
HALO Global
Pros
- Scan the global market in seconds
- Get forward-looking data now
- Invest without the hassle
Cons
- Very pricey service
- Not suitable for all investors
- No investment platform for U.S. users
One of the most challenging parts of investing is finding stocks that are worthwhile. With more than 5,000 equities in the United States and more than 50,000 around the world, leading financial institutions spend massive amounts of money on technology that makes finding opportunities easier.
That’s where HALO Technologies, a financial services company out of Australia, comes in.
The company makes institutional-grade investment tools available to the everyday investor, helping to take the guesswork out of the investment process. Offering a stock screener that’s like nothing else on the market, coupled with detailed charting that includes buy and sell signals, Halo is a tool almost every investor should consider adding to their toolbox.
Key Features of HALO Global
HALO’s product was designed to take the guesswork out of investing for the everyday investor. Using the intuitive tools available, you’ll be able to pinpoint the exact types of investment opportunities you’re looking for in a matter of seconds.
Here are the key features you’ll enjoy if you sign up for the service.
A Stock Screener Like Nothing Else
Stock screeners are a dime a dozen online, and many of them are free. Halo’s screener, however, is like nothing else available today.
Like with other screeners, you’re able to narrow down stock investing opportunities by various general metrics. For example, if you want to invest in small-cap stocks in the health care sector, you’ll be able to find a list of plenty that might fit the bill.
However, this particular screener goes much further, giving you the ability to screen stocks by consensus data, rather than by historical data alone. This means you’ll be able to weed out the stocks that the world’s leading investment firms recommend avoiding without having to compare the findings in your screens to consensus ratings and stock analyst reports.
For example, the HALO screener lets you see a list of U.S.-based technology companies with five or more buy ratings, no hold ratings, and no sell ratings, giving an overall rating of a strong buy.
You’ll also be able to search for other metrics — including some not commonly available in screeners — like dividends, earnings per share, yield, deviation to target price, and much more. These deep search capabilities give you the ability to fuel your investment decisions with the same types of data institutional investors use.
Forward-Looking Data From a Global Markets Perspective
The vast majority of services, including every other screener or similar investment tool I’ve tested, operates solely on historical data. Not to mention, most of these tools are limited when it comes to covered markets, often including only U.S. stocks.
HALO is very different.
First and foremost, the platform is equipped with data on around 58,500 equities from more than 50 countries. All the world’s major stock exchanges are covered, including Australia’s ASX and Japan’s Nikkei exchanges in addition to mainstays like the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Nasdaq. Essentially, you’re scouring global data when you use this tool.
And it’s not just historical data you’ll find. Stock and exchange-traded fund (ETF) data available on the platform gives you the past, present, and future view of the stock. In fact, the data provided goes up to three years in the future using forecast estimates and information offered by leading financial institutions from around the world.
This is a compelling feature, because the past isn’t always indicative of the future. Analysts aren’t always right, but when something looks fishy on the horizon for a company, they tend to catch it before the stock takes a dive. This insight can help you avoid landmines in your portfolio.
Prebuilt Thematic Portfolios
If you’re not into screening individual stocks and making investment decisions on your own, there’s no shame in that. Most people are strapped for time and uninterested in the inner workings of the stock market, which is why robo-advisers have become overwhelmingly popular.
For investors who would rather the experts handle the stock picking for them, HALO offers a line of prebuilt thematic portfolios.
Whether you want to invest in domestic stocks known for stability and the provision of high dividend payments, or you want to get involved in small-cap stocks that are likely to outperform the market by a wide margin, you’ll likely find a prebuilt portfolio that fits your needs.
Investment Platform (For Australian Users Only)
The HALO investment platform, known as Macrovue, is an incredibly intuitive platform, making it possible to add results from your screens and data analysis to your portfolio with a single click.
Unfortunately, the company’s brokerage service is only available to Australian users. If you’re in the United States or elsewhere, you’ll need to use another brokerage and trading platform to execute the trades you discover using HALO’s screener.
Nonetheless, even users outside of Australia have access to the compelling charting tools, buy and sell signals, and other features of the trading platform. They simply won’t be able to execute trades using the same platform.
At-a-Glance Portfolio Tracking
Picking the equities to invest in is only half the battle. Maintaining a portfolio of winners is another story entirely. However, Halo’s got you covered.
