TD Ameritrade handles fewer trades in August

OMAHA, Neb. -- Online brokerage TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. handled fewer stock trades in August, prompting two analysts to trim quarterly earnings predictions.

The Omaha-based firm said Tuesday that it handled an average of 309,000 trades per day last month in what is normally a seasonally slower period. That's down 28 percent from August 2009 and down 6 percent from July 2010.

Credit Suisse analyst Howard Chen and FBR Capital Markets analyst Matt Snowling both shaved a penny off their fourth-quarter earnings estimates. Chen predicts earnings per share of 24 cents and Snowling predicts 25 cents, which is in line with the average.

On Aug. 31, TD Ameritrade held $332 billion in total client assets. That's 15 percent higher than August 2009 but 2 percent lower than July 2010.