Company is tapping its credit facilities. Seems to have 6x its tangible equity in exposures to EU countries that are not too healthy
MF Global Holdings Ltd.'s challenges mounted Thursday as Fitch Ratings downgraded the broker-dealer's credit to junk status and, according to people familiar with the matter, at least one major broker ceased some trading activities with the firm. :eek: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203687504577002243108150400.html
they are. when refco blew up the fx side was no more while the futures side was fine (although the stress of holding a refco futures account was through the rough i'm sure). value add advice: better safe than sorry - wire everything out immediately and then open an account w/ ib who doesn't buy sh*t securities b/c they're trying to be like their old company like corzine p.s. on bloomberg it says ONLY the futures side is likely to be bought out so keep that in mind which should reassure account holders again on top of account segregation.
Correct. Your futures account is a segregated account in your name, not commingled with the Prime Broker. In equity/option margin accounts, securities are held in street name, not so for Futures accounts.
This was predictable. Jon Corzine is a huge loser. He really screwed-up the state of New Jersey. And now this mess. Look at the article written in late 2010: It says everything about the man. Really John ? You really suck.
No surprise since Corzine is just another crony from wall street mafia. On a different note IB is now mulling buying MF Global which can't be good news for IB account holders. Interesting that MF owns the Refco assets which looks like a big draw for IB: http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2011/10/30/interactive-brokers-weighs-deal-for-mf-global/?mod=yahoo_hs Interactive Brokers Group is evaluating a deal for MF Global Holdings Ltd. that could include a purchase of assets or the entire company, according to people familiar with the matter. MF Global this weekend has worked to find a buyer for all or parts of the company. Last week, MF Global reported a major quarterly loss and suffered a series of credit downgrades linked to its exposure to European sovereign debt. The situation remains fluid and other options remain for MF Global, such as the sale of assets to other firms or a restructuring, said people close to the matter. For Interactive Brokers, a Greenwich, Conn.-based brokerage and market-making firm, a deal for MF Global would bring a substantial number of new clients, particularly among hedge funds that Interactive Brokers already targets for its brokerage services, and a broader business in commodities markets where MF Global has been active for decades. Such a deal would also reunite Interactive Brokers with assets that it missed out on during the 2005 sale of businesses run by Chicago financial services firm Refco Inc. MF Global walked away with that companyâs retail brokerage operations.
The collapse of MF Global is only the tip of the iceberg. With the extended period of near 0% short term interest rates of return in the USA, USA investors (individuals, banks, Wall Street investment banks, clearing firms, and etc) have been seeking higher rates of interest returns in western Europe. Some so called experts have been saying that some US money market funds have an above 50% potential exposure to the European debt crises. The rapidly expanding sovereign debt of the US and western Europe is not going to have a good outcome. Their is an expanding race of governments to electronically print money to devalue their currency and monetize debts. This could get ugly.