On the platform, you’ll be able to see your entire portfolio at a glance with little signal dots that are incredibly useful. When you see a red dot near one of your investments, it’s a signal that it’s time to exit your position and find something new. This takes the guesswork out of determining exit timing.
Moreover, you’ll be able to track general data within your portfolio, like your portfolio’s overall performance.
The portfolio tracker also tracks past and future dividend payments, giving you a view of the exact amount of income you can expect to receive on the exact dates you’ll be receiving it. If you’re dependent on dividend payments for income, it’s nice not to be left wondering what you’ll be receiving and when.
Advantages of HALO Global
There are several advantages investors enjoy with HALO Technologies’ service. The most significant include:
- The Ability to Scan the Global Market in Seconds. The technology it takes to scan through more than 50,000 stocks in a matter of seconds is incredible and unmatched by anything else on the market. This one tool replaces the several different screeners you’d have to use in order to get a full picture of the opportunities in the global market.
- Forward-Looking Data at Your Fingertips. There are few tools that put forward-looking data at your fingertips online today. Why? The truth is that data is crazy expensive. So expensive that it’s generally only available to high net worth investors and institutions. However, Halo made the investment in this data to be able to offer a tool that’s unmatched in the industry. That investment has paid off in a big way, with this being one of the most comprehensive and intuitive tools online today.
- Invest Without the Hassle. If you don’t want to choose your own stocks, you could easily invest with a robo-advisor, make average returns, and call it done. However, the prebuilt portfolios offered by HALO take this to the next level. Like robo-advisors, you won’t have to research individual stocks, but unlike most robo-advisors or cookie-cutter index funds, you’ll have real potential to beat average market returns by a wide margin.
- Quality Customer Support. Any time you work with a financial service of any kind, it’s important to consider the level of support offered before getting involved. If you have a question, you want to make sure somebody is ready to provide you with a reliable answer. Good thing HALO offers a world-class customer support team that’s knowledgeable and ready to help you with whatever you might need.
Disadvantages of HALO Global
We’ve painted a picture above of a pretty rose bush but, like with every rose, you’ll find a few thorns. Here are a couple of shortcomings of HALO’s services:
- The Service Is Pricey. There’s no question that HALO is pricey, especially for newcomers to the stock market. For a domestic account, you’ll pay $2,499 annually, but that will only provide you with data from the Australian stock market. If you want access to United States and global data, you’ll have to shell out $3,499 per year.
- Not Suitable for All Investors. Considering the price of the service, it’s only suitable for investors who have relatively large portfolios and take a highly aggressive approach to beating the market. Those with less money in their portfolio or who aren’t interested in taking risks to beat the market may not benefit from the service enough to be worth the price tag.
- Investment Platform Is Only Available to Australian Users. Another rub with the service is that the company is only licensed to provide brokerage services in Australia. As a result, if you live anywhere else, you won’t be able to add equities from their tools to your portfolio with one click. Instead, you’ll have to log into another trading platform of your choice to execute your trades.
How HALO Global Stacks Up
HALO Global is one of the most powerful stock market analysis tools around. But how does it stack up to the competition?
Here’s how it compares to Trade Ideas, another powerful stock screener.
| HALO Global | Trade Ideas | |
| Markets Served | Major exchanges worldwide | U.S. and Canada only |
| Forward-Looking Data? | Yes | No |
| Prebuilt Thematic Portfolios? | Yes | No |
| Pricing | Starts at $2,499/year | Starts at $999/year |
Final Word
The tools offered by HALO Global are second to none. In my more than a decade of experience in financial markets, I’ve never come across another tool online that can not only quickly scan the global markets, but provide you with forward-looking market data in the process.
While the price of the service may be a turn-off to some, this really is a case of “you get what you pay for.” The price is reasonable considering the overwhelmingly high cost of the data you’ll have access to. We’re talking about the data that’s generally only available to institutions in the palm of your hand. There’s nothing like it.
As a result, the vast majority of investors would benefit greatly from using Halo when researching market opportunities.
Editorial & Advertiser Disclosure: The editorial content on this website is not provided, commissioned, reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any advertiser. Opinions expressed are ours alone, not those of any advertiser. The offers that appear are from companies from which we may receive compensation. However, this compensation does not impact where and how these companies are mentioned on the site. We do not include all companies or all available offers in the marketplace.
Related: