Why Interactive Brokers Group Fell 11.5% in October
Shares of Interactive Brokers Group (NASDAQ: IBKR) fell 11.5% in the month of October, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. The discount online brokerage was affected by both macroeconomic concerns, a price war among online brokers, and falling interest rates. These factors all conspired to overwhelm an earnings report that actually beat analysts' expectations.
October started out with just about every one of Interactive Brokers' competitors dropping their commission rates to zero. On Oct. 1, Charles Schwab (NYSE: SCHW) announced it would be doing so to better compete with new "free" trading apps such as Robinhood. Schwab was followed by public competitors TD Ameritrade (NASDAQ: AMTD) and E*Trade (NASDAQ: ETFC), along with private competitors Fidelity and TradeStation, matching the zero-fee commission pledge. In mid-October, Schwab upped the ante by offering trading in fractional shares of companies.
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Source Fool.com
