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Many investors choose to pay for a stock-picking subscription to help them research potential investments. There are plenty of newsletters, stock-picking subscriptions, and investment information sites designed to help people who want to buy individual stocks make good decisions.
Whether you are new to stock market investing or you just want to make more informed decisions without dedicating your free time to researching stocks, a subscription to a stock picking service or stock information website could provide the boost you need to build a profitable portfolio of growth stocks.
Top 12 Stock Picking Services, Subscriptions, and Websites of 2022
Below are the best stock picking services we’ve found and evaluated for September 2022. The services vary based on the type of investing and/or trading you intend to do.
Best Stock Picking Service for Long-Term Buy and Hold Investors: Motley Fool Stock Advisor
Motley Fool Stock Advisor is the company’s flagship service with over 1 million members and eye-popping returns for those with a buy and hold mindset.
Stock Advisor track record: In the last 17 years, Stock Advisor has performed roughly 3x better than the S&P 500.
Subscribers can see every recommendation offered by Stock Advisor throughout the entire history of the service.
What you’ll get with Stock Advisor: Access to the full history of Stock Advisor recommendations, “Starter Stocks” recommendations to help build a foundation of solid growth stocks in your portfolio, two new monthly stock picks, access to the service’s “10 Best Buys Now” list chosen from 300 stocks on the service’s watchlist, access to a community of like-minded investors.
Motley Fool Stock Advisor price: $199.99 per year. Now just $79 per year after a 30-day trial period! Limited time offer available in September 2022. This package normally costs $199.99 annually.
Best for: Investors who want to buy stocks in established companies with the intention of holding those investments for at least five years.
Motley Fool Stock Advisor may be a good fit for you if:
- You prefer to buy and hold stocks
- You want to invest in undervalued companies with a track record of success
- You have money to invest at least $10,000 in the stock market and can continue to add new stocks to your portfolio each month
🤑 September 2022 Promotion: Join Motley Fool Stock Advisor for just $79/year for new members!
Best Stock Picking Service for Finding Undervalued Stocks: Motley Fool Rule Breakers
Motley Fool Rule Breakers is the second most popular stock picking service provided by the financial media company Motley Fool. They recommend stocks in emerging industries that have a sustainable advantage along with competent management. Rule Breakers’ advisors look for companies with strong consumer appeal that are currently undervalued.
Rule Breakers Basics
Motley Fool Rule Breakers track record: Rule Breakers has a 15-year track record of beating the market.
What you’ll get with Rule Breakers: Starter Stocks list to help establish a portfolio, five “Best Buys Now” stock recommendations per month, and two new stock pick recommendations per month.
Motley Fool Rule Breakers price: $99 per year after a 30-day trial period.
Best for: Investors who want to consistently invest in growth stocks.
Motley Fool Rule Breakers may be a good fit for you if:
- You prefer to buy and hold stocks
- You have enough disposable income to invest in at least two new stocks each month
- You are financially stable enough to invest and hold stocks for at least five years
Best Stock Picking Service for Day Traders: Trade Ideas Premium Plan
The Trade Ideas Premium Plan uses an artificial intelligence (AI) assistant to help subscribers research potentially lucrative investments. The AI assistant runs more than one million simulated trades using over 70 proprietary algorithms each night before the markets open.
Scan results, curated by real people before they become official stock picks on the Trade Ideas platform, include the method used to choose the stock, why it may perform well and how to find similar stocks.
A live simulated reading room allows subscribers to see how the stock-picking service’s recommendations perform without risk. Users have access to real-time streaming ideas to facilitate skill-building.
What you’ll get with Trade Ideas Premium Plan: Price alerts, Trade of the Week newsletter, five new trade ideas each Sunday night, Rules-based virtual trading room for active traders and long-term investors, fully-functioning AI assistant (Holly) that you can connect to your separate brokerage account to execute trades automatically.
Trade Ideas Premium price: $2,268 per year or Standard for $1068
Compare features below:
Best for: Long-term investors and day traders who want access to robust technology and also want to learn how to invest.
Trade Ideas Premium Plan may be a good fit for you if:
- You have an established portfolio and plan to purchase larger volumes of stocks
- You want to learn how to invest and trade using a simulated trading platform
- You are comfortable allowing technology to execute trades on your behalf
- You are currently engaged in day trading or are interested in learning more about how to become a successful day trader
Best Stock Picking Service for Fundamental Investors: Zack’s Investment Research Premium Subscription
Based in Chicago, Zack’s Investment Research offers constant monitoring of stocks to help investors decide whether to buy, hold, or sell individual investments. You can access the investment research software on Zack’s Investment Research site for free. Bull and Bear of the Day provide insights about two stocks (one Bull and one Bear) to help investors decide which stocks to hold or buy and which to sell.
Zack’s rates stocks from one (strong buy) to five (strong sell) along with ratings for value and growth and momentum. Subscribers can enter their current stocks and funds to get up-to-date ratings 24/7.
What you’ll get with Zack’s Investment Research: Focus List including long-term stock recommendations, Equity Research reports, Custom Stock Screener, and The Zacks #1 Rank List.
