TD Ameritrade Consolidates and Upgrades Mobile Trading Applications; AMTD, ETFC, SCHW
30 July 2010
TD Ameritrade (AMTD) announced that it has re-vamped its line of mobile trading applications. The move is meant to tap into the already successful mobile trading applications developed by subsidiary thinkorswim and the few developed for TD Ameritrade and consolidate them under the brand "TD Ameritrade Mobile." The applications offer advanced charting, technical analysis, and trading for stocks, ETFs, futures, forex and complex options trades.
According to the company, "TD Ameritrade is the only online brokerage with five homemade mobile platforms, including a simple Web browser and four proprietary operating system platforms." The platforms refer to the operating platforms of Android, Blackberry, iPhone and Windows Mobile. But the statement is a bit premature, we think, given their website claims the iPad and Android apps are "coming soon." The firm also offers a web-based trading platform that serves up mobile-friendly screens to any phone capable of accessing the internet.
Analyzing Q2 Results from OptionsXpress; OXPS, ETFC, SCHW
29 July 2010
OptionsXpress (OXPS) hit some headwinds this quarter. You wouldn't know it reading the headlines, all of which gush about the fact that the firm beat Wall Street analyst expectations. While it's commendable that the firm performed better financially than most had expected, we thought we'd take a look at how they're doing operationally, by focusing on the core metrics in their brokerage business.
Financially, let us recall, the firm saw a 20% dip in net income in the first quarter, compared to the fourth. CEO David Fisher suggested at the time that they were making investments in the business that have "strengthened the core franchise." All in all we were impressed with the growth in assets, but starting to worry about increased account acquisition expenses.
Analyzing E*TRADE's Second Quarter Results, Surprises Aplenty; ETFC, SCHW, AMTD
23 July 2010
The results are in... and color us shocked! E*TRADE Financial (ETFC) posts a profit! You heard me right. The company that had previously reported eleven consecutive quarters of losses -- the same company that was forced to raise capital at the behest of the Office of Thrift Supervision -- the one that actually lost core brokerage accounts in five out of the last 12 months -- the firm that lost their CEO and had trouble finding a replacement -- the firm that lost $1.3 billion (with a "b") in 2009 and another $48 million in the first quarter of this year -- yes, THAT E*TRADE, recorded a profit in Q2. Breathless is what we are. Breathless.
So how did they do it? What sort of magic wands is the firm waving to get these results? Is it weird that we're this excited to find out? Perhaps you'll get excited, too, when we tell you that their results may surprise you. In fact, here's just a taste: E*TRADE actually lost brokerage accounts last month. So what's going on? Are these results sustainable? Let's dig in.
Analyzing TD Ameritrade's Second Quarter Results; AMTD, SCHW, ETFC
21 July 2010
TD Ameritrade (AMTD) reported their second quarter results yesterday and we've been spending a little time charting their performance and taking stock of the quarter. We recently reported Schwab's results and noted that, in addition to an overall flat quarter, their DARTS came crashing down and new accounts suffered. Will we see the same from our friends at TD Ameritrade?
Before we move on to the charts we should note two things. First, we tend to look at the online brokers' performance relative to each other. And second, we also tend to look at their performance relative to the overall performance of the markets. Since their performance, especially as relates to assets under management, is highly correlated to market performance we can learn a lot about a firm when measuring their relative performance. So keep in mind, during the second quarter brokers faced a stiff headwind: the S&P 500 lost 12%.
Analyzing the Trends in Schwab's Q2 Results; SCHW, AMTD, ETFC
16 July 2010
[Corrected to reflect 58,000 new accounts added in June.]
The Charles Schwab Corporation (SCHW) reported Q2 earning today and if you read any of the news regarding the announcement you already know that they had basically a flat quarter. In terms of revenue and income, this was certainly the case. Schwab's total net revenue of $1.08 billion increased about 10% versus the prior quarter and was flat versus Q2 2009. Their net income popped up to $205 million, which was a nice gain versus last quarter but again, even with Q2 2009.
CEO Walt Bettinger chose to focus his comments on the ongoing attention Schwab is paying to the development of new tools and services. "We continue to make significant investments in an enhanced platform for actively trading clients, new mobile applications for banking and brokerage, a major rebuild of our platform that serves investment advisors, and expanded global research and equity trading capabilities," he said.
We've been spending some time with the numbers this morning and we have say, the real story is how Schwab has been able to position themselves to stay flat on income, despite some declines in parts of the core business. This comment will make more sense when we dig into the charts, so let's get to it.
