funding advances.
The bank also indicated it may adjust “haircuts” — the percentage of the loan the originator must fund itself to ensure it has skin in the game. The leaked message included a list of 16 non-QM lenders that would be affected by the changes.
“We need to see rates kind of stabilize, flatten for a minute, just to kind of be able to work out the problems,” said John Toohig, head of whole loan trading at Raymond James in Memphis. He added that the hope is that at some point next year, once the Federal Reserve has eased up on its monetary tightening policy, rates might even dip some.
“That’s the hope, that rates will fall again, and we’ll start this baby back up,” Toohig said.
Being employed in the securities industry has its fair share of unique and challenging situations. One situation that I always find comical is when a client calls me and wants to buy some obscure penny stock that they claim is the next “sure thing.”
Each time this occurs, it never fails that the stock is some random recommendation from the client’s brother’s barber’s son-in-law who guarantees the stock is getting ready to take off.
Every time this occurs I always sigh to myself and think, “Sure it is”. Before you go out and try to strike gold let’s find out what a penny stock really is and what risks they have.
Pennies on the Dollars
One would think that a penny stock would cost only pennies, right? Well, not quite. Actually, to qualify as a “penny stock”, the stock price will be less than $5.00. Here are a few other characteristics of a penny stock:
They are not traded on any exchange or the Nasdaq
Priced less than $5.00
Company has not met financial standards of listed equity companies.
Why Are Penny Stocks Risky?
Many investors are attracted to penny stocks because of the buying power (you can buy lots of shares without a lot of money) and “potential” payoff. The keyword is “potential” or better translated as “not likely“.
What makes penny stocks so risky is there lack of liquidity. Penny stocks are not traded on the major exchanges (NYSE or Nasdaq) and are traded on Over the Counter Bulletin Board (OTCBB) or the Pink Sheets.
The listing requirements of these are far less stringent than the major exchanges, so many of these companies do not have to have as detailed reporting as their publicly traded counterparts.
All these factors combined are what make penny stocks that much more risky.
Liquidity is an Issue
Since these stock are more thinly traded, it can be hard to find a buyer if you hold the stock. And just because the stock may list for a certain price, doesn’t mean that there is a buyer out there.
Think trying to sell a Barry Bonds rookie card for what the pricing guide lists it for. Chances are you are not going to find a buyer.
Beware of Penny Stock Scams
Many of us have been exposed to some sort of scam promoting penny stocks. According to a study conducted at Oxford, 15% of all e-mail spam was related to penny stock fraud. According to the study,
“People who responded to the ‘pump and dump’ scam lost 8% of their investment in two days. Conversely, the spammers who buy low-priced stock before sending the e-mails, typically see a return of between 4.9% and 6% when they sell.”
The most common penny stock fraud is the “Pump and Dump“. A small group of speculators will accumulate a large number of shares in a penny stock. Once their positions are in place, they will release positive financial propaganda, news so unexpected and titillating it can drastically affect people’s perception of the stock.
The intent is to get small-time investors to start trading irrationally. The news is almost always false, but before this is discovered, the price of the stock often skyrockets and the original speculators exit with large profits.
Over the years, I have received countless solicitations at work from cold calling Boiler Room types trying to get me to take a look at a hot stock so that I would call my clients about it. It never failed that this next supposed gold mine was some thinly traded penny stock that was going anywhere but up.
Here is a sample email I just received trying to convince me to buy the next hot stock. FYI, I changed the symbol to protect you from rushing off and buying it.
ABCD Energy Corp. Siymbol: ABCD Traading: $0.32
ABCD Energy Corp. is an Oil & Gas Exploration and Development Company based in Denver,CO with a focus on Wyoming. Using a geology-based methodology, the US Geological Survey estimate a mean of 2.4 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered natural gasand a mean of 41 million barrels of undiscovered oil in the Wind RiverBasin Province of Wyoming. ABCD Energy Corp. has acquired 75% working interest in the Diamond Springs Prospect located within this prolific area. The Company’s shaares are publicly traaded on the OTCBB under the tiicker siymbol ABCD.
Get in before word hits the street!
Another example of a scam that I and another blogger Mrs. Micah both experienced was receiving a fax at work involving penny stocks.
The fax is made to somebody else’s attention and you are led to believe by the scammers that you have been on the receiving end of inside information by mistake. They are hoping that you will go out and buy the stock and tell all your friends to buy it, too.
If you get a similar fax at work, don’t call your stock broker or think about logging into your online brokerage account to buy it. Head to the shredder and save yourself the trouble and money.
Investing in the stock market has never been easier. Many of the best online brokerages are designed for beginner investors and offer unique incentives for signing up. The good news is that you can enjoy free stocks just for signing up.
Investing in the stock market, real estate, or crypto has never been easier. Gone are the days when you had to be an expert or work with a stock broker to buy company shares or invest your money. You can invest your money in several ways, with options for every level of risk tolerance and investment understanding.
Many of the best online brokerages are designed for beginner investors and offer unique incentives for signing up. The good news is that you can enjoy free stocks just for signing up.
Table of Contents
How to Get Free Stocks
You have so many options today for investing in stocks, real estate, or crypto that investing platforms must work harder to gain your business. This means you can find many new discount brokerages and established investment platforms offering free stocks or financial bonuses to lure in investors.
We decided to look up the best free stock offers for those looking to take advantage of this opportunity.
Ready? Let’s dive in!
