Quotes and Order Entry Within Giant CD Marketplace Now Available Online or
by Phone 22 Hours a Day, 7 Days a Week
SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Charles Schwab & Co.,
Inc. (Nasdaq: SCHW) has significantly extended the time during which
clients can obtain quotes and place orders for CDs through its CD
OneSource(TM) platform. Formerly available only during weekdays for
approximately 14 hours a day, this functionality is now available to
clients 22 hours a day, seven days a week, virtually any time they want to
do research and place trades. Orders for trades placed after market hours
are executed the next business day.
"Many of our clients like to use the evenings and weekends to research
investments and make investing decisions. We wanted to give our clients the
ability to put their cash to work on their schedule rather than ours," said
Walt Bettinger, president of Schwab Investor Services. "Investors have been
discovering what a great resource CD OneSource is, and our goal is to make
it even simpler and more convenient to use."
An open marketplace of CDs from dozens of competing banks across the
U.S., Schwab's CD OneSource allows clients to invest in CDs of varying
maturities and from different banks, with no commission or fee, right
within their Schwab brokerage accounts. Each CD is FDIC-insured up to
$100,000 per issuing bank (up to $250,000 for CDs held in most retirement
accounts). For those investors who like to invest more than $100,000 in
CDs, this avoids the need to open multiple accounts at different banks in
order to take advantage of FDIC coverage. On any given week, CD OneSource
offers as many as 200 CDs, with maturities ranging from one month to 20
years, making it one of the largest marketplaces of its kind. For an
overview of Schwab's CD offering, go to http://www.schwab.com/cd_benefits .
"Many cash-heavy consumers are realizing the benefit of building a
portfolio of CDs with staggered maturities as a great way to hedge against
interest rate risk and keep their cash earning optimal yields," said
Bettinger. "Since short-term rates on CDs crossed the five percent
threshold in April, we have seen a strong surge in demand for these
products."
During the three months ended September 30, 2006, Schwab saw record
inflows of $9.7 billion into CDs brokered through its CD OneSource
marketplace. This represents a near-200% increase over the $3.3 billion of
inflows in the third quarter of 2005.
Schwab has also added new functionality on http://www.schwab.com that provides
better visibility of all fixed income inventory. A new rate bar allows
clients to quickly determine the best rates by maturity date for
traditional CDs, and a newly expanded matrix lets clients compare yields by
maturity for all fixed-income products, including a variety of CDs, U.S.
Treasuries and zeros, government agencies, and investment-grade corporate
and municipal bonds with maturities of one month to 30 years.
These features enhance clients' ability to screen issues by any one or
combination of criteria, including minimum yield, coupon, maturity, issuer,
price or credit rating, and to view detailed information for each issue. In
addition to CDs, fixed income securities offered at Schwab include U.S.
Treasury bills, notes and bonds; corporate bonds; municipal bonds;
government agency and government sponsored enterprise securities; zero
coupon government bonds (STRIPs); mortgage-backed securities; and hybrid
preferred securities.
Brokerage Products: Not FDIC Insured -- No Bank Guarantee -- May Lose
Value
About Charles Schwab
The Charles Schwab Corporation is a leading provider of financial
services, with more than 330 offices and 6.8 million client brokerage
accounts, 535,000 corporate retirement plan participants, 181,000 banking
accounts, and $1.3 trillion in client assets. Through its operating
subsidiaries, the company provides a full range of securities brokerage,
banking, money management and financial advisory services to individual
investors and independent investment advisors. Its broker-dealer
subsidiary, Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (member SIPC, http://www.sipc.org ),
offers a complete range of investment services and products including an
extensive selection of mutual funds; financial planning and investment
advice; retirement plan and equity compensation plan services; referrals to
independent fee-based investment advisors; and custodial, operational and
trading support for independent, fee-based investment advisors through its
Schwab Institutional division. The Charles Schwab Bank, N.A. (member FDIC)
provides banking and mortgage services and products. The company's other
operating subsidiaries include U.S. Trust Corporation (member FDIC) and
CyberTrader(R), Inc. (member SIPC, http://www.sipc.org ). More information
is available at http://www.schwab.com . (1006-7482)
SOURCE Charles Schwab
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Related links:
http://www.schwab.com
CONTACT:
Sarah Bulgatz of Charles Schwab,
+1-415-636-5940, or sarah.bulgatz@schwab.com
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