I can’t help but think that eventually we’ll hit the “Big X” of brokerages if this consolidation continues, alongside the acquisition (mergers?) of TD Ameritrade and Charles Schwab.

Assuming we have an active FTC soon wouldn’t this lead to calls for to “break up big brokerages”, like there are for banks in 2008 and tech companies today? I’d imagine financial services is fractured and diverse enough where it’s hard to say that only a few key players dominate the market.