Ameritrade/Datek: buying its way out

Ameritrade has finally won the long bidding war for its rival. Amid a background of depressed share trading and poor earnings forecasts, Ameritrade seems to have paid a hefty price. The company will have to draw heavily on Datek's strengths - specifically, its strong technology and its high revenue per customer - to make the move worthwhile.

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Ameritrade: targeting the "day traders"

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Annuity sales: brokerages evening out the playing field

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Bank of America: aggregating with Yodlee

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BP: oil spill is potential disaster for UK pension funds

Despite a healthy balance sheet, BP is being urged to cut dividend payments and create a ring-fenced fund for damages claims. As BP considers whether to suspend payments, UK pension funds will be calculating the impact. However, the effects of a suspension would not only affect pension funds, but also have severe repercussions for regular retail investors.

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Broking: tech vendors won't gain from higher earnings

It's earnings season, and some leading US brokers performed far better this Q2 than they managed last year. However, this is unlikely to make life easier for IT vendors who derive business from Wall Street firms. The profits rise is driven almost entirely by cost cutting, and financial firms will stay extremely cost conscious for the rest of the year.

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Challenging market leads US life insurers to trim IT budgets

In the second half of 2008, US life insurers began reporting large losses, causing non-essential IT projects to be cancelled as budgets were cut. During this downturn in spending, vendors need to align their offerings and message with the needs of their clients, which are increasingly focusing on reducing costs, and improving risk management and compliance abilities.

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Charles Schwab: bringing 'bricks and clicks' to the UK

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Chase Manhattan: aggression in aggregation

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CIBC/Ameritrade: history interferes with future

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