08 February 2010
E*TRADE (ETFC) decided to join the "price war" on Friday, with a bit of a "better late than never attitude." This means that the standard price comparison chart, by which online brokers love to brag, will have to be updated across the board. (That means you, TD Ameritrade!) What has been billed as a price war is turning out to be more of a garden party. As everyone joins together on pricing, they're creating, as TD Ameritrade's Tomczyk called it, "a zero sum game."
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Few investors understand the difference between a broker* and a financial adviser. And that's the problem. The two are different and are regulated differently with much of the burden of fiduciary responsibility falling on the financial advisers, unlike what most investors think. Brokers, on the other hand, have been free to sell in a less restrictive environment. 
Interactive Brokers (IBKR) hit us with January metrics today and we see that the firm is holding steady on monthly gains. While 2009 was