Market Currents

• Monday, December 14, 2009

• 10:25 AM Charles Schwab (SCHW) -3.3% after shaving its Q4 EPS outlook ($0.13-0.15 vs. $0.17 consensus) due to a noticable slowing in client trading volumes. Firm also said fee waivers will increase to $78M from $48M in Q3, which it blames on the Fed's near-zero rate target. Comment!

• Thursday, October 15, 2009

• 08:53 AM Charles Schwab (SCHW): Q3 EPS of $0.17 in-line. Revenue of $1.01B (-19.2%) in-line. Net new accounts: 29K. "Impairment losses on our investment portfolio remain contained and centered in our holdings of Alt-A mortgage-backed securities," Schwab says. Shares -3% premarket. (PR) Comment!
• 00:05 AM Notable pre-market earnings: APH, BAX, SCHW, C, CY, FCS, GS, HOG, LUV, MNI, NOK, OMTR, PPG, SWY, WGO Comment!

• Monday, October 12, 2009

• 00:05 AM Notable earnings before Monday's open: FAST, PHG, SCHW Comment!

• Friday, September 18, 2009

• 17:24 PM A 22-year-old man has received 15 months in prison and must pay back $200,073 after trying to open more than 58,000 accounts with E-Trade (ETFC), Charles Schwab (SCHW) and Google (GOOG) in the names of characters from the King of the Hill TV show (among others). The scheme was to steal the "micro-deposits," from 1 cent to $2, that firms make to test account functionality. 9 Comments
• 15:26 PM E-Trade (ETFC +8.8%) and Charles Schwab (SCHW -0.6%) head in different directions after Goldman Sachs (GS) says to buy E-Trade as transactions ramp up, but sell Schwab, as low rates will hurt its asset management and interest-income revenue. Comment!

• Tuesday, September 15, 2009

• 10:43 AM Charles Schwab (SCHW) says it will need to waive about $80M in fees due to declining yields on its money-market funds, and that the effect of low interest rates will also shave up to 4% off its net interest income. That was enough to send shares down 4%, even as Schwab and its peers reported strong gains in monthly trading volume. 1 Comment

• Monday, August 17, 2009

• 12:45 PM NY AG Cuomo presses formal charges against Charles Schwab (SCHW), charging the discount brokerage firm for falsely representing auction rate securities as liquid, short-term investments without discussing the risks. Officials say they have recordings of a Schwab broker 'guaranteeing' a customer he'd be able to exit on the auction date. Comment!
• 07:23 AM In a widely expected move, NY AG Cuomo will likely file suit against Charles Schwab (SCHW) as soon as today, alleging the firm engaged in civil fraud in the marketing and sale of auction-rate securities. 1 Comment

• Friday, July 24, 2009

• 13:47 PM Since the financial crisis began, more than $32B has flowed to the two largest online brokerages - TD Ameritrade (AMTD) and Charles Schwab (SCHW) - and more than $100B has been pulled from full-service brokerages like Smith Barney (C) and Merrill Lynch (BAC). 2 Comments

• Tuesday, July 21, 2009

• 08:46 AM Charles Schwab (SCHW) fights back against allegations of civil fraud. "We regret the [NY AG] feels it is appropriate to try cases in the press rather than in the court where all the facts can be presented. Schwab believes that it acted properly and was itself misled by the underwriters of these securities." Comment!

• Monday, July 20, 2009

• 05:42 AM NY AG Cuomo plans to sue Charles Schwab (SCHW) for civil fraud connected to the marketing and sale of auction rate securities. Cuomo says Schwab's brokers didn't really understand what they were selling and failed to tell clients when the market was collapsing. 1 Comment

• Thursday, July 16, 2009

• 10:56 AM Charles Schwab (SCHW): Q2 EPS of $0.18 in-line. Revenue of $1.08B (-17%) in-line. Says it added $17B in new assets and 197K new brokerage accounts. Shares -4.3%. (PR) Comment!

• Wednesday, April 15, 2009

• 08:57 AM Charles Schwab (SCHW) Q1 EPS of 19 cents beats by 4 cents. Revenue $1.11B beats by $40M. [PR]
    Comment!

• Friday, March 13, 2009

• 09:27 AM Charles Schwab (SCHW) says it took in $5.5B in new assets in February, down from $12.1B in January and $12.5B last year. But total client assets fell 5% to $1.05T. Shares +0.9% premarket. (PR) Comment!

• Thursday, March 12, 2009

• 09:37 AM Online brokers face tough headwinds, Citigroup analysts say, but Charles Schwab (SCHW) is best positioned to outperform. Firm rates SCHW a Buy, TD Ameritrade (AMTD) a Hold, and E*TRADE Financial (ETFC) a Sell. SCHW -1.6%. AMTD -1.4%. ETFC -10.3%. Comment!