On-Line Bond Trading at E-Trade Group Gets a Start

E-Trade Group, a deep-discount broker-dealer, this week rolled out on- line bond trading for retail customers.

The E-Trade Bond Center lets users trade Treasury securities, investment-grade and high-yield corporate debt, and municipal bonds. It sends orders straight to a trading desk, bypassing any need for a middleman.

Services include daily credit ratings from Standard & Poor's Corp. and Moody's Investors Service. Investors can also listen to commentary from professional fixed-income analysts.

E-Trade of Palo Alto, Calif., has been at the forefront of a recent push by discount brokers to narrow the gap between services for institutional and individual investors who frequently trade on-line.

The firm recently rolled out level II Nasdaq real-time stock quotes to its most active retail traders. Level II quotes let investors see all the bid and ask prices for a stock, including those posted by Wall Street firms.

Separately, E-Trade recently announced a licensing agreement with CPR, a French investment bank and asset manager. The venture is part of E-Trade's bid to establish a global presence in on-line investing, the company said.

The agreement establishes a company, CPR E-Trade, 66% of which will be in French hands.

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, click here.
MORE FROM AMERICAN BANKER