TD Ameritrade’s Deal With Scottrade Is a Temporary Fix
ByTD Ameritrade’s $4 billion takeover of Scottrade merely delays the inevitable. Uniting the two American online stockbrokers stacks up financially, because of cost cuts, a tax break and a sale of a banking unit. Income and margins should rise, too. But it still leaves TD Ameritrade and rivals like Charles Schwab facing the longer-term competition of index investing and robo advice.
These two forces could upend the business of so-called discount brokers — those charging just a few dollars a trade. That is because they can obviate the need for either individual stock trading or a broad suite of tools to help investors play in the market — or both…