| 07 April 2010

Okay, so we admit that we haven't entirely warmed to the idea of mobile trading apps. But our discontent has more to do with the actual decision-making process of leaping to a trade than the mere lookey loo aspect of just peeking in on your portfolio.

We are avid peekers, ourselves. When it comes to email, tweets, the weather or texts we're as easily distracted as the next when it comes to smartphones and idle time. How can one wait in line for a latte and NOT check email? It's just that when it comes to investing we believe in big screens, broad ideas and at least a moment of uninterrupted focus to make decisions that affect the health of our entire portfolios.

So it is with much criticism that we poo-pooed the rise of the mobile trading app. While we have no problem acknowledging the significant growth of the things (and have received plenty of correspondence reminding us of this growth) we have also noticed that it's a phenomenon narrowly focused on the youngsters of the investing world. These are the same kids, by the way, who think investing is "fun" and who, we can only imagine think so because they have little to lose, everything to gain and were raised on investing "games" in high school while we had to plow through courses like, you know, accounting.

So you can picture the eye-rolling when, last week, we get a note from E*TRADE (ETFC) telling us that they're planning to support Apple Inc's (AAPL) iPad with their Mobile Pro product (which we dutifully covered here).

But, before all you youngsters fire up your emailing machines, listen up! We have a surprise for you. We actually like the iPad app. In fact, Apple, itself, likes it so much it features the app in its iPad sales pitch.

So what's so great about this little guy compared with earlier i-phony versions? Well, size matters. Put it this way, any good stock picker, analyst or trader takes time to research their moves. Whether it's diversifying the portfolio, finding a good ETF, or just dollar-cost averaging, the task takes time (or it should anyway) and space. Why do you think uber-traders run four wide-screen monitors, for cryin' out loud? Heck, it's not unusual for us to actually print out some of the more in-depth reading material so we can take a break from the screen, prop our feet up and even grab a pen and circle a few good insights.

And this is exactly what the iPad was designed to do. And with the 3G version, yes, you can even get mobile with it.

Now don't get too full of yourself, youngsters. The app isn't perfect. E*TRADE still has some work to do. It's still singularly focused on trades, quotes and balances. We'd rather see better charting than streaming CNBC video. And more third-party research from the likes of Morningstar (MORN) wouldn't hurt. But we're loving the platform, the large window for research and discovery and software so easy to use a 2-year old can do it. (Though, ahem, we suspect a baby might have difficulties, E*TRADE.) In other words, the thing holds potential, and that's saying a lot coming from us.

Some argue the iPad is like a giant iPhone. Others say it's a smaller laptop. We say it's the best thing to happen to mobile trading apps since the invention of the coffee shop.