1. Public
Public is an investing platform offering commission-free stock trades, and it’s become a hit with young investors just starting. The platform is also a social online stock brokerage that lets you see how others invest so that you don’t feel alone in your financial journey. Public allows you to track the trade activity of verified investors with proven track records, so you’re always learning about investing options.
Another feature that makes Public attractive to young investors is that you can purchase fractional shares, meaning that you can start investing in more prominent companies even if you’re not in the financial position to buy whole shares.
Public’s platform also gives you access and exposure to asset classes like ETFs, crypto, luxury goods, and artwork. They plan to add real estate and music royalties to this list of asset classes soon.
We should note that Public doesn’t participate in payment for order flow like many other brokers do. This means that the company doesn’t sell your trades to third parties.
How do you get free stocks with Public?
Open an approved brokerage account with Open to the Public Investing.
Deposit at least $20 in your account.
Claim your reward from the top right of your home screen.
The reward, in this case, is a fractional share of a specific stock, ETF, or crypto token (you must open an account with Apex Crypto LLC for a crypto asset reward). The cash value of the reward you receive will vary from $1 to $300, with about 95% of participants receiving a reward valued at $1. According to Public, about 4.9% of participants will earn a reward valued at $5, and only 0.1% will earn a reward valued at $300.
2. moomoo
Moomoo claims that you can trade like a pro on their platform. There are no commissions, account minimums, hidden fees, or trade minimums with moomoo. The platform offers free investing tools with real-time data and AI support, plus you have access to global markets (US, Hong Kong, and China-A-shares) under one account. It also has US-based licensed specialists who are available for professional support.
How do you get free stocks with moomoo?
The moomoo home page states that you can get up to 15 free stocks valued between $3 to $2,000 each when you sign up. The offer is subject to change at any time.
Here are the different ways to get free stocks with moomoo:
Open a brokerage account and draw for a chance to earn one free stock worth between $3 and $2,000.
Deposit $100 into your account during the promotional period, and you will be entered into a draw four times to earn one free stock worth between $3 and $2,000.
Deposit $1,000 into your account during the promotional period, and you will get ten chances to draw for free stock worth between $3 and $2,000.
According to moomoo’s current promotional page, the free stock is completely random based on a specific probability distribution. There’s a 95% chance you’ll get a free stock worth $3 to $9.99, a 4.9% chance of getting a stock worth $10-$99.99, and a 0.1% chance of getting a stock worth $100 or more.
3. M1 Finance
M1 Finance is a free investment platform with a wide variety of professionally chosen portfolios for you to invest in. M1 Finance also offers various brokerage accounts, so there’s likely an account that will match your investing preferences.
The company refers to its platform as the “Finance Super App” since you can manage all of your financial tasks, like investing, spending, and borrowing, in one place to simplify your life. The platform comes with a checking account and lending services, and you can earn 1% cash back as a Plus user of the M1 Finance checking account.
M1 Finance is known for letting users invest in pies, which means that you can invest in different securities that make up slices of the whole pie. You can create a custom pie of stocks and ETFs based on your investment strategy. If you want to leave the guesswork to the professionals, you can use one of the expert pies created for different investors.
How do you get free stocks with M1 Finance?
M1 currently offers up to $500 for free if you deposit at least $10,000 within 14 days of opening a new brokerage account.
When you deposit $10,000 to $29,999.99 to your account, you get a $75 bonus. When you deposit $30,000 to $49,999.99, you get a bonus of $150. When you deposit $50,000 to $99,999.99, you get a $250 bonus. To earn a cash bonus amount of $500, you have to deposit over $100,000.
You can also use the M1 referral program to get $10 for free. When you sign up for an account through a friend’s link, you both get $10. You can then use this money to invest how you wish through the platform.
* Account Minimum $100
* Build custom portfolios (or)
* Choose expert portfolios
* Stocks, ETFs, REITs
Open an account
4. Robinhood
This investing platform was a game changer during the pandemic as many young folks turned to Robinhood to begin their investment journey. While there were some controversies related to Robinhood that came along with the 2021 meme stock rallies, you can’t ignore this easy-to-use app that has changed investing.
Robinhood’s popular commission-free app is designed for investors of all levels. You can invest in stocks and crypto through Robinhood, and it also provides ETFs, margin trading, and options trading for those looking to level up their investments. With 24/7 professional support, educational resources, and the ability to purchase fractional shares, it’s clear why many young investors have turned to Robinhood and its straightforward mobile app.
How do you get free stocks with Robinhood?
To get free stocks with Robinhood, you must open an account. Once you’ve linked your bank account, you’ll be given a specific dollar amount and will pick your gift stock from a list of America’s top 20 leading companies, based on market cap, in their respective industries. You can use the cash value you’re gifted to purchase fractional shares of the companies offered on the list in case you don’t earn enough to buy a total share.
The Robinhood website doesn’t specify the exact cash value you’ll receive, though it ranges from $5 to $200, with about 98% of the new account holders being granted a reward running from $5 to $10. You can use whatever amount you’re gifted to purchase stocks or fractional shares of a company.
You do have to keep the stock for three days from the day you claim it. When you sell the shares, you can use the money to purchase other stocks. If you want to withdraw this money from your account, you must keep the share’s cash value in your account for at least 30 days. Once the 30-day window is up, you can withdraw your funds without restrictions.
5. SoFi Invest
SoFi Invest is a part of the SoFi family of products. Their mission is to help people reach financial independence and realize their ambitions. SoFi Invest is an app designed to let you track and trade money. The investment platform lets you trade stocks and ETFs with no commissions, invest in IPOs before they hit the public market, invest in crypto, and even set up simplified automated investing.
