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UPDATE:Ameritrade CFO:Co Averaging 406,000 Trades A Day In Oct

(Updates with comments on plans to repurchase auction rate securities, share buybacks and dividends, and information on money market fund fee waivers beginning in the sixth paragraph.)

By Brett Philbin

Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. (AMTD) Chief Financial Officer Bill Gerber said the online broker is averaging 406,000 client trades per day so far in October.

During a conference call with analysts, Gerber said TD Ameritrade's 411,000 client trades per day in its fiscal fourth quarter, which ended Sept. 30, were the highest in the company's history.

TD Ameritrade Chief Executive Fred Tomczyk attributed the higher volumes to " enhanced education programs, risk-management tools, new product alternatives for traders and quality execution that help give clients the confidence to trade in a difficult market."

Tomczyk said option trades accounted for 18% of TD Ameritrade's total trades in the fourth quarter. Earlier this year, TD Ameritrade completed its acquisition of options broker thinkorswim Group.

Tomczyk said TD Ameritrade would pursue acquisitions in the future if they make "strategic sense" for shareholders. The company has previously expressed interest in the brokerage operations of E*Trade Financial Corp. (ETFC).

Tomczyk also reiterated his previous comments that the company would also pursue share buybacks and the issuance of dividends to shareholders, when possible.

Over the next six months, Gerber said TD Ameritrade plans to use more cash to repurchase auction rate securities from clients. He estimated that TD Ameritrade would repurchase between $260 million and $320 million in ARS. In July, the company agreed to buy back $456 million of ARS as part of a settlement with New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Pennsylvania securities regulators.

Gerber also said TD Ameritrade waived $20 million in fees on its money market funds. The company, along with rival Charles Schwab Corp. (SCHW), has waived these fees so that clients' yields don't turn negative.

Earlier Tuesday, TD Ameritrade reported a fiscal fourth-quarter profit of $ 156.7 million, or 26 cents a share, down from $172 million, or 29 cents, a year earlier. Revenue increased 1.3% to $657.9 million.

Shares of TD Ameritrade were recently down 16 cents at $19.32 in premarket trading.

-By Brett Philbin, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2173; brett.philbin@ dowjones.com

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