| 02 September 2009

TradeStation Securities (TRAD) reported its monthly business metrics today and showed a dramatic dip in trading volume. Daily average trades of just over 76,000 is well off the consistent highs of more than 100,000 trades per day seen during the first half of this year.

Client assets remained relatively flat at $1.93 billion but did reach a new high last month.

One other niche brokerage also reported a decline in trading activity. We recently reported that optionsXpress (OXPS) trades declined while customer assets grew.  CEO David Fisher attributed the decline to a reduction in ad spending.