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http://www.cnbc.com/id/48281971 Long before Peregrine Financial Group's dramatic collapse last week, months before MF Global's meltdown triggered an industry-wide crisis of confidence, the world of the independently owned futures broker was not a happy one. Even as trading volumes...

Good info. That makes sense because PFG had listed about $400mm of Cust Seg Funds in the most recent CFTC report (on website "View Financial Data for FCMs"), but in this fraud case it was a bank account of $200mm that was being discussed. Thanks for the reply post.

I wondered this myself! With only $6mm in the bank and a few thousand accounts, I do not understand how they met margin requirements.... Maybe somebody could weigh in........ Is it possible their initial margin requirements to support client positions was actually LESS than $6mm ???

Do you have any conception of how FOOLISH you look to other people by writing incessantly about "making money" with your trading yet never showing any proof, such as a blacked-out statement, that you're profitable at ALL? jack, the only thing you're short on is Credibility. All we know...

Knight acquired Penson's exchange memberships, hardware/software and personnel for about $5mm. It fills a 'strategic gap' in the firm's offerings as they now have the ability to offer equities, bonds, futures and spot FX. There's a good focus on Managed Futures and perhaps a little bit of...

Agreed. Advantage ADM Investor Services Knight Futures are among the best.

one of only two dunderheads I have on ignore. I suggest you do the same.

Penson's assets were bought up by KNIGHT (NYSE: KCG), which is a powerhouse in other asset classes. It should be a $1bb+ FCM inside of two years.. OEC is now owned by GAIN Capital - form your own conclusions about Gain capital or [most] other FX shops. RCG is a decent firm, though never...

PFG was never too legit. They're not even a clearing broker. They were a NON-CLEARING FCM. Only an FCM - Futures Commission Merchant can accept customer money in their name, i.e. make the check out to us. PFG grew by acquiring Alaron, which was a thoroughly disreputable firm. PFG...

To address two posts @ once, I was deeply imbedded within the Chicago futures community for several years, including @ the CBOT and Merc. So there's much that I do *not* know, but my perspective might be different than others who trade purely retail as outsiders. I think RJO Brien is a...

I'm considering transferring business to ADM Investor Services. Because ADM is a highly profitable physical commodity processing business, with billions in physical assets I feel good about the firm and the direction they're heading in. ADM Investor Services is a very small portion of...

Those ATLAS ratings are truly laughable. I bet nobody who works for that firm has ever traded a single lot. Would you really open up an account with INTEGRATED BROKERAGE SERVICES and Frank Lesh, a convicted embezzler before using Crossland, LLC out of the Chicago Board of Trade building...

You don't seem to catch the nuance that before Corzine took over and screwed up what was then a 'medium-sized commodity firm' MF Global was a major presence in listed futures. Spun off from London's Man Group, the company enjoyed a strong reputation as an independent broker...

You're giving Wasendorf too much credit. At least alive he can face trial. I doubt this is a basic accounting irregularity. It's pretty fucking hard to lose $220 running a small company.....money might have been stolen or purloined. PFG was never a 'reputable' company. MF was. For a...

I'm reading that they're short closer to $380mm.

That's completely untrue. Registered CTAs must disclose the performance of ALL ACCOUNTS THEY HAVE DIRECTED PERSONALLY, OR AS A PRINCIPAL OF ANOTHER FIRM (Corp., LLC), with the exceptions of: -Personal accounts -Family members' accounts. To start a CTA you need to registered with the...

FXCM is not illegitimate. They've been fined hard for doing shady stuff in the past, as most FX brokers have been. My critique of them is that their spreads are farily wide, and when I tried them I can't tell you the number of outstanding trades we missed by one or two pips...in some cases...

What many CTAs seem to do, and this would be our goal as well, as we grow, is simply to trade fewer and fewer contracts per amount of capital. There's a good interview in Futures Magazine last month with Steve DeCook, I think his name was. Ran a few million, did very well, and quit for a...

OP - before any planned major news release, like ISM, Unemployment, Jobless Claims, Home Sales, CPI, Retail Sales, etc., the order book thins out DRAMATICALLY so that it's only 100-300 bid/offered ten-deep. I think the liquidity is there for those lucky few who can point and click 2000 @ a...