(January 8 – 12:30 ET) – The slowdown among online brokerages is leading one firm to announce layoffs.

Reuters is reporting that online trader Ameritrade Holding Corp. will lay off 230 employees due to a decrease in market volume in recent months. The employees will be cut from offices in Fort Worth, Texas, and the Omaha, Nebraska, head office.

Ameritrade is also announcing that for December 2000, 52,000 new accounts were opened, a 30% increase from November. Account openings are flat with the same quarter last year. The company also reported average daily trade volume during December of 115,000 trades per day, and 111,000 trades per day for the first quarter of fiscal 2001. This is up 37% from the first quarter of fiscal 2000.
-IE Staff