"There are no sacred cows. Everything is on the table," stated Charles Schwab management in an internal memo to employees.

The memo and talk among "investors and analysts" prompted one Wall Street Journal reporter to speculate that the company itself was for sale in a Thursday morning article.

A Dow Jones journalist then reported close to 6pm on Thursday that the Schwab himself put the sale rumors to rest.

In a call with a Dow Jones reporter, Schwab said "[m]yself and the board and senior management have no interest in having any sale of this company."

"We're committed to our independence," he said.

What remains up in the air, however, is a possible divestiture or "strategic alternatives" for the company's capital-markets business. "We've reached no decision," Dow Jones reported Schwab as saying.

Schwab also shot down rumors that the company's U.S. Trust private banking unit was for sale. "It's staying at Schwab for the indefinite future," said Schwab, adding that the unit's performance was improving. 

Edited by: Theresa Sim


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