Any thought on a firms migration from IB to self-clearing? Sign of weakness (their clearing agent for whatever reason is willing to lose their business) OR sign of strength (purchase own systems for clearing ,be a member of SIPC,etc) Who is next?
Strength. The firm had to deposit $2M to finalize the lengthy process. "Rumors" are the Bank of New York made an offer for HB, but the transaction did not materialize for undisclosed reasons.
Is the selfclearing just for you props and those on Skeffington, or did the firm go fully self-clearing for retail also?
Speed: Only for prop and those in the LLC (Skeffington). DaytraderNYC: Absolutely no validity to the "rumors" of HB filing for bankruptcy. HB downsized and cut costs as did many firms in the "securities" industry. HB is profitable and hiring new traders.
I'm not an absolute expert on the subject, but I know that it takes more firm capital to be self clearing, and it potentially allows them to offer lower commissions, since one of the middle men has been cut out of the loop.
lower commisions at hold brother's?????????? i think you forgot about the maintainence bill on greg's ferrari.
I think you answered your own question. It was complete speculation probably originating from a disgruntled trader that had formerly worked for HB. In fact, HB has more capital than a majority of the "prop firms" on the street and recently acquired a sizable group of profitable traders that previously worked for Schonfeld.