Morningstar.com Launches Free Mobile Application for Android Smartphones

CHICAGO, Nov. 30, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- To help investors track their portfolios and monitor the markets from any location, Morningstar, Inc. (Nasdaq: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment research, has launched its latest free mobile Morningstar.com application for smartphones and devices running on Google's Android platform.  

The Android app also shares the major features of other Morningstar.com mobile applications, including investing ideas, company information and tickers, a quick search function, and the ability to view Morningstar's ratings for stocks and funds.

"Being on the go shouldn't keep an investor from accessing the Morningstar data, research, and analysis needed to help make better investment decisions," said Kunal Kapoor, president of individual software at Morningstar. "We've worked with our customers to deliver a mobile app for Android that meets their needs and offers new functionality in addition to the popular features of our Apple and BlackBerry mobile applications."  

Users can also view performance charts for stocks, funds, exchange-traded funds and indexes; access the Morningstar Market Barometer(SM) and data on each of the Morningstar fund categories; and track securities from global markets with listings of gainers, losers and most active. Additionally, users may sync to, create, and edit their Morningstar.com portfolios and watch lists and research both U.S. and Canadian securities and Asian and European indexes. Morningstar.com Premium subscribers can access Morningstar's independent analyst research reports through a subscriber log-in portal.

Designed specifically for the Android platform, the Morningstar.com mobile app allows users to tap ticker names on the screen to access real-time quotes and find the latest news articles related to their portfolios. A horizontal view of the screen reveals additional data points and information about holdings, and tapping on column headers enables sorting of holdings by that data point. The app is supported on all Android devices with Firmware version 1.5 or higher.

Morningstar now has mobile applications available for all three major mobile device platforms—Android, BlackBerry, and Apple iPhone and iPod Touch. Morningstar's iPhone app was launched in 2009 and has been downloaded more than 115,000 times, while approximately 95,000 users have downloaded Morningstar's BlackBerry application, which was released in the spring of 2010. The BlackBerry app was recently honored as one of the top "Regional Selections" in the 2010 BlackBerry Partners Fund Super Apps Developer Challenge.

Morningstar is developing another application designed specifically for the Apple iPad and expects to release it during the first half of 2011.

Investors can download the app at no cost from the Android Market or from Morningstar's site. Instructions to download the app via text, e-mail or web browser, along with additional information, can be found at: http://mobileapps.morningstar.com/mobile2/android.aspx.

About Morningstar, Inc.

Morningstar, Inc. is a leading provider of independent investment research in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The company offers an extensive line of Internet, software, and print-based products and services for individuals, financial advisors, and institutions. Morningstar provides data on approximately 370,000 investment offerings, including stocks, mutual funds, and similar vehicles, along with real-time global market data on more than 4 million equities, indexes, futures, options, commodities, and precious metals, in addition to foreign exchange and Treasury markets. The company has operations in 26 countries.

©2010 Morningstar, Inc. All rights reserved.

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SOURCE Morningstar, Inc.