If you have ever had a stock broker chances are it will soon be Charles Schwab.
Back when I traded more actively I tried different brokers. I had a Scottrade account a Thinkorswim account and I also had a Evertrade account. I never singed up for a Charles Schwab or a TIAA account but I now (or perhaps soon will) have both. TIAA bought Evertrade and Chuck Schwab is in talks to buy TDAmeritrade.
Of course there will doubtlessly be some regulatory hurdles in place to ensure the acquisition won’t go through unless the right palms are greased.
Brokerage Gobbling
There has been a lot of consolidation in the brokerage industry over the years with one gobbling up another. Thinkorswim and Scottrade were both gobbled up by TDAmeritrade (which is an amalgamation of other acquired brokers like TD Waterhouse, Ameriprise, Fiserv and others).
Well there is always a bigger fish and now Charles Schwab is in talks to buy TDAmeritrade.
It isn’t clear how and even if consumers will benefit from all of this consolidation. While TDAmeritrade, Schwab and others recently announced commission free trading, it seems as though once a lot of the competition is eliminated the remaining 3-4 brokers will have more power to charge traders fees with few alternatives.