Buy low and sell high. It’s a trading strategy that’s been around as long as Wall Street. But more people are giving it a whirl and that spells good news for TD Ameritrade who said daily client trades rose 11 percent in July as total client assets grew.
In June the company posted a 29 percent jump in quarterly profit due to commissions from a growing number of trades — an average 298,000 per day during the quarter, 22 percent higher than in its fiscal third quarter a year earlier.
While shares of other financials have fallen, TD Ameritrade hovers near its 52-week highs. Why is TD Ameritrade continuing to outperform its pears?
Following are excerpts of our conversation with TD Ameritrade Chairman Joe Moglia.
To what do you attribute the strength of your stock?
When we make risk reward decisions we would never sacrifice long-term value for our shareholders for the benefit of a couple of pops. Also we’re working hard to become an asset gatherer. And over the first 9 months of our fiscal years we’ve accumulated 20 billion dollars of net new assets.
As other banks try to recapitalize do you have to compete for deposits?
I don’t think it’s just the pricing of the deposits, I think it’s the overall experience we provide for the client. At TD Ameritrade we focus on the client and we try to provide them with customization and choice. Whether you want electronic trading or a relationship with an individual you can have either.
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Trader disclosure: On Aug 19, 2008, the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC’s Fast Money were owned by the Fast Money traders; Adami Owns (C), (AGU), (BTU), (GS), (INTC), (MSFT), (NUE); Macke Is Short (TM); Macke Owns (MSFT), (WMT), (DIS), (CY); Najarian Owns (AAPL) And Is Short (AAPL) Calls; Najarian Owns (CSCO) Call Spread; Finerman Owns (GS); Finerman's Firm And Finerman Own (C) Leap; Finerman's Firm Owns (MSFT), (SUN), (TSO), (VLO); Finerman's Firm Is Short (SPG), (COF), (IYR), (IWM), (IJR), (SPY), (MDY), (BBT)
