I just received an email today announcing that ETrade plans to acquire OptionsHouse some time in Q4. Aside from the general announcement, there were very few specifics in the email and the press release. Reading through the email this morning, I felt a little bit of nostalgia for OptionsHouse, as I remember their HTML trading interface from a few years back, and was fond of that interface. When OH merged with TradeMonster, I was very unhappy with their "new" flash based platform, and that spurred me to move over to IB. Been much happier there ever since... But I guess that's beside the point Here is the email I received: _______________________________________________________________ Dear Valued Customer, I wanted to share the exciting news announced earlier today that E*TRADE Financial is acquiring OptionsHouse. You can read our official press release here. The transaction is expected to close in Q4, pending regulatory approval and other customary closing conditions. Until that time OptionsHouse remains a separate entity - meaning there is no change to OptionsHouse pricing, trading platform or commitment to service. After the deal closes, we will integrate the two companies and look forward to introducing you to all of E*TRADE's complementary tools and services in addition to retaining the top-rated OptionsHouse capabilities you already use. E*TRADE offers a deep breadth of capabilities and resources that will be available to OptionsHouse customers, including 24/7 customer service from registered reps, high quality execution, increased deposit insurance, comprehensive research and educational resources, and branch locations throughout the U.S. You should continue to contact OptionsHouse customer service either online or over the phone at 877-598-3190 for any issues. This is an exciting time for OptionsHouse and our customers. E*TRADE is a fantastic company, and in the coming months we look forward to offering you an even better brokerage experience. Best, Michael Curcio, CEO
With OH, I was grandfathered into one of their older pricing schedules... $2.95 for equities and ETFs (no quantity limit that I was aware of, or ever hit), and for options a $8.50 ticket charge plus 15 cents per contract. They raised prices a few times, but as far as I know, my accounts with them remained on the same schedule throughout everything, even the merger with TM. I use IB now (for a variety of reasons), and their commissions are very fair and reasonable in my opinion. Whether commissions were less or more on OH vs IB is a function of number of shares or contracts per transaction, but it was always very close. But I tend to agree with you... with respect to the merger with ETrade, I doubt they'll grandfather in the old commission schedules. It will probably all be moved to their standard pricing. (By the way, whatever happened to ETrade's "Izone" pricing scheme? I remember losing that lower pricing at some point in time, but I can't remember why...)
AHAAHH, according to barrons top reviews, E*Trade is normally at the end of the list, whilst optionhouse with its relatively cheap fees usually do quite well in the review. E*Trade probably thinking all those customers will stay with them after they jack the price up to E*trade standards .
ETrade is paying ~20% of OH's client AUM, which seems very rich... OH's clients must be self-churning.