The market's being good to discount broker Ameritrade
August trading activity at the Omaha-based firm was strong, with average daily volume of 137,000 trades. That's below both July's average daily volume of 161,000 and June's 154,000, but is good considering that August is usually a slow month for the markets. Ameritrade expanded its customer base, too, opening 27,000 new accounts and bringing its total number of accounts up to 3 million, a significant milestone for the company.
So far, September's also shaping up well for the broker, which competes with E*Trade
Since March, when trading stagnation finally started turning around for the discount brokers, all three companies' stocks have dramatically risen, with Ameritrade leading the charge. We haven't heard yet from either Schwab or E*Trade about how August went, or how September looks so far, but we're waiting and watching.
Need to open a brokerage account, or thinking about switching your current broker out for a better one? Check out our Brokerage Center , which features Ameritrade and others.