TD AMERITRADE Holding Corp. (AMTD)

All Comments on AMTD

  • commenter
    camquin
    Aug 29 04:01 PM
    PFI: PowerShares Dynamic Financials Outperforms Its Peers [view article]
    You give IYF a pretty bleak description but it's doing well for short term investors right now: looks to me like financials should be held in the short run right now with investors carefully watching the movement.
    There's not much support technically or fundamentally for anything else. Here's a pretty good article that gives a technical analysis of IYF, www.greenfaucet.com/fa..., and the support and resistance levels to look for.     Reply
  • commenter
    yvidan
    Aug 02 06:53 AM
    My Website
    E*Trade: Primed To Turn Around? [view article]
    I love e-trade

    they have a beautifull, intuative trading platform that is so easy to use. I opened an acount there a month ago and I am very pleased.

    I do not own any e-trade stock but I like its trends.

    www.activate.co.il/mar...     Reply
  • commenter
    Texas_bugsit
    ter
    Jul 26 08:37 PM
    Countering the AP's 'E*Trade Financial Earnings Preview' [view article]
    Cindy: I saw this post on yahoo board (Etrade )
    And i am concerned that the low stock price is orchestrated to make a private buyout cheap to the acquirer; your thoughts please..

    +++
    am truly concerned about this possible scenario as I am LONG a significant amount of shares.

    CONCERN:

    Why would Layton intentionally take higher than necessary write-offs (for losses that won't occur for another year or more) which artificially suppresses the earnings per share and price per share while massive debt to equity swaps are occuring?

    By simply delaying the date of these excess write-offs, Layton could increase the EPS and the PPS, which would result in significantly less dilution for shareholders when the debt to equity swaps occur.

    I am not accusing Layton of having sinister intentions. However, these issues are never addressed in the conference calls. If his goal is to give E*Trade away at bargain prices, then his current course of action is proving highly successful.

    By year end, his goal is to set aside enough cash that E*Trade never has to realize any more losses from its banking segment. But at the same time, he is suppressing the stock price and giving away a significant amount of shares through debt for equity swaps.

    If E*Trade is to be taken private by the *Undisclosed Swap Holder*, then the *Undisclosed Swap Holder* would be purchasing a cash cow, money making machine at dirt cheap prices. At the same time, Layton is guaranteeing that the purchaser would have no future losses on the banking side. This is because all losses were taken in advanced of the acquisition with the purpose of artificially suppressing the share price and making the company cheaper to acquire.

    Read that last sentence again, it has me very worried.


    A SIDE NOTE:

    Why increase the loan loss reserves significantly more than is called for? The additional cash just sits in the bank and doesn't earn nearly as much interest as what they are paying on their debt.

    Instead, Layton should use the cash to pay down debt. A years worth of interest SAVINGS would go further towards covering loan losses than a years worth of interest earned on the cash set aside.     Reply
  • commenter
    Truth_Sayer
    Jul 25 01:49 PM
    E*Trade: Primed To Turn Around? [view article]
    Cindy Reed is a dirty dirty gal. Do not trust her judgment as it flawed and overly biased in the self-serving spirit that is her. Reply
  • commenter
    raptor
    Jul 24 02:15 PM
    Countering the AP's 'E*Trade Financial Earnings Preview' [view article]
    With Shares Low, E*Trade (ETFC) Becomes Buy-Out Target, Again
    E*Trade (ETFC) had a bad quarter, in large part due to provisions for loan losses of $319 million. The company posted a net loss for the quarter of $119 million against a profit of $158 million in the same quarter last year.

    E*Trade did have $535 million in revenue. That was down from $669 million last year, but there are a number of signs that the firm's discount brokerage operation is in good shape.

    The broker unit's retail customers increased 22,000 from the prior quarter, and were up 90,000 from the previous year. And, assets per customer rose 17% to $52,172.

    At $634 million in revenue E*Trade rival TDAmeritrade (AMTD) is not much larger. It is substantially more profitable, having brought n $204 million in net income last quarter.

    The huge difference between the two companies is that AMTD has a market cap of $11.2 billion compared to ETFC's of $1.4 billion.

    A potential buyer of E*Trade would to be convinced that the bad assets on the broker's balance sheet would put them into a hole big enough to kill $10 billion in value.

    E*Trade still has a profitable discount brokerage business. Less than a week ago, the stock traded at $4. It is now down close to $3.

    Is the company worth $4 or $5 a shares to Schwab (SCHW) or AMTD? Either of the brokers could take out large amounts of duplicated costs, and spin off the bad assets.

