Based on the aggregated intelligence of 140,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, retail broker E*TRADE Financial (NASDAQ:ETFC) has earned a respected four-star ranking.

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at E*TRADE's business and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.

E*TRADE facts

Sources: Capital IQ (a division of Standard & Poor's) and Motley Fool CAPS.

On CAPS, 92% of the 566 All-Star members who have rated E*TRADE believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include mrindependent and TMFSTX, both of whom are ranked in the top 3% of our community.

Just two days ago, mrindependent predicted that E*TRADE would eventually trade higher:

Selling for 0.7 times book value, [E*TRADE] is a rapidly growing brokerage that is NOT earning money. … [I]f the company makes turns a profit anytime soon, its price will soar. Even if the company never turns a profit, it is an attractive buyout candidate. For this company, survival equals success. Anything other than bankruptcy will lead to a nice gain.

In an earlier pitch, TMFSTX expanded on the stock as a tempting takeover target:

[T]hey get a green thumb from me on that basis that despite some still shaky sub-prime loans on the books that they have a once again growing brokerage business in a mature, efficient, high margin environment. [E*TRADE] also has excellent tools, customer interfaces, and in my experience -- customer service. Mostly they look like a really sweet target for a takeover by one of the other houses.

What do you think about E*TRADE, or any other stock for that matter? Make your voice heard on Motley Fool CAPS today. The CAPS community is waiting to hear your opinions. CAPS is 100% free, so get started!