The platform also offers educational resources to help you learn more about investing if you’re not comfortable with it yet. SoFi has many other personal finance products, including student loans, credit cards, banking, credit score monitoring, and personal loans. You can essentially use SoFi to handle all of your personal finance needs.
How do you get free stocks with SoFi Invest?
You must open an Active SoFi Invest Brokerage Account with SoFi Invest and deposit $10. Then you become eligible for a signup bonus that ranges from $5 to $1,000. The promotional offer gives a 0.028% probability of earning $1,000 and an 85.488% chance of gaining the $5 reward.
6. Webull
Webull is one of the new players in the stock broker space, offering zero commissions and no deposit minimums. Every member gets smart tools for smart investing. Webull allows you to diversify your portfolio with various investment products like stocks, fractional shares, options, ETFs, ADRs, and OTC.
Webull also attracts more sophisticated investors by offering innovative tools like advanced charting and comprehensive financial analysis. When you become a member, you get access to a community with millions of folks discussing investment strategies, so you’re not alone during your investment journey.
How do you get free stocks with Webull?
According to their website, Webull’s process is fairly simple, and you can get up to 12 free fractional shares with a value ranging from $3 to $3,000. This promotional offer ends on January 4, 2023.
Here are the two ways you can get free stocks with Webull:
Open an account with Webull to get two free fractional shares.
Deposit any amount of money in your new account and get up to 10 free fractional shares.
The free stocks, which include NYSE or NASDAQ-listed companies with a minimum market cap of $2 billion and a share price ranging from $3 to $300, are chosen randomly. The odds of being rewarded a stock ranging between $151 and $300 is approximately 1:10000.
7. Groundfloor
Groundfloor is a real estate crowdsourcing app aimed at debt investments, so you can get into real estate without allocating a significant portion of your savings. Real estate investing platforms have become more popular over the last few years, with more apps like Groundfloor popping up.
You can invest with Groundfloor in two ways:
The “Stairs” saving account: This is essentially a high-interest savings account with a 4% APR, no fees, and no minimum balance. You can leave your money there and let it grow until you’re ready to start investing.
Groundfloor real estate crowdsourcing: You can invest in individual renovation loans or use automatic investing tools to find projects you can fund based on your chosen criteria.
Groundfloor claims to be the only investing platform where you can securely earn up to 10% on your money with investments backed by real assets. The platform is known for “savesting” since they try to combine saving with investing.
Groundfloor has grown to about 200,000 users and over $240 million in assets under management. Groundfloor generally repays all investments every 4-12 months, which is rare considering that real assets back your investments.
How do you get free stocks with Groundfloor?
When you invest $100 into your new Groundfloor account, you get a $50 credit within 30 days. All you need to do is link your bank account, pick your investments (or let Groundfloor do it for you), and collect your interest. You and a friend can also earn a $50 referral bonus when you get them to sign up for Groundfloor using your referral link.
8. Plynk
Plynk is an app designed to make investing easy for beginners, helping you learn about financial investments as you go. You can start investing for as little as $1, so you don’t have to be intimidated by the investment process or by setting aside a large chunk of capital.
Plynk uses simple language that’s easy to understand and teaches you about investing concepts as you work on growing your money. They offer many tips and how-tos to guide you through the process. Plynk will ask you some questions that it will use to narrow down investment opportunities based on your interests.
How do you get free stock with Plynk?
You create an account, then link your bank account to earn the $10 signup incentive. You can also get up to a $100 deposit match as a bonus for a limited time.
9. Fundrise
Fundrise helps you start real estate investing with only $10. This real estate crowdsourcing app is focused on long-term investments. The best part of investing with Fundrise is adding real estate exposure to your portfolio without dealing with any of the hassles typically involved in owning and renting out properties.
Fundrise has multiple investment options depending on how much capital you have to work with. There’s a Starter level for those who want to begin with as little as $10 and packages that go in tiers up to $100,000 for accredited investors.
Fundrise also recently launched the Innovation Fund for those who want additional diversification. This investment is focused on high-growth private tech companies that could provide lucrative returns in the future.
How do you get free stocks with Fundrise?
Fundrise will automatically deposit $10 as a bonus when you open your new account and link your bank account via its promotional page. Several terms and conditions apply as to who qualifies for this offer. You can use the bonus cash for investing in one of Fundrise’s fund options. For more information on Fundrise, check out our full review.
* Invest in real estate with $10
* Open to all investors
* Online easy to use site and app
Invest now
10. Firstrade
Firstrade is a full-service online brokerage that allows you to invest in stocks, options, and mutual funds while you get access to a full suite of investment products, research, tools, and even customer service. The best part is that you get all of these services for free. Firstrade offers zero-dollar commission trades and $0 options contract fees on its award-winning platform.
Firstrade has an extensive list of services for investors, including some of the following perks:
Extended-hours trading: You can get pre-market news and after-market-hours sessions.
Trade ideas: You get access to premium research from trusted platforms like Morningstar, Benzinga, and Zacks.
Free educational resources: There are free tools and live webinars for investors of all levels.
According to Firstrade’s website, you can get up to $4,000 in cash bonuses when you sign up. While you don’t get paid in stocks, you get the next best thing, cash.
How do you get free stocks with Firstrade?
It’s very easy to earn free stocks with Firstrade, as all you have to do is fund your account to get a cash bonus. This promotion ends on January 17, 2023, and there’s a list of criteria for earning free stocks based on how much you invest. Here’s how much you can earn in cash with Firstrade:
Deposit or transfer amount
Cash bonus
$5,000+
$50
$10,000+
$100
$25,000+
$300
$100,000+
$700
$500,000+
$1,500
$1,000,000+
$3,000
$1,500,000+
$4,000
You can also get up to $200 in transfer fee rebates for account transfers and $25 in wire transfer fee rebates.
