Things have been quiet on the brokerage commissions war front for some time now but that may be coming to an end soon enough.

e-Monitor tracked firm Charles Schwab announced it will lower online stock and ETF trade rates from $12.95 to $8.95 for all investors, on January 19, 2010. Previously, the discounted $8.95 rate was only available to active traders, clients who maintained $1 million in household assets or executed 120+ trades per year. Charles Schwab lowed its commissions for active traders in early 2008, but has not lowered the commission for all client segments since back in 2006, when the commission dropped from $19.95 to $12.95. Continue Reading »

Fidelity Investments expanded its online brokerage platform today by offering international trading in 12 global markets. Currently, global trading is only open to the firm’s active investors segment – clients with Gold Commission Level – 120+ trades/year and $25,000 assets or $1 million in assets. Clients can trade directly from their brokerage accounts using U.S. Dollars; a separate global trading account is not required. Alternatively, clients can also trade using eight different local currencies. All listed foreign stocks and ETFs includes real-time quotes data and related research, all free.

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TD Ameritrade has a history of acquisitions, and of taking a long time to integrate acquired companies into its operations. It took nearly five years for National Discount Brokers clients to be moved to Ameritrade.com. Likewise, it took over two and a half years for Ameritrade customers to reap the full benefit of the firm’s 2002 merger with Datek. The mid-2005 merger of Ameritrade and TD Waterhouse followed a similar pattern, taking two+ years to dissolve TD Waterhouse and form what is TD Ameritrade today.

When TD Ameritrade announced its purchase of thinkorswim in January 2009, we expected a repeat of this historical pattern. And to date, things have been very quiet. The merger has had no impact on thinkorswim clients, a good thing from their perspective; they continue to trade on the same platforms and speak to the same client service reps that they’re accustomed to. TD Ameritrade clients also haven’t experienced any interruptions or overhauls in service. That said, changes are clearly afoot, and sooner than we expected. Continue Reading »

Personal coaching is something most people first experience in childhood. Many of us remember fondly that first little league coach, the one who taught us the self-control and discipline to wait for the right pitch. Without him or her, we may have never hit our first home run, let alone made it to first base.

Today, millions of individual investors feel about as helpless as a little leaguer stepping up to bat for the first time. Recent market turmoil has paralyzed or distracted many, causing them to take their eye off the ball and let emotion drive their trading behavior. Others have simply opted to sit on the bench until the market stabilizes. Either way, retail investors are struggling in this market. This is bad news for the brokerage industry, especially for firms that focus on active traders and rely on commissions for the lion’s share of their revenue. 

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