Gasparino Tweet: Goldman Mulls Buying An Online Trader

Shares in the three largest online brokers spiked Tuesday after a CNBC journalist tweeted that managers at Goldman Sachs GS are mulling whether to jump into the field with an acquisition.

Charles Gasparino of CNBC, a former Wall Street Journal reporter whose stories have often moved markets, tweeted that Goldman managers are debating about:

interesting debate inside @GoldmanSachs over how to expand in asset/wealth mgt whether it shld buy a schwab or etrade or smaller variations

— Charles Gasparino (@CGasparino) July 29, 2014

E*TRADE Financial ETFC jumped nearly 2.5 percent and traded recently at $21; TD Ameritrade AMTD was up more than one percent to $32.81 and spiked sharply, although its up just 0.6 percent recently at $28.08. Charles Schwab SCHW also spiked briefly, but was recently at $27.97, up 0.25 percent.

Goldman Sachs, with a market cap of more than $76 billion, is far larger than any of the online trading companies and has recently sought to diversify operations apart from investment banking.

Competitor Morgan Stanley MS, though significantly smaller than Goldman overall, recently reported quarterly revenue of $3.7 billion from its $2 trillion in wealth management unit. Goldman posted recent quarterly revenue of $1.4 billion on its $1.14 trillion of assets under management.