11. Acorns
Acorns allows you to save, invest, and learn with one simple app. You can set the Acorns app to save and invest for you automatically. For example, you can turn on the Round-Ups feature to invest your spare change by rounding up your purchases to the next dollar and allocating the difference to your portfolio. According to Acorns, the average new user will invest an extra $166 within four months by just rounding up and investing their spare change.
Acorns also offers diversified portfolios that experts create, including ETFs that professionals from top investment firms manage. With over 10 million sign-ups, Acorns has been helping millennials save money daily.
With Acorns, you can earn bonus rewards by purchasing products from many top brands. Since Acorns works with over 15,000 brands, including Apple, Amazon, and many others, you have multiple opportunities to earn rewards.
How do you get free stocks with Acorns?
To get your $10 sign-up bonus on Acorns, simply create a new account and make your first investment of at least $5. Acorns also offers a $5 investment referral bonus to you and a friend when you get your friend to sign up. Find out more about Acorns in our full review.
12. Stash
Stash is an investing app tailored for beginners, allowing users to start investing with very little cash. With only a $5 investment minimum, Stash allows new investors to start small until they’re more comfortable.
Stash offers banking and investing tools to its ten million-plus users. You can automate your investing, put your money into stocks, or let Stash create a customized investment based on your financial preferences. If you’re unsure which investment option to choose, the Smart Portfolio will automatically expose you to stocks, bonds, and cryptocurrency.
Among other unique features, Stash can work with parents or guardians who want to open a custodial account for their children to invest in their future. Stash also offers a Stock-Back debit card that lets you earn 1% in stock on all of your purchases. The Stock-Back card rewards you with stocks of the companies you shop with.
In addition to no hidden fees, Stash offers a Stock Round-Up feature where you can round up your purchases to the nearest dollar and invest your spare change in stocks. This platform is an easy, educational, and convenient way to invest in stocks.
How do you get free stocks with Stash?
Stash is currently offering $5 to anyone who signs up for a Stash Invest account which you can use to spend on more investments.
Stash also has weekly stock parties, where investors can earn bonus stock in a well-known company for participating in the party and sharing a referral code with friends.
13. Charles Schwab
Charles Schwab is one of the country’s biggest, most well-known banks and brokerages, with many physical locations available nationwide.
The Schwab digital platform offers various financial tools and accounts for investors of every level. You can find different brokerage accounts depending on your investing goals. The Schwab brokerage account features options trading, margin trading, and checking account features like paper checks and debit cards.
You can utilize the robo-advisor investing tool for a more hands-off approach to investing your money. You can also visit a physical branch near you if you have any pressing issues. There’s also 24/7 access to investment professionals if you have questions.
How do you get free stocks with Charles Schwab?
Charles Schwab touts that new investors will get its investing 101 course and a $101 cash bonus. You have to open up a Schwab Starter Kit, which includes $101 of Schwab Stock Slices, investing education, and other financial tools (like budget planners, for example).
To get free stocks with Schwab, you must open your account and fund it with $50 within the first 30 days. Then you’ll receive $101 to split equally between the top five stocks in the S&P 500.
Which is the Best Online Broker For Free Stocks?
If you’re looking for free stocks while opening up a new investment account, the good news is there are plenty of options. Those newer to investing will want to explore the various choices to see which broker works best for their unique financial situations. Every app offers distinct features and benefits that will hold different values depending on your current financial situation.
The investing app you go with will also depend on what you’re looking to invest in, as you can choose between different assets like stocks, ETFs, real estate, crypto, and so on. The best part of investing in 2023 is finding a platform that will match your investment strategy, so you can shop around until you’re satisfied.
As always, we urge you to carefully read the fine print to ensure that you qualify for free stocks if you’re solely signing up for the financial incentives.
Webull is an online brokerage that offers commission-free trading on stocks, options, and ETFs. Key features of the platform include real-time market data, advanced charting tools, and a customizable newsfeed.
With most investing apps now offering commission-free trading, online brokers must find more creative ways to stand out. Robinhood, for example, is now offering a 1% match on IRA contributions. Webull, on the other hand, tries to place the focus on the customer by offering free stocks, fractional share investing, a user-friendly trading platform, extended hours trading, and 24/7 support.
But is Webull a suitable platform for beginner investors? In this Webull Review, I cover Webull’s trading platform, key features, pros and cons, and more.
About Webull
Launched in 2017, New York City-based Webull is a self-directed investment platform that offers commission-free trading. You can buy and sell stocks, options, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and even cryptocurrencies. And unlike many newer online brokers, you can trade over-the-counter (OTC) stocks with Webull.
Webull describes itself as “a financial company with the customer at heart, the Internet as our foundation, and technology as our lifeblood.” The company delivers on this description by providing a user-friendly investment platform, free real-time quotes, multiplatform accessibility, full extended hours trading, and 27/7 online support.
Key Features
Zero Commissions
No deposit minimums
Hold crypto alongside stocks, ETFs, etc.
Taxable or IRA accounts available
Supports margin trading
Paper trading option
Access to initial public offerings (IPOs).
Webull Community allows you to share investment strategies with other investors on the platform.
24/7 online customer support
Free stock bonus, as well as a referral bonus program
Is Webull Legit?
