Schwab Becomes Symbol Of Internet Bullishness
At a huge team-building meeting last month for nearly all of Charles Schwab's 13,000 employees, Co-Chief Executive David S. Pottruck implored his troops to keep innovating in their jobs.</br></br>"We don't have time to build bridges" to the next millennium, Mr. Pottruck declared in the speech at San Francisco's Moscone Center, where 5,000 employees watched in person; the rest watched on a worldwide video feed. Mr. Pottruck also read inspirational email from employees. "We take leaps. We leap across chasms into new and unexplored territory," he said.</br></br>Lately, the same might be said of Schwab stock, which has fast become one of the signature stocks of today's Internet-charged stock market.</br></br>In fact, Schwab -- which has the biggest online-brokerage operation -- is itself trading more like an Internet stock than a stodgy brokerage firm, without even having to add a "dot.com" or an exclamation point to its name.</br></br>Shares of the San Francisco financial-services company have rocketed 91%, splitadjusted, on the Big Board since the start of the year, to yesterday's record close of 107 1/4 , up 3 7/8 , as it has outshone other brokerage companies that have been around much longer. The stock has jumped 14% this week alone, amid a rally in online-brokerage-related shares.