Headline Feeds
Knight Trading Group (Nasdaq: NITE) fell US$1.25 to $11.63 in morning trading Wednesday, after the online brokerage said a "difficult market environment" will push earnings below expectations for the first quarter ended March 31st.
The Jersey City, New Jersey-based company lowered its forecast for first-quarter earnings to 18 to 20 cents per share, including 8 cents in charges for international expansion, down from an earlier forecast of 32 to 40 cents per share.
"Overall market conditions during the first quarter fell significantly short of the benchmarks used in Knight's first quarter projections," the company said.
During the quarter, the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 25.5 percent, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 8.4 percent. Both indexes dropped to their lowest levels in more than two years.
"The market environment over the first quarter was the most difficult that Knight has encountered since our founding in 1995," said chairman, president and chief executive officer Kenneth D. Pasternak.
"Investors who had fled to the relative safety of large-cap stocks during the fourth quarter found little refuge in any equity securities during this first quarter," Pasternak said. "Trading patterns over the first quarter indicate that an increasing percentage of our order flow is from professional traders -- evidence that the self-directed investor has continued to ride out this bear market on the sidelines."
Pasternak said that Knight remains well positioned for the future.
"Knight's flexible expense structure, in conjunction with our increasingly diverse product and client base and benefits of scale, have all contributed to Knight's ability to perform and profit during these intensely adverse market conditions," he said.
Knight said it will report results before the market opens on April 18th.
