Ameritrade

Ameritrade Holding Corporation is the owner of Ameritrade Inc., the third-largest online brokerage in America.

=History=

Ameritrade Holding Corporation traces back its lineage to a small investment banking firm and First Omaha Securities, Inc. (later Accutrade) in Omaha, Nebraska. Ameritrade Clearing Inc. is established as a clearing broker in 1983, and by 1987 TransTerra Company becomes the holding company for Ameritrade, and the company is subsequently known as TransTerra Company. In October 1995, Ameritrade acquired All American Brokers. In January of 1996, TransTerra s Accutrade launches Accutrade® for Windows®, the first online investing system that lets individuals partake in program investing and basket trading. By May of 1996, TransTerra launched an Internet only broker called eBroker, and by November, TransTerra Company becomes Ameritrade Holding Corporation. In March of 1997, Amertrade became a publicly held company, and its IPO opened at $15 per share. Ameritrade formed Freetrade in November of 2000, which provided commission-free equity market orders. Freetrade has since been replaced by Ameritrade Izones, which now offers $5 equity market orders. In 2001, Ameritrade made two acquisitions- the February acquisition of TradeCast, giving Ameritrade a presence in the business-to-business arena, and the September acquisition of National Discount Brokers Corporation, adding $6.3 billion in client assets. In 2002, Ameritrade merged with Datek Online Holdings Corporation, and raised commissions to the current $10.99 from $8. Ameritrade purchased Mydiscountbroker.com in June 2003, and client accounts reached 3 million. In 2004, Ameritrade completed the purchase of Bidwell and Company in January, BrokerageAmerica in February, and JB Oxford and Company in October.

=Acquisition of TD Waterhouse USA=

On June 22, 2005, Amertrade Holding Corporation announced that it will aquire TD Waterhouse USA from TD Bank Financial Group. Ameritrade expects to complete the acquisition in one year, and says that the new entity will be called TD Ameritrade. TD Ameritrade will be the largest online brokerage with 239,000 clients and $219 billion in client assets, surpassing the current leader, the Charles Schwab Corporation. Revenue and net income are expected to increase to $1.8 billion and $557 million, respectively. TD Bank will own 32% of TD Ameritrade, and will purchase Ameritrade s Canadian brokerage operations for $60 million cash. Ameritrade investors will receive a $6 dividend, funded from Ameritrade borrowings and excess cash contributed to TD Waterhouse USA by TD Bank. TD Bank will limit their ownership of TD Ameritrade to 45% for up to ten years after the acquisition, while J. Joe Ricketts will limit his family s ownership of TD Ameritrade to 29% for ten years after the acqusition. Ameritrade CEO Joe Moglia will be the CEO of TD Ameritrade.

Ameritrade clients will benefit from the transformation of current TD Waterhouse branches into TD Ameritrade branches, providing local brokerage services.

=Awards=

Four Stars to Ameritrade s Ameritrate Apex from Barron s 2005 Review of Online Brokers, March 2005 Certified Customer Call Center from J.D. Power and Associates, May 2004 Reader s Choice Award from Stocks and Commodities magazine, February 2004 Best of the Web from Forbes, 2003, 2004 Top Choice from the Wall Street Journal , May 2002

=Data=

*[http://biz.yahoo.com/ic/52/52797.html Yahoo! - Ameritrade Holding Corporation Company Profile] *[http://www.hoovers.com/ameritrade/--ID__52797--/free-co-fin-factsheet.xhtml Hoover s Online - Ameritrade Fact Sheet]

=See also=

*Stock brokerage *E*TRADE

=External links=

*[http://www.ameritrade.com/ Ameritrade] *[http://www.ameritradeindex.com/ The Ameritrade Index] *[http://www.ameritradeizone.com Ameritrade Izone] *[http://www.ameritradecanada.com Ameritrade Canada] *[https://wwws.ameritradeplus.com/ Ameritrade Plus]