Honestly, nowadays since most brokers have offered free transaction fee, if you are not going to invest using margin, you can’t really go wrong with online brokers. Especially those that give you free stuffs upon signing up like WeBull and Robinhood.

I have been recommending WeBull & Robinhood to my friends and family, even those that are still on the fence. I figure, while they consider whether they should invest or not, by registering and getting free stocks, they already have 1 foot in. If they end up deciding not to invest, they can always sell the stock and make some money out of it.

Disclaimer: This is not a financial advice because currently, I have no plan in selling any of this holdings. I got them for free anyway and I am curious to see how they perform in the future.

If you are still on the fence on which broker to use, then I suggest you sign up for both WeBull & Robinhood while you decide and get your free stocks using the link below.

I, myself use TD Ameritrade as my main broker but I do keep my WeBull & Robinhood account as my “Hail-Mary” account. I am not going to sell any of my positions in those account because I am curious to see how they perform.

WeBull

WeBull is one of the 2 online brokers that offer you free stocks upon signing up and depositing. They also consistently have promotions where if you refer friends, you can get up to 5 stocks for free (valued up to $1,400) or if you refer 3 friends you can get up to 17 free stocks.

Personally, I have found WeBull’s app to look very good and my only gripe is that they do not offer DRIP (Dividend Reinvestment Program). Also, they could benefit from a speedier customer service.

However, their constant free stocks promotion make it worth it to at least register and deposit. There are many posts online where people actually get MSFT (Microsoft) or even TSLA (Tesla) as their free stocks.

For example, for the month of July 2021, if you register using my link below, you will be able to get 3 free stocks and I have been referring them to friends & family who are still on the fence about starting a portfolio.

S (Sprint)

I received a share of Sprint when I first register and open an account with WeBull. Ever since then, Sprint has merged with T-Mobile and since WeBull does not allow fractional share, the share is considered sold.

• # of Shares: 1 Share
• Valued at: $5.82
• Current Value: Sold due to the merger with T-Mobile at $9.26
• Gain/ Loss: $3.44 (59.1%)

ISBC (Investors Bancorp, Inc.)

ISBC is a banking company in all regards that you expect them to be. They deal with loans commercially and to individuals, insurance offerings and bank accounts.

• # of Shares: 6 Shares
• Valued at: $11.99 (Average over 6 shares)
• Current Value: $9.25
• Gain/ Loss: -$16.45 (22.86%)

I kept them in my account because they are a pretty stable company and they do give out dividend. I believe once the pandemic is over, the stock will rebound.

SNAP (Snap, Inc.)

SNAP is the company that created Snap Chat, Spectacle and Bitmoji.

• # of Shares: 1 Share
• Valued at: $18.23
• Current Value: $38.54
• Gain/ Loss: $20.31 (111.41%)

I am absolutely out of my depth with SNAP but like ISBC, I am planning to keep it and see how it goes. The fact that it’s been up 111+% doesn’t hurt

VG (Vonage Holdings Corp.)

Vonage is a telecommunication company much like AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint & Verizon.

• # of Shares: 1 Share
• Valued at: $9.14
• Current Value: $12.11
• Gain/ Loss: $2.97 (32.49%)

My only exposure to them was 2 years ago when I was in Europe and used their pre-paid SIM card. I had good experience using their SIM card and I had reception everywhere. They are also currently up and I am just going to let it ride.

AGI (Alamos Gold Inc.)

AGI is a Canadian gold and other precious metals mining company

• # of Shares: 1 Share
• Valued at: $9.48
• Current Value: $9.06
• Gain/ Loss: -$0.42 (4.43%)

I have absolutely no idea what this company does.

ZNGA (Zynga Inc.)

Zynga is the company behind the hit mobile games and Facebook games like Farmville and Words with Friends. I honestly don’t know how well their game styles will perform since I believe it lacks economic scalability.

I also think that their market tends to get bored with their games easily because their games are usually meant to be quick games and do not have high re-play value.

• # of Shares: 2 Shares
• Valued at: $8.66 (Average over 2 shares)
• Current Value: $8.14
• Gain/ Loss: -$1.04 (6%)

Robinhood

Robinhood is the other online broker that offers free stock upon signing up and depositing to the total of 2 free stocks.