Zack’s Investment Research Premium track record: Stocks rated as a #1 Strong Buy beat the S&P 500 by more than 14% (on average) for the past three decades. Stocks rated as a #5 Strong Sell underperformed the market by 8%.
Take a look at Zack’s Strong Buy rated picks vs the S&P 500 over the last few years:
| Year | Zack’s Strong Buy | S&P 500 |
| 2022 | -7.14% | -9.29% |
| 2021 | +41.10 | +28.68 |
| 2020 | +33.86 | +19.27 |
Zack’s Investment Research Premium price: $249 per year after a 30-day trial
Best for: Fundamental investors
Zack’s Investment Research may be a good fit for you if:
- You have an active portfolio and aren’t afraid to buy or sell stocks to maintain growth
- Have the experience and knowledge needed to make independent decisions about your portfolio
- Are willing to devote time and money to the pursuit of creating a profitable portfolio
Best Stock Picking Service App for Momentum Investors: Seeking Alpha App Premium Subscription
Seeking Alpha’s app provides comprehensive investment news along with the opinions of thousands of experienced traders. Subscribers to Seeking Alpha’s Premium Tier app can opt into push notifications, email alerts, and texts to stay on top of breaking news in the world of stock market investing.
Premium subscribers can create watch lists using the stock tracking portion of the app to get a custom feed.
Seeking Alpha Premium App track record: Quant performance beats the market by four-to-one, stocks rated as very bullish created a 1,369% return over the S&P 500 and had an average annualized return of 29%.
What you’ll get with Seeking Alpha Premium app subscription: Stock quant ratings, stock dividend grades, author ratings, author performance, unlimited access to all Premium content, watch list creation, news alerts, fewer ads than the free limited version of the app, and conference call transcripts.
Seeking Alpha Premium app price: $19.99 per month
Best for: Research-driven investors
Seeking Alpha Premium app may be a good fit for you if:
- You want original stock news (not news-aggregator)
- You want to interact with other investors about strategy
- You base your investment decisions on ideas from other investors and original news
Read our full review of Seeking Alpha here.
Best Stock Picking Service For Technical Analysis: The Maley Report
The Maley Report offers no-frills information about stocks, including fundamental, macro, and technical analysis. Matt Maley has more than 35 years of experience trading on Wall Street and is now a market strategist at Miller Tabak + Co. Subscribers to The Maley Report have access to his analysis of what’s happening in the stock market.
What you’ll get with The Maley Report: Aggregates of Matt Maley’s videos, blog posts, and trade alerts, educational resources to help investors learn Maley’s strategy, a regular email newsletter with an overall outlook on the market and discussion of what’s to come.
The Maley Report price: $49 per month or $490 per year with a 30-day money-back guarantee
Best for: Fundamental and technical analysis investors
The Maley Report may be a good fit for you if:
- You want actionable stock insights based on a number of factors
- You want information from an experienced investor willing to discuss his methods for choosing high-performing stocks
Best Stock Picking Service For Day Traders & Swing Traders: Pilot Trading
Pilot Trading uses artificial intelligence to watch other day traders and swing traders in real time and make predictions about how the market may change from one minute to the next. Subscribers can create a custom watchlist or choose a pre-made one in the app. Link to a brokerage account to use the stock research app and make trades through the app.
What you’ll get with Pilot Trading: Information about real-time trading activity, alerts when market sentiment shifts, and the ability to link brokerage accounts.
Pilot Trading price: $19.95 per month after a 14-day free trial
Best for: Forex, futures, crypto, and stock traders
Pilot Trading may be a good fit for you if:
- You are an active trader interested in cryptocurrency investment, futures, or forex
- You want in-app trading that connects to stock trading platforms
Best Stock Picking Service For Day Traders: Scanz
Scanz offers two ways to get information to inform day trading activity. The Scanz News Streamer offers SEC filing on NASDAQ, NYS, and AMEX alerts. It also provides two broker integrations and streaming charges. The Trade Scanner offers Level 1 and Level 2 data on NYSE, AMEX, and NASDAQ with unlimited watchlists, a montage window, streaming charges, and breakout alerts.
Subscribers can choose between the services or bundle them to get a discount.
What you’ll get with Scanz: Access to customized alerts for price changes, percentage changes, volume changes, and important company news.
Scanz price: $79 per month for news only, $99 per month for scanner only, $149 per month for news and scanner; seven-day free trial.
Scanz may be a good fit for you if:
- You are an active day trader who wants up-to-the-minute breaking news that’s curated to help you reach your goals
- You want to filter stocks based on a predetermined set of criteria, including penny stocks
Best Stock Picking Service For Penny Stocks: Tim Alerts
Tim Alerts is a platform created by Tim Sykes. The successful penny stock investor started with just $12,000 and in about ten years became a multimillionaire. Sykes started Tim Alerts to help penny stock investors learn how to make money in the stock market by purchasing penny stocks. The platform provides finance services, training for retail investors, and educational content.
What you’ll get with Tim Alerts: Access to a chat room with a paired trading app, daily penny stock picks newsletter with stock watchlists, and customizable push notifications.
