- published: 09 Jun 2015
- views: 15482
TD Ameritrade is an American online broker based in Omaha, Nebraska, with more than 6 million U.S. customers, and many more internationally, that has grown rapidly through acquisition to become the 746th-largest US firm in 2008. TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation (NYSE: AMTD) is the owner of TD Ameritrade Inc. Services offered include common and preferred stocks, futures, ETFs, option trades, mutual funds, fixed income, margin lending, and cash management services.
The preferred customers of Ameritrade, Apex clients average five trades per month over a three month period and/or have an account balance of one hundred thousand dollars to qualify. Ameritrade Apex clients also receive free access to tools, such as level-two QuoteScope software. With level two they can see all stock orders placed by market makers in real time. Apex clients also pay no service fees (commissions still apply).
TD Ameritrade traces back its lineage to a small investment banking firm and First Omaha Securities, Inc. (later Accutrade) in Omaha, Nebraska. Ameritrade Clearing Inc. was established as a clearing broker in 1983, and by 1987 TransTerra Company became the holding company for Ameritrade, and the company was subsequently known as TransTerra Company. In 1988, the company introduced the first quote and order entry system via the touch-tone phone. In 1995, the company acquired K. Aufhauser & Company, Inc. and its WealthWeb, the first firm to offer online securities trading, receiving the first order in August 1994. In October 1995, Ameritrade acquired All American Brokers. In January 1996, TransTerra's Accutrade launched "Accutrade for Windows," the first online investing system that let individuals partake in program investing and basket trading. By May 1996, TransTerra launched an Internet only broker called eBroker, and by November, TransTerra Company became Ameritrade Holding Corporation.