Topic: How To Invest

Q: Hi Pat, what is your opinion on Interactive Brokers (IBKR). Thanks.

Article Excerpt

A: Interactive Brokers Group Inc., $80.08, symbol IBKR on Nasdaq (Shares outstanding: 107.0 million; Market cap: $33.9 billion; www.interactivebrokers.com), is a technology-driven U.S. online stockbroker. The company makes money from client trading, interest from client cash, and other revenue sources and investments. In all, it provides trade execution on more than 150 global markets in 33 countries and 26 currencies—all on one platform. The company dates back to 1977 when Thomas Peterffy started a market-making business on the American Stock Exchange. Market makers are firms or individuals that engage in two-sided markets of a given security. A market maker seeks to profit off of the difference in the bid-ask spread. At the same time, market makers in a financial market help keep up the functionality of the market by infusing liquidity. Interactive Brokers’ goal from the start was to automate the broker-dealer functions for securities trading through its exclusive software. The company is now one of the lowest-cost providers of broker-dealer services, handling…