Tim Alerts price: $679 per year
Best for: Penny stock traders
Tim Alerts may be a good fit for you if:
- You are curious about investing in penny stocks and want to learn from someone with documented and ongoing success
- You want daily stock picks delivered to your inbox
- You learn best by interacting with other investors
Best Stock Picking Service For Income Investing: AAII Dividend Investing
AAII Dividend Investing provides direction to investors who want to build a portfolio of dividend-paying stocks. The platform provides subscribers with research and information produced by its proprietary stock picking process. AAII searches for and highlights stocks providing a mix of asset and yield quality. It also looks closely at recommended company’s management teams to make sure that the stock is likely to pay out dividends for years to come.
What you’ll get with AAII Dividend Investing: Access to a target portfolio with a mix of Geographical Exposure and GISC Sector investments, weekly webinars, and access to weekly stock ideas and the lead analyst.
AAII Dividend Investing price: $2 for the first 30 days and then $199 per year or $359 for two years
Best for: Dividend investors
AAII Dividend Investing may be a good fit for you if:
- You want reliable information about low-risk dividend-paying stocks
- You want instant access to the information you need to build a portfolio with fully vetted dividend stocks
Best Stock Picking Service For Swing Trading: Mindful Trader
Mindful Trader helps swing traders make confident decisions about when to buy and sell stocks. Short-term movements in the stock market can be hard to follow, even for devoted traders. Mindful Trader offers up to 15 text or email alerts each week to help traders manage an active portfolio of investments.
What you’ll get with Mindful Trader: Stock trade alerts via text and email, between five and 15 trade alerts each week, clear guidance about when it may be smart to open or close positions, and historical data on every recommended trade since Mindful Trader’s inception.
Mindful Trader price: $47 per month; cancel anytime
Best for: Swing traders
Mindful Trader may be a good fit for you if:
- You want an easy way to take advantage of quick movements in the market
- You want access to live positions in a portfolio with historical data
Best Stock Picking Service For REIT Stocks: Millionacres Real Estate Winners
Investors involved in real estate investing and REITs may find that the valuable and condensed information included with a Millionacres Real Estate Winners subscription helps them level up their investing game.
Millionacres Real Estate Winners aims to help investors understand the complicated world of real estate investment with recommendations and stock picks to help you create a portfolio of money-making stocks.
What you’ll get with Millionacres Real Estate Winners: Investing ideas with guidance on how to get started in the real estate market, monthly new stock recommendations, updates on previously recommended stocks, “Top 10 Investment Alerts” quarterly, unlimited access to education resources on the Millionacres site.
Millionacres Real Estate Winners price: $149 per year
Best for: Buy and hold REIT investors and those curious about getting started with REITs
Millionacres Real Estate Winners may be a good fit for you if:
- You are a beginning investor interested in making successful REIT trades
- You are an experienced investor seeking bit-sized monthly investment alerts about real estate equities and REITs to support your current trading activity
- You want to use real estate investments to create a portfolio that produces consistent and reliable results for years to come.
Why Subscribe To A Stock Picking Service?
Paying for advice about which stocks to pick can be a great time saver. It’s crucial that you trust your source of information, however. Subscribing to a stock picking service requires an investment, which can be tough to justify if the service doesn’t have a long and dependable track record of choosing up-and-coming companies.
To get your money’s worth, you’ll need to take the service’s advice and buy the stocks they recommend. Stock picking services make the most sense for investors who already have some money in the stock market and have the extra money and confidence it takes to buy individual stocks.
Even with a stock picking service, you’ll need to know enough about how the stock market works to determine whether a specific stock is a good fit for your portfolio. If you are new to buying stocks, it’s wise to spend time learning about how other investors research stocks. The Khan Academy offers a great deal of free and unbiased education about stocks and bonds in their Finance and Capital markets section.
What To Look For In A Stock Picking Subscription
🥇 Track record: The stock picking service should produce returns for subscribers that purchase recommended stocks. Look for how the service’s choices performed compared to a benchmark index. Growth stocks should perform over time.
💸 Price: Some stock picking services cost thousands of dollars each year. Look for a modestly priced service; not one that you couldn’t cover the cost of with gains from your portfolio.
📈 Results you can reproduce: Some of the best-performing investments aren’t available unless you are an institutional investor. They may be able to buy stocks at a lower price before it goes public. If you can’t reproduce the results in your portfolio, the service has no value to you.
📚 Education: A good stock picking service doesn’t just periodically send you the names of stocks to buy. You should gain knowledge when you read about how and why they chose a specific stock. The service should help you build the skills you need to evaluate recommendations based on your unique criteria, investment goals, and risk tolerance.
Bottom Line
Stock picking services should help you build the skills you need to make independent decisions about your portfolio. Even if you only subscribe to a single stock picking service, it’s wise to gather information from a number of sources before you decide to buy or sell any single stock. Many of the services listed here offer free information and resources. Always research stock picks on your own and make sure they are a good fit for your portfolio.
If you decide to try out a stock-picking service, take full advantage of the service during the free trial (if there is one) before you commit.
