Ameritrade continued its push toward online trading dominance Wednesday when it made the long-rumored acquisition of TD Waterhouse from Toronto-Dominion
official.
Mergers and acquisitions among online stock trading firms have heated up as falling commissions have made trading volume a priority.
Ameritrade has been one of the more successful acquirers, snapping up sought-after rivals like Datek and fending off a hostile takeover bid by E*Trade that is reportedly up to $17.50 a share.
With its newfound bulk, TD Ameritrade could wind up acquiring E*Trade.
The broader market finished mixed once again after an early rally faltered on disappointing earnings news from Ford and Morgan Stanley
.
The Nasdaq added 1 to 2092, the S&P was up a fraction to 1213, and the Dow declined 11 to 10,587. Volume rose to 1.82 billion shares on the NYSE, and 1.71 billion on the Nasdaq. Advancers led 19-13 on the NYSE, and 15-14 on the Nasdaq. Upside volume was 57% on the NYSE, and 48% on the Nasdaq. New highs-new lows were 246-33 on the NYSE, and 138-44 on the Nasdaq.
Jabil surged 10% on strong earnings.
Datawatch soared 23% on an application offering for IBM’s WebSphere platform.
SAP added 3% on an acquisition.
Motorola rose 3% on an upgrade.
Arbinet-Thexchange plunged 35% on a warning.