    If E*Trade's stock stays at $3, it is going to be sold.

    Douglas A. McIntyre

    www.247wallst.com/2008...     Reply
  • commenter
    raptor
    Jul 24 11:53 AM
    Countering the AP's 'E*Trade Financial Earnings Preview' [view article]
    Given the size and clarity of that cushion and the
    HELOC loss trends, we remain comfortable that
    ETFC will be able to bear the weight of the
    expected credit losses. We reiterate our long-term
    investment thesis that values ETFC on a
    fundamental basis on 2011 earnings power (post
    mortgage-write-offs). While we acknowledge that
    the shares may indeed be quite volatile in the near
    term given uncertainty and volatility in the financial
    market and mortgage assets in particular, we
    believe that the shares represent an attractive
    risk-reward for investors with an above average
    risk tolerance and holding period.
    United States of America
    Financial Services     Reply
  • commenter
    raptor
    Jul 24 11:52 AM
    Countering the AP's 'E*Trade Financial Earnings Preview' [view article]
    Reply
  • commenter
    raptor
    Jul 24 11:52 AM
    Countering the AP's 'E*Trade Financial Earnings Preview' [view article]
    Lehman Research Report posted yesterday 50 minutes ago
    July 23, 2008
    E*TRADE Financial (ETFC - US$ 4.05) 1-Overweight
    Change of Earnings Forecast
    HELOC Loss Trends Becoming Clearer
    Investment Conclusion
    We believe the main takeaway from ETFC's 2Q08
    results and conference call is that the HELOC
    portfolio is well in hand and that losses are unlikely
    to extend substantially past the company's capital
    provisions. We believe the $620mm of excess
    capital currently at the bank plus the $660mm of
    net proceeds from asset sales at the parent
    company (that ETFC could downstream to the
    bank for regulatory capital purposes) would allow
    for $2bn of incremental pre-tax writedowns on top
    of our already modeled $2bn of provisions from
    2007-2009.

    Summary


     Reply
  • commenter
    rmgreenwald
    Jul 24 11:20 AM
    Countering the AP's 'E*Trade Financial Earnings Preview' [view article]
    Nice article. Although I admire your passionate support for all things related to ETFC, one wonders if that admiration equates to applauding the performance of the orchestra on the Titanic.

    Yes, ETFC has a great trading platform and some very loyal clients who love the product and management has worked hard to right the ship; however, these factors don't appear to be enough to mitigate the reality of a continued disturbing weak financial condition. A recent commentary from Credit Suisse noted:

    "....adjusting for discontinued operations, net revenues were $213 million, down 28% from first quarter levels. Net interest income was up 5% as net interest spread expansion more than offset a further decline in interest earning assets. Retail commissions held steady as engagement remains relatively healthy. Losses on securities amounted to $16 million but will trend higher in coming quarters. Other revenues were down 7%. Credit quality deteriorated; non-performing assets and delinquent loans trended higher. Operating expenses of $319 mil included myriad charges related to the company's restructuring efforts. Ex. these one-time charges/discontinued ops, expenses declined 11%-mgmt is speaking to having achieved its goal of $50 million of annual run-rate cost savings. Share count continues to rise as the company continues to reduce financial leverage through debt-for equity-swaps-we expect further share count dilution here."

    Notwithstanding the 'hope' that things will turnaround, what substance is there upon which to make a sound investment decision with ETFC?
    IMHO, the ship has taken on substantial water and is still in danger of foundering.     Reply
  • commenter
    jbmaria
    Jul 23 09:21 PM
    Countering the AP's 'E*Trade Financial Earnings Preview' [view article]
    Cindy ,you wrote this convoluted paragraph;

    "Bank Earnings Exceed Mortgage Losses: In their June 30, 2008 press release, E*Trade announced that it has been able to “generate earnings in the Bank to absorb credit losses in excess of management’s current three-year forecast.” E*Trade investor relations has confirmed multiple times that the word “EXCESS” in this statement is related to the earnings and not to the losses. In other words, in is wrong to interpret this as saying losses are in excess of management’s forecast; the validated disclosure from this message from E*Trade Management is that earnings are exceeding losses."

    Do we need a retraction in light of earnings or am I just misreading it?     Reply
  • commenter
    jbmaria
    Jul 23 09:10 PM
    Countering the AP's 'E*Trade Financial Earnings Preview' [view article]
    Cindy,didn't you base an entire polemic on an S&P upgrade?

