MarketWatch writes "Schwab shares jump after quarterly results top estimates", which is subtitled, "Costly money market fee waivers drop for first time in at least a year." The article says, "The company benefitted as short-term interest rates stopped falling recently, relieving pressure on its money market mutual fund business.... Schwab has been hit hard by low short-term interest rates, which have pressured returns offered by money-market funds. Rates have got so low that yields on these funds have dropped close to zero. Add in a layer of fees and returns on money market funds risked going negative, a worrying development for an investment product that's supposed to be ultra safe. Schwab and other companies that offer money market funds have waived fees to avoid returns going negative. That's hit profit in recent quarters. However, second-quarter results released Friday offered signs of hope on this front. Money market mutual fund fee waivers totaled $113 million in the period, down from $125 million in the previous quarter. Waivers had been rising steadily for at least a year. In the second quarter of 2009, fee waivers totaled $30 million, but jumped to $78 million in the next quarter and $110 million in the final three months of 2009. The drop in fee waivers in the most recent quarter suggests this painful trend may have turned."