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E*Trade Says Customer Trading Dipped in July

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NEW YORK (Reuters) - E*Trade Financial Corp. (NYSE:ET - news), a major online broker, on Wednesday said customer stock trading for the month of July dropped 1.6 percent from June as investors curbed their enthusiasm for trading stocks.

E*Trade, based in New York, said daily average commission trades for July fell to 106,623 from 108,344 in June. Total assets and deposits in customer accounts decreased 9.4 percent to $80.4 billion, E*Trade said.

The online brokerage industry has been struggling to emerge from a three-year slump characterized by low customer trading volumes. Individual investors burned by earlier losses have retreated to the sidelines in recent weeks due to declining stock markets.

Among E*Trade's main competitors, Charles Schwab Corp. (NYSE:SCH - news), the biggest U.S. discount brokerage, on Friday said customer trading edged higher in July, after a recent cut in commission fees. But rival Ameritrade Holding Corp. (Nasdaq:AMTD - news) posted a slight decline for the month.

E*Trade, which has nearly 2.9 million brokerage customers and runs a large Internet bank, said 8,232 accounts were closed in the July.

Month-end margin debt balances increased 1.1 percent, or $22 million, in July to $2.09 billion, the company said. Margin debt, or loans to investors buying securities, is highly lucrative for brokerages.

August 18, 2004 at 03:07 PM in Financial Services | Permalink | TrackBack (37) | Top of page | Blog Home