all trending higher with new highs daily. MF AMTD OXPS IBKR TRAD. Sector finally gaining some traction in the wake of increased volatility. What will Q1 bring?
Earnings Preview: E-Brokers Monday January 14, 2:50 pm ET Analysts Believe Schwab, Ameritrade Are Reaping Rewards From Fallout at E-Trade NEW YORK (AP) -- One company's travails may spell good fortune for competitors in the discount brokerage sector. The fourth quarter of 2007 was an ugly one for E-Trade Financial Corp. The electronic broker's stock in the final three months of the year fell almost 73 percent to $3.55 to close a year in which the company's stock opened at more than $22. Stung by backfired investments in home loans, E-Trade sold a $3 billion portfolio of mortgage debt at a discount of more than 70 cents on the dollar. The company sold a piece of itself to Citadel Investment Group for $2.5 billion and has offered high interest rates to try and attract deposits. Citi Investment Research analyst Prashant A. Bhatia wrote in a client note it will not work. Clients jittery over losing their money are taking it to Charles Schwab Corp. and TD Ameritrade Holding Corp., he said. Clients had entrusted $227 billion to E-Trade at the end of October. By the end of the year clients' assets had dwindled to $190 billion, implying accounts were shaved by more than 16 percent in just two months. Clients poured $12.1 billion into their accounts at Charles Schwab in November. TD Ameritrade hiked its profit outlook for the fiscal first quarter, which ended in December, to 39 cents per share, from the previous range of 27 cents per share to 33 cents per share. Goldman Sachs analyst William Tanona said TD Ameritrade is benefiting from the dislocation at E-Trade. Bhatia said he expects the exodus of cash from E-Trade to its peers to continue. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial believe E-Trade lost $2.30 per share for 2007, and Bhatia said he expects the company to lose money for three years. Analysts believe Schwab's profit per share jumped 22 percent in the fourth quarter and TD Ameritrade's profit per share leaped 61 percent in the fiscal first quarter, which ended in December.
IBKR has a market cap of about 1.3 billion. Bear Stearns around 11 billion. BSC is worth alot more......
Nasdaq.com and Yahoo finance etc are incorrectly using the IPO issue size for the MarketCap calculation. As only 1/10th of the total shares were sold as part of the IPO the correct market cap for IBKR is $13 billion.