E*Trade, Other Internet Brokers, Surge Late in Day
quote.bloomberg.com
New York, Sept. 29 (Bloomberg) -- E*Trade Group Inc. and other Internet brokers surged late in the day as the companies stepped up advertising and analysts reported increased September trading volume.
E*Trade, the No. 2 Internet broker, rose 2 3/4, or 12 percent, to 25. National Discount Brokers Group Inc. rose 3 3/8, or 13 percent, to 28 1/2. Charles Schwab Corp. rose 1 1/4, or 3.8 percent, to 34 1/2. Ameritrade Holding Corp. rose 1 7/16, or 8.1 percent, to 19 1/8.
The Bloomberg U.S. Internet Financial Services Index jumped 5.93, or 4.6 percent, to 134.56, after it was up only a little more than a point at 2 p.m. New York time. ``September's looking like it's a strong month, so volume numbers might turn out to be slightly better than expected,' said Rich Repetto, an analyst with Lehman Brothers.
Ameritrade and Fidelity Investments' online brokerage began new television and print ad campaigns in the past week. Lehman estimates Internet brokers will spend $1.2 billion on ads in the next 12 months.
Internet brokerage stocks have more than doubled this year, though they are down 58 percent since mid-April. Industry trading volume is expected to decline this quarter for the first time after more than doubling to 500,000 trades, or one in six U.S. stock transactions, in the previous nine months.
NYSE/AMEX delayed 20 min. NASDAQ delayed 15 min. |
