Advertising Lights the Candle as Online Brokers Catch Fire

Let's light this candle! -- Stuart, the copier dude.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Somewhere, deep in Ameritrade's (AMTD Quote) blowout earnings number reported last week, there is Stuart, a guy with a pierced nose and red, green and blond hair, a guy whose face knows the cool chill of photocopier glass. Perhaps you recognize Stuart; indeed, if you're like so many CNBC addicts, you can't help but know Stuart.

Stuart and Mr. P
"Catch the wave of the future, m'man!"
Source: Ameritrade

That's because Stuart is the cult star of a riotous television ad campaign that is a focal point of Ameritrade's business strategy. A successful expenditure of $12 million to $15 million in advertising for the fiscal second quarter led to an explosion in new customers and helped push earnings north of $73.9 million, or 14 cents a share, twice the First Call consensus estimate. ...