Yes, Webull is 100% legitimate. They are a US-based broker-dealer, and a FINRA, SIPC, NYSE, and NASDAQ member. It’s estimated that Webull has more than 12 million users and over $40 billion in Assets Under Management (AUM).
At the time of this writing, the company has a rating of 4.4 out of five stars from more than 174,000 Android user reviews on Google Play and 4.7 out of five stars among more than 275,000 iOS user reviews on The App Store.
Unfortunately, they rate poorly with other major rating agencies.
Webull has a Better Business Bureau “F,” the lowest rating on a scale of A+ to F. It scores 1.07 out of five stars, though that rating is based on just 54 reviews.
The company doesn’t do much better with Trustpilot, where it rates 1.3 out of five stars, or “Bad”. However, it’s worth noting the Trustpilot rating is based on just 137 reviews.
Webull Account Types
Webull offers two taxable account types: cash and margin. With the cash account, your buying power is limited to the funds you have on deposit. The margin account allows you to use leverage for the purchase of securities in excess of the cash value of your account.
The margin account requires a minimum of $2,000 to be maintained in the account at all times. Since a margin account will involve leverage, you must maintain a minimum account balance of $25,000 for unlimited day trades (see below).
You can also open a Traditional, Rollover, or Roth IRA with Webull. Each user can have one IRA account, but you must have an individual account before you can open an IRA.
Day Trading Rules
According to FINRA rules, you can make no more than 4 day trades in a margin account within five business days; otherwise, you will be flagged as a pattern day trader (PDT). That will trigger the requirement of the $25,000 minimum balance.
Margin accounts are also available for LLCs, C-Corps, and S-Corps with 2X overnight leverage and 4X day trading leverage.
Webull Trading Platform
The platform offers intuitive tools and support for traders and supports extended hours of trading, both before and after the market closes.
You can do the following on the Webull trading platform:
Real-time quotes
Customizable screens
Stock market trading ideas from top traders
Sort stocks between top gainers, top losers, and most active and best-performing industries.
More than 50 technical indicators and 12 charting tools.
Quant Ratings to provide an overall rating for each stock based on objective data.
The ability to analyze your past trading performance to look for areas of improvement.
Real-time stock alerts to notify you of price action and technical conditions.
In addition, you can execute the following orders:
Limit order
Market order
Stop order
Stop-Limit order
Trailing Stop order.
Stop-Loss/Take-Profit orders (Bracket orders)
One-Triggers-the-Other order (OTO)
One-Cancels-the-Other order (OCO)
One-Triggers-a-One-Cancels-the-Other order (OTOCO).
Margin Trading
Webull offers margin trading for both long- and short positions. You must maintain a minimum account balance of $2,000 in your margin account to qualify for margin trading. The account will provide up to 4X buying power per day trades and 2X for overnight trades.
Webull Paper Trading
Webull offers their Paper Trading feature to help you learn how to trade or to become a better trader without risking real money. And unlike some paper trading accounts offered by other brokers, Webull Paper Trading comes with unlimited virtual cash.
You can take advantage of real-time quotes, explore integrated charts with indicators, and set up price alerts, the same as you would with live trading. The feature offers more than 50 technical indicators and 12 charting tools. Paper trading can be used for options trading practice.
Initial Public Offerings (IPOs)
IPOs are when a private corporation offers stock to the public for the first time. The stocks are in registration and awaiting listing on the secondary market. The registration phase allows the issuing company to raise capital from public investors, who will be the first to receive the stock as of the listing date. In theory, it’s an opportunity for investors to get in on a newly listed company as it is going public.
Webull makes IPOs available to investors. You can locate IPOs by going to the Market page, then to the IPO Center for a list of available offerings. You can even subscribe to notifications of upcoming IPOs as they become available.
Cryptocurrency
You can trade cryptocurrency on Webull commission-free. As is the case with most cryptocurrency exchanges, Webull charges a spread of 100 basis points on both the purchase and sale of crypto. You will need a minimum of $1 to begin trading crypto.
Crypto trading requires either a cash or margin account for crypto trading (no IRAs). You can trade 44 cryptos, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Stella Lumens, Ethereum Classic, Cardano, Tazos, USD Coin, and many more.
Crypto trading hours are from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 PM, Eastern time, seven days per week (23 hours per day).
Crypto Wallet. Webull offers a crypto wallet so you can buy, sell, store, and transfer crypto to and from the wallet.
Stock Lending Income Program
This program allows you to earn extra income on fully paid stocks in your account. If you allow Webull to borrow certain stocks, you’ll be paid interest while those stocks are loaned out.
Apex Clearing, Webull’s clearing agency, will identify fully paid stock in your account, which is considered “in demand” based on the market. You will be paid 15% of the interest earned by Apex Clearing on the loaned stock.
For example, if Apex earns 10% per year, you’ll earn 1.5%. Interest earned through the program is credited daily and paid monthly.
Webull Community
Webull adds a social component to its investment platform. You can participate with millions of other Webull investors to discuss market and exchange strategies, and swap ideas with other investors.
How Does Webull Make Money if they Don’t Charge Fees?
Webull charges very few fees, but they do charge some. After all, they can’t stay in business without any revenue. Here is a list of Webull revenue sources:
Payment for Order Flow (PFOF). This is a common practice among commission-free retail brokers. When Webull sends trades to market makers, they receive rebates for the practice. This income flow is part of the reason why brokers can allow commission-free trading.
Securities lending. This is another common practice in the brokerage industry. Webull uses the services of Apex Clearing as their clearing agent. Through the Stock Lending Income Program, Apex can loan out investors’ shares to other investors and institutions, usually for short sales. Those borrowers will pay interest to Apex, a portion of which is rebated to Webull.
Interest on cash balances. Since Webull doesn’t pay interest on uninvested cash held by investors, the company retains any interest earned on those funds from outside sources.
Interest on margin trades. When you use margin to purchase securities, Webull charges interest which represents income to the company.
Deposit and withdrawal fees. Webull charges fees of between $8 and $45 per transfer for both deposits and withdrawals made by wire.
The basis point spread on crypto trades. Webull earns a 100-basis point spread on the purchase and sale of cryptocurrencies.
Other Features
Income Tax Reporting
Webull provides a consolidated Form 1099, which includes reporting information from 1099-B (transactions), 1099-DIV (dividend income), 1099-INT (interest), and 1099-MISC (other income and information). The form can be downloaded from the Webull app.
Account Protection
Webull is a fully regulated broker-dealer, and your account is protected by SIPC insurance for up to $500,000 in cash and securities, including $250,000 in cash. For additional protection, Webull offers two-factor authentication for an added step on accessing your account and to prevent unintended parties from entering your account.
Free Stock Bonus and Referral Bonus
Webull is currently offering a free stock bonus to include free fractional shares in two stocks. The stock will be worth between $3 and $3,000, which could make the bonus as high as $6,000 in total. You must be new to Webull and meet other eligibility requirements.
You can also receive fractional shares in four, eight, or 10 free stocks by depositing any amount into your new account within ten days. Each fractional share will be valued between $3 and $300. That means you can earn up to 12 fractional shares with a total value of as much as $9,000. Stock rewards must be claimed within 30 days, or the offer will expire.
Under the Webull Referral Bonus, refer family and friends to Webull, and you’ll receive three free shares of stock. Refer three friends, and you’ll receive nine shares. Once you’ve received nine shares, each successful referral will provide you with two free stocks. Each share of stock will be worth between $12 and $1,400.
Your referral must use your unique referral link, and the free stock will be issued when the new user opens a brokerage account with an initial deposit of at least $100.
How to Sign Up for a Webull Account
You can sign up for Webull from either the website or the mobile app by clicking “SIGN UP” at the top of the page. You’ll need to enter your phone number and a referral code if you have one.
Webull will require you to supply your name, US residential address, date of birth, taxpayer identification (Social Security number or individual taxpayer ID number), telephone number, and citizenship.
To verify your identity, Webull may ask for copies of your driver’s license, passport, or other information as necessary.
Due to Webull’s review process, it will take a minimum of 24 hours to open your account. More time may be needed if manual verification of information is required. Webull will perform a soft credit check, which will not negatively impact your credit score.
Funding Your Account
You’ll need to connect a bank account to fund your Webull account. Webull will make two micro-deposits to your account to confirm a valid account connection. Once verified, you’ll be able to begin transferring funds to and from Webull.
The easiest way to fund your account is through ACH transfers, which are free to complete. (Note that Webull charges domestic and international wire transfer fees.)
ACH deposits initiated before 4:00 PM Eastern time will give you instant buying power, enabling you to begin trading immediately. However, the instant buying power feature is a provisional credit representing a portion of the deposit. Full ACH deposits are generally available on the fourth or fifth business day after the ACH is initiated.
Alternatively, you can transfer securities from another broker into your Webull account. The transfer securities must match those available through Webull.
Webull Pros and Cons
There’s plenty to like about Webull, but the platform also has limitations. Here’s my list of Webull pros and cons.
Webull Pros:
No minimum initial investment
Commission-free trading
Get free stock when you open an account and make a deposit
Available crypto wallet where you can manage your cryptocurrency holdings
Connect with millions of investors in the Webull Community
24/7 online support
Webull Cons:
No joint taxable accounts, custodial or trust accounts
You can’t invest in mutual funds, penny stocks, or bonds
Must have a taxable account to open an IRA
No dividend reinvesting option
No interest on uninvested cash
Fees for domestic and international wire deposits and withdrawals.
Webull Alternatives
Before signing up with Webull, I recommend checking out these alternatives, which offer many of the same features as Webull.
Robinhood
Robinhood is a popular online brokerage that offers zero-commission trades of stocks, options, ETFs, and cryptocurrency. No minimum deposit requirement exists, but like Webull, Robinhood doesn’t allow bond or mutual fund trades. One very interesting feature: Effective December 2022, Robinhood now offers IRA accounts with a 1% match, the first online brokerage to do so.
According to Robinhood, “the IRA Match is an extra 1% that Robinhood adds to eligible contributions to your IRA. It’s not counted toward your annual contribution limits and is typically available to invest immediately.” For more information, check out our full Robinhood Review.
Public
Public is an easy-to-use trading app that is geared toward new investors. Like Webull and Robinhood, Public doesn’t charge any trading fees. You can also buy fractional shares and connect with other users in the Public social community. That said, intermediate traders will want to steer clear of Public due to their lack of advanced trading options – they don’t offer IRA accounts and have little in the way of market research tools.
Learn more in our Public Review.
Interactive Brokers
Interactive Brokers (IBKR) is a truly global trading platform offering investors access to 150 markets in 33 countries. You can also trade in more than 24 currencies. Like Webull, there are no commission fees on stock and ETF trades. Interactive Brokers is hands down the more powerful platform for sophisticated traders looking for access to global markets, but it may be overwhelming for new and intermediate investors.
Webull FAQs
Is Webull good for beginners?
