E*TRADE Reports Mixed Metrics for October 2018, DARTs Continues Uptrend

In October 2018, Discount brokerage giant E*Trade Financial Corporation revealed that Daily Average Revenue Trades (DARTs) pointed higher, coming in at 301,625 a day, an increase by a factor of seven percent month-over-month from 281,408 ‎in September 2018. Over a yearly timetable, E*TRADE’s October 2018 DARTs were also higher by 40 percent year-over-year, compared to 215,689 in October 2017.

In terms of E*TRADE’s net new accounts growth, the group added 75,735 gross new brokerage accounts in October 2018, compared to 115,390 in September 2018, which reflects a negative change of more than 34 percent. However, this figure is better when weighed against last year, as new brokerage accounts rose 42 percent from 60,918 in October 2017.

In total, this brings the company’s overall accounts to approximately 5.99 million in October 2018, which reflected a marginal increase of less than one percent compared to 5.97 million in the previous month, together with an 11 percent advance year-over-year.

Another area of weakness for the month was E*TRADE’s brokerage customer assets which dropped to $436 million last month, down eight percent from $473 million in September. Meanwhile, the year-over-year comparison shows an increase of 17 percent from $373 million in September.

Earlier in June, the discount brokerage giant expanded the number of ETFs that customers can access without commissions. E*TRADE has significantly increased its commission-free Exchange Exchange An exchange is known as a marketplace that supports the trading of derivatives, commodities, securities, and other financial instruments.Generally, an exchange is accessible through a digital platform or sometimes at a tangible address where investors organize to perform trading. Among the chief responsibilities of an exchange would be to uphold honest and fair-trading practices. These are instrumental in making sure that the distribution of supported security rates on that exchange are effectiv An exchange is known as a marketplace that supports the trading of derivatives, commodities, securities, and other financial instruments.Generally, an exchange is accessible through a digital platform or sometimes at a tangible address where investors organize to perform trading. Among the chief responsibilities of an exchange would be to uphold honest and fair-trading practices. These are instrumental in making sure that the distribution of supported security rates on that exchange are effectiv Read this Term-traded fund (ETF) lineup, all of which is non-proprietary, with the addition of 46 new funds from six providers.

E*TRADE isn’t the only discount brokerage to offer zero-commission ETFs as the company is tussling with rivals to expand low-cost investment products. Big rivals, including Charles Schwab and TD Ameritrade, also announced the expansion of its own similar offerings recently, increasing the total number of ETFs that don’t have a commission attached to them.