I think this announcement by Schwab had a good downward thrust to ASTN today in addition to the factors you cited. It certainly didn't help Schwab's stock. I think there are plenty of people who lump ASTN in with the "Internet Brokers" group. I agree too, that few traders, short or long influence the market as much as some claim, about $25 million in ASTN traded today (by VWAP) or half that if you remember the NASD "double counting". Were the shorts that busy today? I don't think so.
MST you said, <<I don't recall ever blaming the shorts (or anyone else for that matter) for this or any other stock falling in price. The investors, long and short, have little or nothing to do with it. It is the company, and its value (and perceived value) that dictate the "market" for its stock.>>
Couldn't agree more..
From Briefing.com
Charles Schwab (SCH) 83 1/4 -11 : Is this a statement on the market overall? Schwab reports that customer daily average revenue trades were down 28% from April, 150 thousand trades a day. New assets grew at Charles Schwab, which means more people are moving their money to the online trading world. Net new assets rose by $8.6 billion in a single month, bringing total assets to $560 billion. Our quick interpretation of this data is simple: People are slowing down a bit. From the frenzied pace of October through April, where just buying anything seemed to rewarded within hours, the last six weeks have been a lot harder. It's getting crowded, so to speak. Many many stocks have gone up simply because new buyers were appearing who wanted in on the online-internet-buying bonanza. E*Trade (EGRP) reported a month ago that new accounts opened in Q1 of 1999 exceeded all new accounts in 1998. Although you can't see them, an incredible number of new online traders appeared in the last six months. 1998's great returns may have been driven in large part by the steady flow of new investors, with new money, who all wanted stocks. While the net new assets at Schwab is a good sign that the flow of new investors isn't slowing down yet, the drop in trades means that the new investors are either less active, or biding time. Could be both. In any event, it means less commission revenue for Scwhab, since revenue is tied directly to transactions, but what it says for the overall market needs to be pondered a little. Certainly a new investor arriving today, who wanted to buy internet stocks, is more likely to stand and watch for a while, than to view things as being a bargain.
Zebra
P.S. To AG and Seuss, good trading. I would have boxed high on my long but they are in non-marginable accounts (IRA, Keogh, etc). But I'll stay long on this one, after all, we are still waiting for Act One. |
