news RELATING somewhat to Insider Trading owned by PRWT.
thanks to the person who emailed me this.
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Schwab, E*Trade Lose Online Market Share
Analysts' reports agreed Friday that both Charles Schwab (SCH) and
E*Trade (EGRP) Group, the two biggest players in the online brokerage
business, lost market share in the second quarter of the year.
Researchers at Minneapolis's Piper Jaffray and San Francisco's Credit
Suisse First Boston office said Schwab's market share fell almost 2
percent, while E*Trade lost about 1 percent. Jaffray analyst Stephen
Franco said the quarterly report lists the top five brokerages,
measured in the number of retail trades handled, as Schwab (29
percent), E*Trade (11 percent), Fidelity (9 percent), Waterhouse (9
percent), and Datek (8 percent). CSFB's Bill Burnham said, "Firms with
the lower prices, courting the most active traders, saw the most
growth." The two largest gainers, he said, were Datek Online and
AmeriTrade Holdings (AMTD).
Jaffray's Franco estimated that 22 percent of all retail trades in the
first six months of the year were conducted online. And growth
continued strong in the second quarter, with the number of online
accounts at the top 10 brokerages rising to 4.9 million, a gain of 21
percent from the first quarter's level. Indicating that commission
price cuts have perhaps ended, Franco pointed out the rates charged by
the top 10 firms were essentially unchanged in the second quarter.
Franco predicted the balance of the year will see new competition for
online trading businesses as traditional financial institutions, such
as banks and full service brokerages, roll out offerings. "With the
planned release of valuable new online trading features and the major
marketing campaigns, we expect quarterly growth rates to remain in the
twenty-percent range for the next six months," the analyst added.
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