Usually, I recommend everybody to sign up for WeBull and Robinhood because well, free stocks is free stocks.

In the end, it all comes down to which platform you are more comfortable with and you can’t really go wrong with either ones. Once you get your free stocks, you can either sell them or transfer them to the broker that you prefer.

Right now, if you click and register using the link below, you will be able to get 2 free stocks when you register and link your bank account.

BCRX

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals is a pharmaceutical company that develops oral drugs. One of their drugs is RAPIVAB which is used to treat flu symptoms.

• # of Shares: 1 Share
• Valued at: $2.97
• Current Value: $4.45
• Gain/ Loss: $1.48 (49.83%)

GPRO

GoPro needs no introduction as one of the first company in the world that develops and market action camera successfully.

Around 5 years ago, I wanted to invest in the stock market and despite research and recommendations, I did not want to invest in index fund. Instead I chose to invest in company where I like the products. GoPro was one of them and at the time, GPRO was trading at high $50.

I decided to purchase 100 shares of the company and a few months later, my $5,000 has plummeted to $800, which was when I decided to exit my position.

What did I learn from this?

A well-made product is not necessarily made by a well-run company.

• # of Shares: 2 Shares
• Valued at: $4.05 (Average over 2 shares)
• Current Value: $7.34
• Gain/ Loss: $6.58 (81.23%)

GME

GameStop. They. Are. Dying.

• # of Shares: 1 Share
• Valued at: $5.99
• Current Value: $12.06
• Gain/ Loss: $6.07 (101.34%)

Update #1 (June 2021): I know I said they are dying, but in February 2021, there was a short squeeze happening to GME that causes the price of the stock to skyrocketed to $300. I ended up selling all my shares at $265

PLUG

PLUG is a company that develops alternative fuel cells for use in equipment and vehicles. They have customers like Nike, Wal-Mart & BMW.

• # of Shares: 1 Share
• Valued at: $4.02
• Current Value: $25.00
• Gain/ Loss: $20.98 (521.89%)

Like SNAP, I am out of depth with PLUG but they have been up 521.89% so I am just going to leave it in my Hail-Mary account.

To Sum It All Up

Like I said above, my WeBull & Robinhood account is not my main brokerage account and I am not planning to sell any of my positions in these 2 accounts. I am doing this to highlight even though it’s free stocks, well, it’s still money, $187.68 to be exact.

Update #1 (June 2021): As of June 2021, I did made a profit of selling my $GME stock at $250 in February.

The way I allocate my portfolio is called Lazy Core-4 Portfolio by Rick Perry and it consists of:

• 0% – 20% Total U.S Bonds
• 50% after bond allocation into Total U.S Stock Market
• 40% after bond allocation into Total International Stock Market (outside of U.S)
• 10% after bond allocation into Total U.S REIT Index

By holding these 4 index funds or ETFs (I explained about index funds and ETFs in this article), we minimize risk during economic downturn but our portfolio goes up with the economy when the economy is improving. At the same time, we will be able to collect monthly dividends as long as we own the portfolio.

The logic behind this portfolio is that, study has proven that even the best portfolio managers have not been able to consistently beat the market in the last 15 years (Source; you can google for more). Even the great Warren Buffett, himself stated that if he was to pass away, he will recommend his family to invest in the S&P 500.

If you are here reading this blog, you are probably not going to do any better than the portfolio managers mentioned above.

So, this portfolio allocation is meant to follow the world’s economy during its downturn and upturn to net you a gain of ~7%/ year spread over a long term period.

First Thing First, Get a Brokerage Account.

You need a broker if you don’t have one yet. Nowadays, most brokers offer free transaction fee which is good. The next thing you want to consider when you are getting a broker is whether they are FDIC insured. Do not be afraid to use online brokers if they are FDIC insured and offers free transaction fee.

If you are in the U.S, a few online brokers that have garnered quite a good reputation are M1 Finance, Robinhood & WeBull.

Robinhood and WeBull have also started offering free stocks (valued up to $1,400) when you register and fund your account through them. If this is something that interests you, you can click the below links to register for an account. Don’t worry, this post is not going anywhere. We’ll wait.