When Charles Schwab cut its per trade fee to $8.95 in January, it seemed to many that others would be forced to respond. Fidelity this week said it would cut its online per trade fee to $7.95 per trade for U.S. stocks. That compares with a previous fee structure that charged $8 to $19.95 per trade. According to Reuters, the Boston brokerage and fund behemoth also will waive fees for 25 exchange-traded funds offered by BlackRock iShares unit.

That suggests Fidelity may finally aggressively pursue ETF opportunities, including possible actively managed ETFs. Hey, if the market is good enough for Goldman Sachs (GS) to jump in...As of now, TD Ameritrade, which has charged $9.99 per trade since 2006, and E*Trade may feel the need to tinker as well. The low fees might goose volume a bit. But the real driver here is the need to win market share. 

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