Webull is a safe trading platform for new investors. Accounts are protected by SIPC insurance for up to $500,000, and the platform uses numerous security features, including two-factor authentication.
We also like that Webull has no minimum initial investment requirement, though you will need to deposit funds to begin trading. And as a beginning investor, you can certainly benefit from the paper trading account with unlimited virtual cash.
However, other investment brokers may be a better choice for new investors. Webull is designed primarily for active traders and those with at least an intermediate level of experience. Larger brokerage firms will be able to provide higher levels of customer service and a greater variety of account tools and educational services.
What is the minimum deposit for Webull?
There is no minimum deposit requirement for a Webull account, but a $2000 minimum balance is required for all margin accounts.
What is the downside to Webull?
The main drawbacks to Webull include the lack of a dividend reinvestment program and the inability to buy fixed-income and mutual fund investments.
Does Webull work in Canada?
Webull is a US-based online broker. Because it’s not registered in Canada, it’s not available to Canadian citizens.
Final Thoughts on Webull
Webull is an intuitive trading app where you can trade more than 40 cryptocurrencies on the same platform where you hold more traditional investments. They offer plenty of investment tools, including margin trading, day trading, and short sales.
And if you’re new to Webull or have friends to refer, you can take advantage of free stock bonuses.
While Webull is geared more toward intermediate and advanced traders, its intuitive trading platform shouldn’t overwhelm new traders. That said, beginner investors may want to give Robinhood and Public a long look before signing up with Webull.
More staggering figures from the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees government mortgage financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
The pair, which went into conservatorship back in September 2008, could cost American taxpayers up to $363 billion. Yes, billion.
Less severe scenarios put the numbers somewhere between $221 billion and $238 billion, but if dividend payments on Treasury preferred stock were excluded, the cost would fall to between $142 billion and $259 billion, at worst.
“These projections are intended to give policymakers and the public useful snapshots of potential outcomes for the taxpayer support of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,” said FHFA Acting Director Edward J. DeMarco, in a statement.
“These are not predictions; the results reflect the potential effects of a limited set of hypothetical changes in house prices, a key variable driving credit losses for the Enterprises.”
To date, the pair have drawn $148 billion from the U.S. Treasury – these new figures are the projected cumulative Treasury draw through December 31, 2013.
Back when Fannie and Freddie were public companies, they were slammed for taking on unnecessary risk to stay competitive, a strategy that eventually led to their demise.
They dealt in stated income loans, no-doc loans, and other Alt-A loan programs that led to billions in losses.
And Countrywide was reportedly Fannie’s biggest customer, with the mortgage lender accounting for nearly 20 percent of all loans purchased by the mortgage financier in 2008.
Both companies were delisted from the NYSE back in July and began trading on the OTC bulletin board.
Shares of Fannie Mae were up 2.36% to 39 cents, while Freddie Mac was up 1.78% to 40 cents in afternoon trading on Wall Street.
The pair purchase mortgages from banks and lenders on the secondary market, and hold some in their own portfolios while securitizing others.
On the surface, financial technology (fintech) specialist SoFi Technologies (NASDAQ:SOFI) seemingly should rise on the facilitation of next-generation banking solutions. However, faced with the unprecedented COVID-19 crisis, management began pivoting heavily toward personal loans. Though the process kept the lights on, the decision could end up imposing a long-term liability. Therefore, I am bearish on SOFI stock.
Recently, TipRanks reporter Vince Condarcuri mentioned that Wedbush’s David Chiaverini changed his rating on SOFI stock to Sell from Hold. In addition, he assigned a price target of $2.50 a share. At writing, this forecast represents a downside risk of more than 50%.
In particular, the analyst stated that fee income from loan applications and sales could soon crumble. Since the company isn’t profitable, Condarcuri writes, “this decline in income could delay profitability just enough to where capital will need to be raised at unfavorable terms.”
However, another major headwind affecting SOFI stock centers on the significant rise and allocation of the fintech’s service portfolio to personal loans. If SoFi does find itself needing capital at less-than-ideal terms, its personal loan exposure could hurt its share value.
Personal Loans Skyrocket
While an analyst downgrade certainly didn’t help SOFI stock, that wasn’t the only headwind stymieing its forward progress. On May 15, when shares tumbled, JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) analyst Reggie Smith explained that the fintech’s dramatic rise in personal loan obligations may be a sign of future losses.
Writing for TipRanks last year, I pointed out multiple times that the acceleration of personal loans presents a significant concern. In the second quarter of 2022, personal loan originations almost doubled to $2.47 billion on a year-over-year basis. In Q3 of last year, personal loans represented nearly 81% of total loan originations.
According to SoFi’s presentation for Q1 2023, total loan originations amounted to nearly $3.57 billion. Of this amount, $2.95 billion, or 82.7%, stemmed from personal loans. In sharp contrast, student loans only make up 14.7%, while home loans sit at a forlorn 2.52%.
What’s more, in the year-ago quarter, personal loans accounted for just under 61% of total loan originations. Further, student loans came in at 29.6%, while home loans landed at 9.4%. To be fair, the COVID-19 disruption sparked SoFi’s pivot toward personal loans. However, the allocation is now intensely imbalanced, posing longer-term risks for SOFI stock.
A Double-Edged Sword for SOFI Stock
On the positive end of the scale, SoFi personal loan borrowers must meet minimum qualification requirements. Available data indicates that the average SoFi borrower has a credit score of at least 700. Further, the reasons for the loans most commonly center on credit card consolidation, home repairs, and emergencies. Plus, management kept the lights on with these lending products. However, the framework may become a double-edged sword.
