Another burst of buying hits in the afternoon after a rather crummy morning, only to meet some furious selling into the close. EOD Suspects:
From Siebert Financial: "Commission and fee income for the three months ended March 31, 2004 was $6.2 million, an increase of $2.1 million or 51.3% from the same period in 2003 due to increased trading volume as result of the improvement in the market during the first quarter of 2004." Better than JBOH, but still not enough detail for my taste... and separate out the "fee income" from the commission income, please.
JB Oxford Holdings reported commission revenue of $2,286,537 in Q1. No idea what the average commission per trade is or how many daily average revenue trades they had. This is all they say: "Trading volumes and commission revenue have shown slight growth out over the past year." What the hell is that? The other guys are showing these huge y-o-y trading volume gains, and JBOH doesn't even give a number??
The less they disclose, the more scared I get. One look at the stock chart and you know something is deeply wrong.
TradeStation Securities reported 33,877 daily average revenue trades in Q1, but I can't find an average commissions per trade figure. They reported $11.6 million in brokerage commissions revenue, so assuming 62 trading days in the quarter their average commissions per trade is somewhere around $5.52. Does that sound right? (I'm doing it in my head.)
I just looked up Ameritrade's trading numbers for the first three months of 2004: Average client trades per day: 211,917. Average commissions and clearing fees per trade: $13.53.
And for E*Trade in Q1: Daily average revenue trades of 157,035 with average commissions per revenue trade of $11.53.
To compare these numbers with Schwab, scroll down. I'm stunned that SCH is able to get the average commissions per trade that they do.
Here's a nice example of the kind of reverse psychology you have to apply in the Index futures market. Following yesterday's late run, the market opened higher before reversing. Normally you'd be looking to get long above that fifth bar, but not so fast buddy. The right thing to look for in this case is the short below the up bar (#6)... yes, it's just a dinky scalp, but there you have it.
E-Mini S&P, 5-min. Chart
The broad Naz tone looks a little poor to me, but that isn't bothering MEDI.
Every day trader on the planet has ALTH front and center.
ALTH, 15-min. Chart
Charles Schwab reported 178,000 daily average revenue trades in Q1 (62 trading days) with average revenue earned per revenue trade of $37.59 (Yow!). 89% of total trades were placed online, by the way.
Assorted Energy Futures, Daily Charts
The CRB futures index is rapidly returning to its old highs. I've included a table of the component commodities; nerds may want to read about the construction and calculation of the Index. Everyone knows the Energy group is on a tear, but the Livestock group has also been on a rampage this year: cows and hogs gone wild, buy the video.
CRB Futures Index, Weekly Chart
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