ETF Digest posits that the firing of Prudential's well-known technical analyst Ralph Acampora and his entire department is further evidence that the discounters are close to finishing off the major wire houses' retail client commission businesses. "They don’t want clients to trade, period. They can’t compete with discount firms on price and just want clients to keep and add to their accounts." It's all about fee income for the wire houses now, he says.
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Dave Fry at ETF Digest:
I thought it was interesting that well-known technical analyst Ralph Acampora and his entire department were fired by Prudential today and the department closed. Did he make some bad calls? Sure he did. But, it’s also noteworthy that Smith Barney also fired its personnel and closed its technical research department. Why? I believe it’s because the major wire house firms don’t make money from retail client commission trading anymore but from fee income. They don’t want clients to trade period. They can’t compete with discount firms on price and just want clients to keep and add to their accounts. It’s the “evergreen income 
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