Fundamentally, personal loans are unsecured. Therefore, if a borrower can’t pay back the loan, there’s not much that the bank can do. On the other hand, for home mortgages, the underlying financial institution can foreclose on the property. With any luck, the home value might rise, thus mitigating the impact on the lender.
However, it’s difficult to say the same about personal loans because the underlying catalyst has often been consumed. In other words, a bank can’t foreclose on a home repair or an emergency ride in an ambulance.
In addition, if economic circumstances worsen – such as a deflationary condition brought on by higher interest rates – this dynamic could hurt borrowers’ ability to pay back their debt. True, the interest rate should be locked in. However, rising rates may spark undesirable events such as mass layoffs.
Under a recessionary ecosystem, the fintech firm’s exposure to personal loans would be problematic. Therefore, SOFI stock presents significant risks to prospective investors.
Is SOFI Stock a Buy, According to Analysts?
Turning to Wall Street, SOFI stock has a Moderate Buy consensus rating based on nine Buys, four Holds, and zero Sell ratings. The average SOFI stock price target is $7.65, implying 50.9% upside potential.
The Takeaway: SOFI Stock Plays with Fire
Understandably, facing an unprecedented pandemic and business disruption, SoFi – like any other enterprise – did what had to be done to keep operations alive. In a way, then, management bought time by pivoting so heavily to personal loans.
At the same time, the threat to SOFI stock centers on the longer-term framework. If economic conditions continue to worsen, borrowers – even if they have good credit scores now – may have trouble paying back their loans. And with personal loans hitting the $2.95 billion mark, that’s a massive risk profile that no one should ignore.
California mortgage tech firm Blend Labs is at risk of getting delisted from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) as a consequence of the company’s stock price slumping below $1 for more than a month.
Blend announced on Thursday that it received notice on April 28 from the NYSE that it was not in compliance with the stock exchange’s bylaws, which state that a company could be de-listed if its common stock traded below $1.00 for more than 30 trading days.
Blend has a six-month cure period to comply with the minimum share price requirements. As of market close on Thursday, it was trading at $0.58 a share.
Blend has a chance of meeting compliance if the stock has a closing price of at least $1.00 on the last trading day of calendar month during the six-month cure period, and an average closing share price of at least $1 over the 30 trading-day period ending on the last trading day of that month.
A spokesperson for the company said they are working with the NYSE and are “confident” in their ability to comply with the requirements.
Blend plans to notify NYSE of its intent to cure the deficiency, which may include initiating a reverse stock split, subject to approval by the board of directors and stockholders of the company, according to its 8-K filings.
The spokesperson said that Blend will share a formal update on how it plans to comply with the minimum share price requirements during its Q1 earnings call, which is scheduled for May 9.
“We are focused, we have a sense of urgency, and we are making meaningful progress as we execute against our strategy (…) We will share details about our business momentum and progress on our path to profitability then,” the spokesperson added.
The California mortgage tech firm — now at risk of getting delisted from the NYSE — was off to a promising start when it went public in July 2021.
Blend sold 20 million shares of Class A stock at $19 apiece, raising $360 million. With shares closing at $20.90, Blend had a valuation of around $4.6 billion.
Blend brought on hundreds of clients — including Wells Fargo, First Republic Bank, Mr. Cooper and U.S. Bank. — that ultimately powered about a quarter of mortgages originated during the pandemic years.
To survive the cyclical mortgage business, Blend has been striving to transform its mortgage business-dependent business model to a platform company.
Since 2019, the mortgage tech firm has been expanding into the consumer lending space, but with the Federal Reserve‘s unprecedented series of interest rate hikes, Blend wasn’t immune to financial losses.
In 2022, the firm posted a staggering loss of $796 million and operating expenses in 2022 jumped to $835.8 million from $313.2 million in 2021.
Weeklong Rally Levels Off Ahead of Jobs Report 10yr yields began the week over 3.5% and rallied more than 20bps by yesterday morning. Most of that progress came on Monday and Tuesday. Yesterday raised doubts as to whether traders were interested in pursuing additional bond market gains. Today confirmed the doubts. Yields tapped the floor at yesterday’s lowest levels a few times but opted to drift sideways-to-slightly-weaker throughout the day. No major harm done and we’re merely left with the impression that traders would need more convincing in order to take the rally to stronger levels. Econ Data / Events Jobless Claims 228 vs 200 f’cast, 246 prev last week revised up from 198 Challenger Job Cuts 89.7k vs 77.8k prev Market Movement Recap 09:09 AM Slightly stronger overnight, but giving up gains after Jobless Claims data (but not necessarily because of it). MBS near unchanged levels and 10yr down 1.3bps at 3.296 (but up from lows of 3.253). 09:39 AM Some weakness heading into 9:30am NYSE open, but stabilizing now. 10yr down 1.9bps at 3.29. MBS up 3 ticks (.09). 03:35 PM Losing ground in the afternoon after staying flat through 2pm ET. MBS down just over an eighth. 10yr down less than 1bp at 3.3.
Century 21 Real Estate LLC., a global industry leader, continues to strengthen its New York presence with the affiliation of Stoeckeler Real Estate Services LLC, a boutique firm based in Ellenville that prides itself on its deep roots within the Western Ulster County real estate market. The company is led by broker/owner Mary Sheeley, who […]
The post HISTORIC ELLENVILLE, NEW YORK FIRM LOOKS TO THE FUTURE WITH CENTURY 21 BRAND AFFILIATION appeared first on RealtyBizNews: Real Estate Marketing & Beyond.