It seems that most of the deep discount brokers (OptionsHouse, TradeKing, Zecco, eOption, Firstrade, Sogo Trading, MB Trading and Trade Station) all use Penson Financial as their clearing agent. I'm watching PNSN stock price nearing a buck again, seeing their plans to shudder operations in UK and Aus, and I'm wondering if this is the next MFG. Anyone else worried about their accounts with any of the deep discounters?
random but interesting fact for all those bottom pickers...pnsn broke through the 50 dma on 4/18 and closed at 6/28...if you had said "gee maybe the uptrend is over and i should sit on the sidelines until it goes back above" or better yet "gee, the uptrend is over i'm going to short" the price never went above the 50 dma until 12/19 when price closed at 1.19. anyways, back to the matter at hand, this is concerning re their low stock price and esp in light of the disclosure a while ago re them buying a golf course or whatever owned by a director. bottom line be prepared to wire everything out at the first sign of bad news. i'd rather be kicked by a horse than have my money and/or positions tied up for years.
Rule One: The first moment you feel uncomfortable about where your money sits drop everything else and move your money by wire that day ... correction -- THAT VERY MINUTE!! Frank is correct ... do not wait, do not pass go, do not collect $200. If there is cash there wire the cash and immediately close all open positions. As the closed positions credit to your account wire again. Pay the extra wire fee but extract as much cash as possible as soon as possible. When it heads south it can head south very fast. Why would anyone wake up on a Friday morning and think it was smart to leave even $1,000 at a firm that let a director do what appears to be a self dealing transaction involving a golf course. You do not need to watch the stock price or follow the news. You do not need to "know" anything. C'mon guys ... you are smarter than that.
Recent news I have read said Penson is in the process of selling or shutting down all of its non US branches in a effort to reduce losses, raise capital, and restore profitability. Approximately two weeks ago a news release said Penson's credit rating was downgraded to B-. Penson's 43 million dollar investment in a race track has changed the future for Penson.