MF Global announcement

Martinghoul · Oct 31, 2011

Quote from benwm:
I understand what a repurchase agreement is, but please could you elaborate on how they got killed on the repo positions?

Presumably if they owned the BTPs they would be financing each day by repoing at the bonds...are they paying high repo rates to finance the long positions?

Nah, they also had a business where they financed other people's peripheral debt positions. And that's, basically, Bear Stearns all over again.

benwm · Oct 31, 2011

Quote from Martinghoul:

Nah, they also had a business where they financed other people's peripheral debt positions. And that's, basically, Bear Stearns all over again.

aghh ok thanks

Rodney King · Oct 31, 2011

Quote from bone:

If you've ever attempted to use a PatSystems product, that statement makes complete sense.

Yes, I've used it, and I agree with your sentiment.

Ghost of Cutten · Oct 31, 2011

Mr Market, Retaildaytrader, and stock777 > Goldman's former head of trading.

Martinghoul · Oct 31, 2011

Quote from benwm:
aghh ok thanks

Just to clarify... The business model is you lend cash term and borrow overnight, which is all fine and dandy until you can't do the latter. When you get yourself into that situation, you're dead.

Ghost of Cutten · Oct 31, 2011

Quote from Chicago_CTA:

Some really nice & honest people work at MF Global in Chicago. I should know, because I worked there.

Very few FCMs are making money because thanks to Bernanke's incompetence, the float is 0.25%.

If your business is loss-making purely because fed funds is at 0.25%, then you never had a viable business in the first place.

trading spaces · Oct 31, 2011

Quote from Ghost of Cutten:

If your business is loss-making purely because fed funds is at 0.25%, then you never had a viable business in the first place.

Ib managed to make $200m in the last quarter.

steve0617 · Oct 31, 2011

Quote from benwm:

It would interesting to hear from MFG customer on ET. Have you been able to withdraw funds from your account in recent days?

We'll see. I just put in for a full wire out today. There was no argument from my MF guy. It was if nothing that was happening today was happening. Was totally cool with my withdrawl.

I did trade this AM just to see if I could so those funds are being held until tomorrow. The rest of the funds are supposed to go today.

Cheese · Oct 31, 2011

When Man was a London partnership then based mainly on its historic sugar business it had a pervasive self-satisfied and arrogant attitude. Similarly infected, its MF Global offshoot became a US corporation on an ever expanding trajectory. Hence the new dictum, 'What keeps on going up, blows up.'

When I visited them a few times they had already become a muddled organisation with a 3rd rate thinking capacity. But I never opened a trading account with them because of my own personal reservations about them.

Syprik · Oct 31, 2011

Quote from benwm:

It would interesting to hear from MFG customer on ET. Have you been able to withdraw funds from your account in recent days?

Withdrew <$50,000 from a small inactive "SHTF" hedging account last Thurs via wire to a US based checking account. No issues. Had used MF rather actively over 2yrs ago, but went elsewhere after 3-4 months. Today is perhaps a different story, but process should still be orderly.

This is sad news. Some good jr traders @ MF will likely be out of a job over the incompetency of a single man. If they were @ 40:1, I'm guessing this was via reverse-repo magic to doll up the balance sheet. I-bank model still hard at work. Go f*ck yourself Corzine, insiders will be gunning for your head.

Transact Futures still not clearing trades today?