Welcome Mary-Lynn Cesar and Emily Smykal to the Kapitall Wire family, where neon hipster glasses are mandatory on Fridays, or any day that feels like Friday, and memes are a preferred form of communication.

Emily [left] is a Brooklyn-based writer originally from Ohio. She came to Kapitall by way of university in London and jobs in Washington, DC and Brisbane, Australia. Emily is a shopaholic addicted to dark chocolate, whose role models include her grandmother, Lucille Bluth and Malory Archer.

Mary-Lynn [right] is the newest writer for Kapitall Wire. The New Jersey native studied film production and political science at NYU, completing her studies in January 2011. As a Kapitall writer, Mary-Lynn uses her articles to explore current events while relating them back to investing. She enjoys biking leisurely and is a huge fan of cheese.

Peter chooses to pop wheelies on Citibikes one handed. Lori is unimpressed. Beckie is amused.

Pascal recently joined Kapitall as Head of Marketing. A former agency-side veteran, he brings his marketing expertise to the team, having worked on large global brands such as HSBC, L’Oréal and Rolex.

Relaxed whilst driven, as characterized by his signature sunglasses-on-Fridays look, Pascal wants to put Kapitall on the map and bring the stock market to the rest of us – in a fun, intuitive and engaging way. He believes we are all Kapitallists at heart – and is even considering changing his name to Paskall.

When not offering points, Koins, and free trades to his fellow Kapitallists, Pascal is an avid outdoors enthusiast: soccer, running, trekking, diving, snowboarding. After 13 years in New York, he now declares himself a Brooklynite – with a taste for local food, an unexpected interest in gardening, and a recent awakening to Blue Grass music.

Back in January 2013 Kapitall welcomed Hanoof Nass, a knockout development guru with a passion for fresh fruit and bright jackets. Hanoof hails from Manama, Bahrain and graduated in 2012 from Suffolk University in Boston with a BSBA in Entrepreneurship.

She is currently working on several development projects focusing on universities. Prior to Kapitall, Hanoof worked with multiple companies around the world (USA & Middle east- Dubai, Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait) in different sectors.

In her free time Hanoof enjoys playing Squash and practicing the guitar. She speaks fluent Arabic and English, and in open defiance of the French language spoken around the office, plans to add Italian to her language credentials.

Alex Federbusch comes to us from Plainview, New York where he summers between semesters as a Finance major at the University of Pittsburgh. He’ll return in the Fall for his senior year but until then he is shaking things up at Kapitall.

Alex is working on the development and execution of Kapitall Universities Edition and will be taking a key role in Kapitall Wire’s market research.

In his free time Alex enjoys a good round of golf and walking his blind dog named Leo.

Jami (left) comes to us from Drexel University where she graduated in 2007. She is a Jr. Designer working under Juan Cruz. When not at the office, Jami works as a Para Teacher in a public special education preschool. She loves crafting and designing jewelry. Her favorite color is glitter.

Tina (right) is our web development intern. She graduated from the University of Guelph (in Canada!) with a BS in Biology in 2010. She spent 6 months backpacking in Southeast Asia post-graduation. She discovered her passion for coding at Thinkful’s 3 month program. She enjoys the pleasures of crocheting and whiskey.

Happy Hour is back! Join us on weekdays for our 2 for 1 Happy Hour special and enjoy a commission free trade for every trade you make.

Make sure to follow Kapitall on Twitter to find out when Happy Hour starts and ends.  Learn more here.

Happy Trading!

Attention trading junkies! The stock market won’t be open this Friday even though almost every other business will be. While Good Friday isn’t a federal holiday, it is a stock market holiday with little concrete explanation. After being closed on Good Friday off and on, 1907 was the final year in which the exchange was open on Good Friday. Despite this long held tradition several myths surrounding the market closure exist.

Fact or fiction?

1) The NYSE has a tradition of closing on Good Friday for Jewish and Christian traders looking for a break between Passover and Easter.

2) The lease of the building housing the stock exchange stipulates that no business be conducted on Good Fridays. This myth seems largely debunked by the fact the the exchange has changed locations.

3) Easter isn’t a federal holiday but many businesses that operate on Sunday close for the festivities. Since Easter is always on a Sunday, closing up shop on Friday is a good proxy.

4) Good Friday isn’t a government holiday at the federal level but many states recognize it as a state holiday. As a result may local governments, banks, and other institutions will close this Friday making a dent in trading volume.

5) Similarly, markets aren’t open in Europe for Good Friday. American and European holidays aren’t synced to the same schedule but closing in times of weak trading demand makes economic sense.

Kapitall’s David Neubert, provided two more interesting theories:

6) As the discrimination against Irish immigrants abated around the turn of the century there was a preponderance of Irish Catholic exchange officials at the NYSE who pushed for closing of the Exchange on Good Friday.

7) My favorite, and the one I heard around the trading floors of New York, was that two or three years in a row during the 1890′s, there was a big drop in the market on Good Friday. Traders took it as a sign from God that he didn’t want the exchange open.

The truth is still out there if anyone even remembers exactly why the market is closed this Friday. Regardless, busy traders can enjoy the long weekend!

Money Under 30 recently reviewed our platform. Lou Carlozo, personal finance contributor, really enjoys the video-game “twists” we’ve tied into Kapitall. He calls it “a sleek investment platform wrapped in a user-friendly, non-threatening format.”

Thanks, Lou, for capturing what Kapitall is about at the core. Managing finances and learning to invest should be accessible, easy, and  fun. Like Money Under 30, we hope to make investing a simple and transparent process. And you don’t have to be under 30 to do it! Though, like the article notes, most of our users are in the 32-36 age range.

Getting young people engaged in stocks is a step in shaping a better financial system. Recent data from Gallup indicates that Americans have declining investments in the stock market in favor of speculative real estate investments.  There are many opportunities for investment in securities and Kapitall hopes to pave a playable path to becoming a more sophisticated investor.

Money Under 30 is a site aimed at empowering individuals with honest financial advice. You can read more of their feature on us here: link.

In the 13 months since the launch of Kapitall Brokerage we have made Barron’s annual list of Best Online Brokers two times. We feel honored, despite our low ranking.

Barron’s praises Kapitall for its “amazing interface” and “fascinating research platform.” We even scored ahead of Schwab, Fidelity, E*Trade and Sharebuilder in “Usability.”

In a note to investors, Kapitall CEO Jarrett Lilien writes, “In most cases, being bottom of the list is not something to celebrate, but in the case of the Barron’s annual survey of the best online players, being on the list at all is an honor. In addition, we get good scores for the areas where we are focused and we are aware of the areas (and are working on them) where we need to improve.”

In just one year the Kapitall brokerage has come so far, and we have much more in-store for our rapidly expanding customer base. We can’t wait to see what Barron’s has to say in 2014!

To read more about the 2013 list click here.  The 2012 list is here.