What's the worst Brokerage out there right now, and whose the worse clearing firm?

Quote from alanm:
you know a lot of the problems seem to come from the clearing house. penson is bad that's for sure.

Quote from mahram:
Tdwaterhouse charges 50$ to wire, but then another 150 for taking out money.


Sounds like an IRA closeout fee (the $150)? I got the same screwing from Penson (via myTrack) some years ago. $50 seems high for a wire.

Their current fee schedule says wires are $15 and "Full account transfer out", which I assume to be an ACAT to another firm, is $50. "IRA check writing" is free. http://webpub2.tdwaterhouse.com/products_services/accounts/commissions_fees/fees.html
 
In the history of US Futures markets when did this happen??





Quote from jimrockford:

Sorry, dandxg, I misread your post. You were indeed talking about futures, while I was talking about equities.

It is a good thing that IB has tougher futures margin requirements than many other highroller futures brokers. IB's stingier futures margin policy greatly reduces the risk that IB will be bankrupted by large uncovered customers losses. This, in turn, greatly reduces the risk that IB retail futures traders will suffer losses resulting from broker bankruptcy. Remember that there is no deposit insurance for property held in futures accounts. You can lose your entire futures account, even if all your trades are profitable, simply because your broker is bankrupted by the need to cover losses experienced by other highly leveraged customers.
 
Quote from katesdp:

In the history of US Futures markets when did this happen??

Customers suffered losses in U.S. futures broker bankruptcies on many occasions. The most recent case was Refco in 2005. Jim Rogers and his clients and some other customers are suing for about a billion dollars in losses from their Refco futures accounts. Refco is bankrupt, so these victims will never be made whole. The most recent prior such loss occurred in 1989.

You are asking the wrong question. The important question is not whether it happened in the past. The important question is whether it can happen in the future. No bankruptcy comparable to that of Refco had occurred in the futures industry, prior to Refco itself. No market move comparable to that of the 1987 crash had occurred prior to that event.

Market risks are not simple processes which can be measured simply by examining the past. You can estimate the future outcomes of simple processes like coin flips, dice throws, and roulette wheels, simply by observing past events. This works because you are observing the identical process, over and over and over again. This doesn't work for markets, because the most important events happen too rarely to provide an adequate historical statistical sample, and also because markets are always changing. Would you dare to drive your car while looking only into your rear-view mirror, and ignoring what is right in front of you?
 
I thought jim rogers was self clearning and had prime with goldman.
Quote from jimrockford:

Customers suffered losses in U.S. futures broker bankruptcies on many occasions. The most recent case was Refco in 2005. Jim Rogers and his clients and some other customers are suing for about a billion dollars in losses from their Refco futures accounts. Refco is bankrupt, so these victims will never be made whole. The most recent prior such loss occurred in 1989.

You are asking the wrong question. The important question is not whether it happened in the past. The important question is whether it can happen in the future. No bankruptcy comparable to that of Refco had occurred in the futures industry, prior to Refco itself. No market move comparable to that of the 1987 crash had occurred prior to that event.

Market risks are not simple processes which can be measured simply by examining the past. You can estimate the future outcomes of simple processes like coin flips, dice throws, and roulette wheels, simply by observing past events. This works because you are observing the identical process, over and over and over again. This doesn't work for markets, because the most important events happen too rarely to provide an adequate historical statistical sample, and also because markets are always changing. Would you dare to drive your car while looking only into your rear-view mirror, and ignoring what is right in front of you?
 
Quote from mahram:

I thought jim rogers was self clearning and had prime with goldman.

Jim Rogers transferred hundreds of millions of dollars of client money into Refco, LLC futures accounts in October 2005, and within days, he lost it in the Refco bankruptcy.
 
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