E*man,
Great article indeed, but I think Burke and yourself might be missing a point about E*Trade international moves. Look at it from an international investor viewpoint.
I am French, based in Germany. I use E*Trade to trade US stock on NASDAQ or NYSE, my German bank to trade in Germany, and until 1 month ago my French bank to trade in France. I say until 1 month ago, because now my French broker is ... CPR E*Trade, the French JV of E*Trade.
I think E*Trade international moves are going to allow them to gain a lot of international investors who would love to use E*trade, but do not currently because they cannot trade stocks in their own countries, and prefer to stick to their local bank/broker to avoid having multiple accounts and contacts.
e.g. as far as I am concerned, as soon as E*Trade is available on the German market, E*Trade will be my only broker for all the markets I invest in.
That could mean a lot of new international users for E*Trade, or at least as in my case, a lot more commissions.
BTW for you US guys' perspective, in the French market, CPR E*Trade is really a top quality broker (among discount brokers that is). Site is of top quality, information the best you can get, really in sync with what US E*Trade is. So not only does E*Trade expands quickly, they are also obviously very serious about how they do it. |