Sharebuilder Launches New Mobile App; ING, ETFC, OXPS
12 July 2010
ShareBuilder, a subsidiary of ING Direct and part of the Dutch Global Financial Corporation ING (ING), announced it has decided to join the mobile trading world with the launch of its new iPhone and Blackberry trading applications. While we have wondered aloud whether mobile applications were really necessary (to much disagreement, we might add), it's great to see ING finally join the party.
The application itself is smooth and meticulously designed. Both the Blackberry application and the iPhone application offer similar features. Users have the ability to check the markets, the news, quotes, account balances, etc. The applications are also set up to handle your basic trading requests.
But with firms like E*TRADE (ETFC) already rolling cutting-edge applications to the iPad, and optionsXpress (OXPS) supporting more complex trading features (like the Dragon) on their applications, the ShareBuilder is nice, but certainly not cutting edge.
Schwab Leaks Details on New Technology Platform for Advisors; SCHW, AMTD
09 July 2010
The advisor services team at Charles Schwab (SCHW) has been busy. They're working on a sweeping new technology platform designed to support their advisor teams. More than 6,000 firms rely on Schwab for clearing and account services and advisor services is fast becoming a large part of Schwab's revenue and overall business focus.
The somewhat secretive project, formerly referred to as "Project C," has been given an official name: "Schwab Intelligent Integration," and a website at SchwabAdvisorCenter.com. “Schwab Intelligent Integration is designed to help advisors increase efficiency by enabling different systems to ‘talk’ with each other more effectively,” said Neesha Hathi, vice president of technology solutions for Charles Schwab Advisor Services.
Interactive Brokers Checks In, Shows First Signs of Tough Q2 for Brokers; IBKR, ETFCD, AMTD
07 July 2010
Interactive Brokers (IBKR) checked in with June monthly brokerage metrics, giving us a sneak peek at their Q2 earnings, which aren't scheduled for release until the third week in July. Unlike most brokers, who dovetail their June metrics with their quarterly release, Interactive Brokers let's us have a quick monthly update before they wrap up the quarter. This gives us a unique opportunity to assess how the quarter might play out for online brokers. The prognosis is not good.
Before we begin, we should remind readers that the overall performance of the markets usually has a direct impact on the performance of the brokers. This can sometimes effect DARTs, but it usually impacts their growth, or lack thereof, in assets. June was a rocky month indeed for the markets. While the S&P 500 was up several percentage points in the middle of the month the index eventually closed down 4.24% on the month.
E*TRADE Financial Corporation (ETFCD) announced today the launch of an open API, or Application Program Interface. By launching the new XML-based API E*TRADE joins the ranks of optionsXpress (OXPS) and Interactive Brokers (IBKR) who have long offered programming interfaces that give programmers direct access to their trading platforms.
The availability of an API is typically good news for the more hyper-active or professional trader, who uses software products to create program, or automated, trades and would like those products to link directly to their broker of choice to execute on those trades. A great example of this is thinkorswim's ThinkPipes product which helps support basket trading, among other things, for institutional investors.
Comparing Market Viewpoints: Schwab vs. Fidelity; SCHW
30 June 2010
Between them they are the responsible caretakers of roughly $3 trillion in customer assets under management in 14 million brokerage accounts. But what’s most unique about Schwab and Fidelity is that their accounts are dominated by smaller, self-directed investors making individual and unique decisions about their investment portfolios. While they rely on a whole host of information sources and influencers to help them make their investing decisions, there is a common denominator that touches all 14 million accounts: the internal market prognosticators.
TD Ameritrade (AMTD) 
The results are in... and color us shocked! E*TRADE Financial (ETFC) posts a profit! You heard me right. The company that had previously reported eleven consecutive quarters of losses -- the same company that was
TD Ameritrade (AMTD) 
[Corrected to reflect 58,000 new accounts added in June.]
ShareBuilder, a subsidiary of ING Direct and part of the Dutch Global Financial Corporation ING (ING), 
The advisor services team at Charles Schwab (SCHW) has been busy. They're working on a sweeping new technology platform designed to support their advisor teams. More than 6,000 firms rely on Schwab for clearing and account services and advisor services is fast becoming a large part of Schwab's revenue and overall business focus. 
Interactive Brokers (IBKR) 
E*TRADE Financial Corporation (ETFCD) announced today the launch of an 
Between them they are the responsible caretakers of roughly $3 trillion in customer assets under management in 14 million brokerage accounts. But what’s most unique about Schwab and Fidelity is that their accounts are dominated by smaller, self-directed investors making individual and unique decisions about their investment portfolios. While they rely on a whole host of information sources and influencers to help them make their investing decisions, there is a common denominator that touches all 14 million accounts: the internal market prognosticators.