ONLINE INVESTORS ABANDON INTERNET.AGOURA HILLS - The instant gratification investors once sought through the Internet has fizzled. The No. 1 culprit: the very market in which they once dabbled dab·ble v. dab·bled, dab·bling, dab·bles v.tr. To splash or spatter with or as if with a liquid: "The moon hung over the harbor dabbling the waves with gold" . The online trading community An online trading community exists to provide its members with a structured method for trading, bartering, or selling goods or services. These communities often have forums and chatrooms designed to facilitate communication between the members. has lost 18 percent of its investors in the last six months alone, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. a study released Monday by Agoura Hills-based marketing research company J.D. Power & Associates. Ken Worthington, an analyst with CIBC World Markets CIBC World Markets is the investment banking division of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. It helps governments, large companies, and other large institutions obtain capital and credit and is a primary dealer in U.S. Treasury securities. Corp. in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , said in a normal market, novice investors were supported by a relatively stable market. ``The more market sensitive stocks, the harder those stocks have fallen ... and the harder you see these novice day traders losing their money,'' Worthington said. But day traders aren't the only losers. The companies that transformed laymen into stock wielding tycoons have also suffered. In the second quarter, Menlo Park-based E*Trade reported a net loss of $12.3 million, or 4 cents per share Cents per share The amount of a mutual fund's dividend or capital gains distributions that a shareholder will receive for each share owned. on a diluted basis, compared with a net income of $4.2 million, or one cent per share, for the same period a year ago. ``These online brokerage firms can survive if they start making money,'' Worthington said. Yet, in this economy, that may be a difficult feat, especially if your customers aren't happy. E*Trade, American Express, Ameritrade, Datek Online, Dreyfus, Morgan Stanley, Quick & Reilly and Waterhouse all finished at or below the industry average in investor satisfaction, according to the J.D. Power study. The underlying difference between these firms and the upper echelon is customer satisfaction, said Nancy Salk, director of investment service at J.D. Power. Still, good service isn't always in the best interest of brokerage firms and turning a commission is usually far more important. ``Being more cost-focused is not a way to keep your customers, though,'' Salk said. Among the companies that received high marks in J.D. Power's study were Scottrade, Brown & Co., Schwab, Merrill Lynch, T. Rowe Price T. Rowe Price (NASDAQ: TROW) is an independent global investment management firm and mutual fund manager based in Baltimore, Maryland. It was founded in 1937 by Thomas Rowe Price, Jr.. T. , Fidelity and CSFBdirect. Salk said in addition to having efficient Web sites, these companies are going out of their way to retain customers. |
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