Microsoft Exits Retail Forex – MSN Trader Reverts to Saxo Bank

Just over a year ago we reported that "Microsoft Enters Retail Forex". It now seems as though what with one thing and another that little (ad)venture didn't turn out as originally hoped. At that time I opened an MSN Trader account of my very own, but yesterday I received an email from saxobank.com informing me that:

We write to inform you that the MSN Trader website will be de-commissioned very shortly and the normal log-in webpage will no longer be available.

As you are aware, your MSN Trader account is held and contracted with Saxo Bank A/S. Please be reassured that the services provided to you by Saxo Bank will remain unaffected. However, the log-in page to access your account will change. Going forward, the MSN Trader platform will adopt the Saxo Bank brand.

We thought we'd take one last look at the MSN Trader platform before it disappears forever. The good old MSN Trader home page is still there at the moment:

The MSN Trader home page will be disappearing real soon now

The "Investor Platform of the Future", always was "Powered by Saxo Bank", and soon the MSN Trader brand will be no more. Once logged in there is a noticeable absence of anything Microsoft. Instead there is an exhortation to try out the "new Saxo WebTrader docking system":

MSN Trader morphs into Saxo WebTrader

At the time MSN Trader was launched we also speculated about why Steve Ballmer had just sold $1.3bn worth of shares. This seemed like a perfect opportunity to check out what Microsoft shares have been up to over the last 12 months, and here's what the Saxo WebTrader Quick Chart for MSFT looks like:

Microsoft's share price for the year to November 18th 2011

As you can see, following a bit of drop this week it seems MSFT are back to almost exactly where they were a year ago. Maybe Steve really did decide that forex trading is more profitable than investing in Microsoft stock!