TD Ameritrade, Fidelity Brokerages Suffered 'Brexit' Slowdowns
June 24 2016 - 05:50PM
Dow Jones News
Some self-directed investors found themselves shut out from
their portfolios Friday morning as markets reeled from the U.K.'s
vote to leave the European Union.
Investor Kevin Michael Martin was frustrated after finding he
couldn't access his TD Ameritrade brokerage account Friday morning
for more than an hour. Mr. Martin, an actor who's appeared on such
TV shows as "The Last Ship," added he was trying to sell stock and
cover a short position during the Dow Jones Industrial Average's
plunge of more than 400 points Friday morning.
At one point, Mr. Martin said, he had lost 2.5% on his short
position.
Mr. Martin said the situation "disappointed" him but it has been
since resolved.
Rory McGrath, meanwhile, saw the Dow drop nearly 500 points when
the market opened and was considering buying any stocks he
considered to be discounted. However, when the Boston-based
investor tried to access his Fidelity Investments brokerage
account, the "home page appeared to be down," he said.
Other investors had taken to social media to voice their
frustration, some saying they were missing on buying opportunities,
while others worried about deep losses.
Fidelity spokesman Adam Banker said trading and the company's
website have been running throughout the morning, but he said there
"have been some intermittent slowness and page-loading issues." The
problems plagued certain webpages and Fidelity's mobile app, which
the company is currently addressing, Mr. Banker added.
TD Ameritrade, meanwhile, said a surge in trading volume
contributed to problems with its online platform. "This morning's
heavy volumes across the industry caused some brief messaging and
login delays. Everything is now functioning normally," said TD
Ameritrade spokeswoman Beth Evegan.
Britain's surprise decision to leave the EU has roiled markets
across the world. Stocks in Asia, Europe and the U.S. fell
dramatically and oil prices did drop, while investors flocked to
such haven investments as government bonds. The Dow closed down 611
points, or 3.4%.
Brokerage firms have been reporting higher-than-usual call and
trading activity amid the selloff. Still, other firms with online
brokerages said their services were running without any
problems.
Vanguard Group, for example, saw website volume 50% higher than
usual Friday morning, according to a spokeswoman. She added the
firm prepared for the heightened volume and that service levels
were "good."
Scottrade Inc. also saw higher trading activity. Shea Leordeanu,
a spokeswoman, said trading was up more than 145% at 1 p.m. on
Friday compared with June's average daily trade volume for the same
time.
Its platform didn't experience any hiccups.
"Our clients experienced seamless trading today and we had
excellent performance across our platforms," Ms. Leordeanu
added.
Daisy Maxey contributed to this article
Write to Michael Wursthorn at Michael.Wursthorn@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 24, 2016 17:35 ET (21:35 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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