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Strategies & Market Trends : The Final Frontier - Online Remote Trading -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TFF who wrote (11250)	5/24/2004 12:03:02 PM
From: Esteban	Respond to of 12617

Refunding the commission is not the same as guaranteeing a fill. Fidelity isn't risking more than a few commissions here and there. ... Fidelity will waive commissions if it cannot make good on its promise.

To: TFF who wrote (11250)	5/24/2004 12:55:14 PM
From: TFF	Respond to of 12617

Amex launches electronic trades By Jeremy Grant in Chicago Published: May 24 2004 5:00 \| Last Updated: May 24 2004 5:00 The American Stock Exchange will tomorrow launch a new electronic trading system for its options products in an effort to attract more business and reduce reliance on its "open outcry" trading pits. The development is another sign that electronic trading is making rapid inroads into the US options industry, mirroring developments in futures and the equities markets. Last week marked the first quarter of trading on Box, an all-electronic options exchange launched in February by the Boston and Montreal stock exchanges and funded by a group of Wall Street investment banks. Competition has intensified this year among the five established US options exchanges as electronic trading has reduced trading fees and as institutional investors - especially hedge funds - have increased their use of options. Trading volume in equity options, the most traded type of option, rose by 48 per cent in April compared with the same month a year ago, according to the US Options Industry Council. Michael Bickford, senior vice-president of options at the Amex, said the exchange would list 300 equity options - or options on individual stocks - on the new system within six months. He said trading on the system, known as Ante, would account for about 80 per cent of total options trading on the Amex by the end of the year. The volume of trades done in trading pits - currently about 70 per cent of all trading - would "go down substantially". The Amex is one of three options exchanges that has been forced to cut fees, adopt more efficient trading systems and abandon membership structures to allow participation in anticipated industry consolidation. Such moves have been mostly prompted by the entry into the market three years ago of the International Securities Exchange, the first all-electronic US options exchange. On Friday, the Pacific Exchange said the Securities and Exchange Commission, which regulates the US options industry, had approved a demutualisation plan that would turn the exchange into a for-profit corporation. Philip DeFeo, Pacific Exchange chairman, said: "We will make decisions and implement change faster. We gain the ability to attract outside capital and strategic partners." Box has stirred unease among the five established exchanges because it allows traders to expose orders to a three-second auction in which a customer's order can achieve a better price than prices available for the same options product at any of the other five exchanges.

To: TFF who wrote (11250)	5/25/2004 8:52:59 AM
From: TFF	Respond to of 12617

Schwab Cuts Trade Fees - $9.95/unlimited shares Tuesday May 25, 8:45 am ET New Tiered Pricing Plus Expanded Access to $9.95 Trades Additional Price Reduction for Schwab Institutional(R) Advisor Clients SAN FRANCISCO, May 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE: SCH - News) today announced that in mid-June it will dramatically reduce pricing for online equity trades, offering $9.95 trades to clients with $1 million in household assets* at Schwab and lowering commissions to $19.95 for a wide range of additional clients. Price reductions will apply to Schwab retail clients as well as the majority of independent advisors and their clients served by Schwab Institutional. Schwab will also lower the threshold for no-fee access to its Schwab Independent Investing Signature(TM) service. "For 30 years, Schwab has focused on offering the best possible products and services at prices designed to deliver a great value," said CEO David Pottruck. "We're reducing commissions for our most valued clients within Schwab Personal Choice(TM) by at least two-thirds, and for many others by over 30 percent, aggressively pricing our services to make sure they appeal to the broadest range of investors possible. We believe our unique combination of people, investing insight, tools and range of services -- all delivered at great prices -- makes Schwab an unbeatable value for anyone." Retail Online Trading Costs Reduced Reduced trading commissions for online equity trades will be available to individual investor clients based on either their household asset level or their trading activity, making lower-cost trades available to a wider range of Schwab clients. -- $9.95 equity trades -- Clients with more than $1 million in household assets at Schwab who are enrolled in Schwab Independent Investing(TM), Schwab Signature Trading(TM), Schwab Advised Investing(TM) services or Schwab Private Client(TM) will pay $9.95 per market or limit order trade for unlimited shares (reduced from $29.95, or $.03 per share for trades over 1,000 shares). For active trader clients enrolled in Schwab Trader CT(TM), the existing $9.95 commission now applies to orders of any size, no matter how many shares are traded (eliminating the additional $0.01 per share for trades over 5,000 shares). In addition, the number of monthly trades required to waive the monthly fee has been reduced from 10 trades to five, and the monthly fee (when applicable) has been reduced from $30 to $20. -- $14.95 equity trades -- For clients who make at least 30 equity or option trades in a quarter, online market or limit order trades will be $14.95 per trade for unlimited shares (reduced from $.01 per share with a $14.95 minimum). -- $19.95 equity trades -- Online equity trade commissions for market or limit orders will be reduced from $29.95 to $19.95 for the first 1,000 shares, plus $.015 cents per share thereafter, for: -- Any client with at least $100,000 in combined household assets at Schwab; -- Schwab Independent Investing Signature clients; -- Clients enrolled in Schwab Advised Investing services or Schwab Private Client; -- Clients enrolled in Schwab Independent Investing Foundational(TM) who make between nine and 29 household equity or option trades in a quarter; and -- Clients enrolled in Schwab Signature Trading who make between nine and 29 household equity or option trades in a quarter. -- Flat pricing for trades of shares priced less than $1 per share -- The $9.95, $14.95 and $19.95 tiered pricing will also apply to online trades of penny stocks for unlimited shares (formerly 3 percent of principal with an overriding minimum of $29.95). For more information, investors can call 877-774-3888.