OptionsXpress

From MarketsWiki

OptionsXpress
Founded	2000
Headquarters	Chicago. IL
Key People	CEO Ned W. Bennett
Products	Online discount brokerage specializing in derivatives trading
Web site	http://www.optionsxpress.com

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Award-winning Chicago-based online broker that consistently makes the top-five rankings in annual surveys of discount electronic trading platforms for combining technological advancements with user friendliness. OptionsXpress recently added to its futures-trading capabilities with a key discount-brokerage acquisition.

History

OptionsXpress was founded in February 2000 in Chicago and launched its first trading website on November 22 of that year.^[1] In January 2007 OptionsXpress acquired Chicago-based futures and forex broker XpressTrade, which offers 24-hour access top 25 exchanges through a browser-based trading platform.

Today the listed optionsXpress has a market capitalization of $1.4 billion and earnings per share (EPS) of $1.59 on 60.14 million shares outstanding.^[2] The brokerage has continued to grow despite its reliance on the choppy retail-investment sector, boosting 2008 Q1 profits 12% to $23.8 million ($0.38 per share) and revenues 11% to $60.8 million thanks partly to its new XpressTrade futures-trading platform.^[3]

Latest Rankings

OptionsXpress recently went one better than 2007's 2nd place finish behind TD Ameritrade in Barron's online broker rankings, topping TopTenReviews.com's 2008 online stock-trading rankings ahead of thinkorswim, Tradeking, Fidelity Investments and TD Ameritrade.^[4] OptionsXpress rated especially well for its online help, ease of use and reeasonable commission rates of $9.95-$14.95 per trade.

Key People

OptionsXpress Inc. CEO Ned W. Bennett was one of the three founders of OptionsXpress - along with parent company Optionsxpress Holdings Inc. (OHI) CEO David Kalt and Chairman Jim Gray - in 2000.^[5] Bennett has served as CEO of optionsXpress, Inc. since August 2000 and is also Executive Vice Chairman of OHI, where he was COO from February 2000 to March 2007. Bennett makes a annual salary of $350,000 and including bonuses pulled down $712,250 in 2007, BusinessWeek reports.^[6]

Prior to joining optionsXpress in 2000, the 65-year-old Bennett spent almost two years in various positions including COO at Dreyfus Brokerage Services and from 1994 to 1997 was variously COO and CEO at ED&F Man International Securities, now part of the Man Group. From 1987 until 1994, when the company was purchased by ED&F Man, Bennett served as President and CEO of Conagra subsidiary Geldermann Securities. Bennett has served as EVP of OHI since March 2007 and as its director since 2004.

Latest News

OptionsXpress recently boosted its on-line futures-trading business by nabbing electronic trading platform Open E Cry for $18 million, $13 million in cash, plus un-named future-performance payments.^[7] Open E Cry specializes in serving high-volume online futures traders, a market optionsXpress is seeking to expand into.

References

1. ↑ Frequently Asked Questions. OptionsXpress. Retrieved on July 1, 2008.
2. ↑ optionsXpress Holdings Inc. Reuters. Retrieved on July 1, 2008.
3. ↑ OptionsXpress: No longer in the fast lane but still growing. BloggingStocks.com. Retrieved on July 1, 2008.
4. ↑ optionsXpress Reviewer's Comments. TopTenReviews.com. Retrieved on July 1, 2008.
5. ↑ Ned W. Bennett. OptionsXpress. Retrieved on July 2, 2008.
6. ↑ Ned W. Bennett. BusinessWeek. Retrieved on July 2, 2008.
7. ↑ OptionsXpress buys Open E Cry for $18M. Associated Press. Retrieved on July 2, 2008.