Much has been made of Christmas consumption as of late; heck, it makes sense, since Santa is due in short order. People are out shopping like packs of wild wolves at the local Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) and Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT), trying to snag that hard-to-get Nintendo DS or attempting to get the rare Star Wars figure of the latest series.
But it isn't all tinsel and toys, to be sure. People are not only consumers these days -- they're also investors. They find time to allocate a portion of their income toward investing (and, truth be told, trading as well). The latest results from an online broker show that investors are still interested in the market.
Ameritrade (NASDAQ:AMTD) reported the average daily trades made by its clients in November last Friday. According to an article out on CBS MarketWatch, the online broker experienced 183,000 average daily trades, which was good for a 26% increase when compared with October's client activity. That's certainly pretty good growth, and it does indicate, as aforementioned, that investors are feeling optimistic. Ameritrade sees December average daily trades coming in 19% better than November's according to early data (that could change, of course, when November's numbers are reported next month).
For now, the trend is positive for the online brokers. I expect that to continue, but as I mentioned in a recent piece on E*Trade (NYSE:ET) and its average daily trades, the share price of the brokerage stocks will normally tend to follow the mood of the market. If things get bearish, people may stop buying stocks like they used to and send the average daily trades in a downtrend. Yes, that's an odd thing to say to a Fool, since the opposite philosophy usually holds court for us -- i.e., when prices drop, we begin to shop. Nevertheless, if you want to own a broker such as Ameritrade or Motley Fool Stock Advisor recommendation Schwab (NYSE:SCH), you have to be aware of their sensitivity to the overall market direction.
More Takes on the brokers:
Fool contributor Steven Mallas owns none of the companies mentioned.