    S&P REDUCES RECOMMENDATION ON SHARES OF E TRADE FINANCIAL TO SELL FROM HOLDFont size: A | A | A
    5:58 PM ET 7/22/08 | S&P Marketscope
    RELATED QUOTES


    4:00 PM ET 7/23/08
    Symbol Last % Chg
    ETFC
    3.41 -15.80%
    Quotes delayed at least 15 minutes

    Q2 loss from continuing operations of $0.24 vs. EPS of $0.37 is wider than our $0.15 loss estimate. Loss provision for home equity portfolio was wider than we expected and credit quality declined, while losses on security sales offset better net interest margin and cost controls. Losses from investments in the GSEs will hurt Q3 results, but capital raised from other asset sales may offset. Net account growth also slowed. We widen our '08 loss estimate widens to $0.65 from $0.49, but keep target price at $3, a discount to a declining projected book value as writedowns continue.     Reply
  • commenter
    raptor
    Jul 23 04:05 PM
    Countering the AP's 'E*Trade Financial Earnings Preview' [view article]
    Cindy, what do you think going forward? Reply
  • commenter
    raptor
    Jul 23 12:42 PM
    Countering the AP's 'E*Trade Financial Earnings Preview' [view article]
    Teething Pain at E*Trade
    By Rick Aristotle Munarriz July 23, 2008 Comments (1)

    1 Recommendation

    The "E" in E*Trade (Nasdaq: ETFC) probably stands for "electronic."... It most certainly doesn't stand for "empty."

    The discount broker delivered a rough second-quarter report last night. Net revenue fell by a sharp 20% to $532 million. The company posted a wider-than-expected deficit of $0.19 a share, a far cry from the $0.37 a share it earned a year earlier. However, like the company's iconic trading baby in its recent wave of televised ads, you can't judge this company by the aroma of its diaper.

    The sluggish broker continues to bounce back after last year's financial debacle. During the quarter itself, E*Trade reduced debt, sold non-core assets, slashed expenses, reduced exposure to undrawn home equity lines, and actually grew its user base.

    It seems those memorable baby ads are working. The company closed out the three-month period with 22,000 more retail customers -- and 30,000 more retail accounts -- than when it started.

    Daily average revenue trades fell by 5% sequentially, but actually clocked in 7% higher than last year's second quarter. True, rival TD AMERITRADE (Nasdaq: AMTD) posted much healthier client trading activity numbers last week, while bellwether Charles Schwab (Nasdaq: SCHW) came through with a refreshing top-line spurt that E*Trade still can't touch. Then again, E*Trade's peers aren’t trading at value-meal prices.

    E*Trade is paying the price for digging too deep into mainstream banking, but it's also been unlucky in its own trades. The company will take a charge during the current quarter, after cashing out of most of its preferred equity positions in Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) at a hefty loss earlier this month.

    The stock took an after-hours hit on the report, as the company warned that it may not return to profitability from continuing operations later this year, as originally expected. That's good for a smack or two, but I'm keeping my eye on the retail brokerage growth instead. E*Trade will get things right on the way to the bottom line. Future asset hits will always be a risk. However, as long as the company keeps signing up more retail users than it loses, E*Trade will grow in relevance.

    If growth continues and the stock doesn't follow, isn't it just a matter of time before TD AMERITRADE, Schwab, or any other financial-services heavy looking for a little skin in the discount-brokerage game gets won over by the E*Trade baby and its toddler-sized share price?

    Hang in there, E*Trade. Just make sure you keep clean diapers handy, in case the next few quarters remain a bit on the messy side.     Reply
  • commenter
    Jimmy
    Goodwin
    Jul 23 09:22 AM
    Countering the AP's 'E*Trade Financial Earnings Preview' [view article]
    E*Trade made a bo bo, selling Mae/Mac shortly before they recovered heavily from a devastating loss, must be sickening for Layton. But hey, that's stocks, he done what was correct at the time and got punished for it, I applaud him for being brave and not gambling the companies future. $2 here we come. Reply
  • commenter
    pcyhuang
    Jul 22 11:41 PM
    My Website
    Countering the AP's 'E*Trade Financial Earnings Preview' [view article]
    "E*Trade said it liquidated about 65 percent of $330 million in preferred equity held in the mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, a move that will result in an $83 million pretax loss in the third quarter."

    I think that the market over the next several months will prove that Leyton has made a big mistake in liquidating this sound investment, and taken the $83 million pretax loss.

    Cheers,
    Reply

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