TD AMERITRADE Holding Corporation (NASDAQ: AMTD) is the owner of TD AMERITRADE Inc., the largest online brokerage in the world in number of online equity trades placed per day.Fact: date=January 2008 Services offered include common and preferred stocks, ETFs, option trades, mutual funds, fixed income, margin lending, and cash management services.

History

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.

In March 1997, Ameritrade became a publicly held company, and its IPO opened at $15 per share. Ameritrade formed Freetrade in November 2000, which provided commission-free equity market orders. Freetrade has since been replaced by Ameritrade Izone, which now offers $5 equity market orders. In 2001, Ameritrade made two acquisitions: the February acquisition of TradeCast, giving Ameritrade a presence in the business-to-business arena, and the September acquisition of National Discount Brokers Corporation, adding $6.3 billion in client assets.

In 2002, Ameritrade merged with Datek Online Holdings Corporation, and changed commissions to $10.99 from $8 for market orders and $12 for limit and stop orders. Ameritrade purchased Mydiscountbroker.com in June 2003, and client accounts reached 3 million. In 2004, Ameritrade completed the purchase of Bidwell and Company in January, BrokerageAmerica in February, Investex in May and JB Oxford and Company in October. As of August 2007, there were reports suggesting that TD Ameritrade was engaged in merger talks with E*TRADE.

Acquisition of TD Waterhouse USA

On January 24, 2006, Ameritrade Holding Corporation acquired TD Waterhouse USA from TD Bank Financial Group. Following the acquisition, it renamed itself TD AMERITRADE. TD AMERITRADE is one of the largest online brokerages, with 6.3 million client accounts and $300 billion in client assets. Revenue and net income are expected to increase to $1.8 billion and $557 million, respectively. TD Bank now owns 39% of TD AMERITRADE, and purchased Ameritrade's Canadian brokerage operations for $60 million cash. As part of the acquisition, Ameritrade investors received a special one-time $6 dividend, funded from Ameritrade borrowings and excess cash contributed to TD Waterhouse USA by TD Bank. TD Bank will limit their ownership of TD AMERITRADE to 45% for up to ten years after the acquisition, while founder J. Joseph Ricketts will limit his family's ownership of TD AMERITRADE to 29% for ten years after the acquisition. Ameritrade CEO Joe Moglia became the CEO of TD AMERITRADE.