An example of the bad PR, and customer losses: http://twitter.com/AP_in_NYC/status/129209200550219777 "With $MF down another 40% today and yields spiking over 18% on its bonds , looks like I'm switching to Interactive Brokers"
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%. Hopefully they will find a way to navigate the turmoil and focus on making better decisions. Disappointing, too, because let's say you're abig firm getting into prop trading for the first time. Sell some f'cking spoos on the way down, or trade some ZN. Who the hell loads up on $6.4b of EURO sovereign debt?! All those I-Banker *ssholes that were probably brought aboard.
http://twitter.com/SullyCNBC/status/129233319538864128 MF Global bonds brought to market in August at 100 just traded at 44.50 http://twitter.com/groditi/status/129231369917308928 $MF 6.25 08/08/2016 just traded for 45. http://twitter.com/AJInsight/status/129234593638383616 $MF bonds yield 17.8%, and yet company has access to $3.7B in liquidity notes $RJF analyst Pat O'Shaugnessy.
http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2011/10/26/mf-global-tries-to-assure-customers/ "MF Global Tries to Assure Customers"
I am afraid that is NOT NONSENSE. You pay 10 cents per side? What volume do you trade per $1 million per month and what is your AUM? Are you using EMidas?
âMF Globalâs financial position is strong and the firm remains a well-capitalized counterparty with strong liquidity position,â wrote Henri Steenkamp, MF Globalâs chief financial officer, in one of several notes sent to clients in recent days Heard this story before....
Goldman may buy Corzine's second Goldman, according to Bove: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-...ll-profit-if-it-buys-mf-global-bove-says.html
<B>Who Might Buy MF Global?</B> By Jacob Bunge and Aaron Lucchetti MF Global Holdings Ltd.âs decision to explore options including a sale or asset sales puts into play a business who parts have varying appeal, analysts say. The New York-based firm is a broker for futures and commodities trading, a business that also involves clearing other brokersâ derivatives trades on exchanges. MF Globalâs clients include retail investors and commodity producers. The company also trades using its own money, a newer and riskier business for MF Global. The firm also is in the early stages of building an investment-banking operation and recently announced a $3.8 million acquisition of a trading-technology platform. MF Globalâs commodities and futures trading business might be attractive to deep-pocketed financial firms seeking to build a global business in exchange-traded derivatives, observers said. With new financial regulations expected to push more trading business to exchanges and clearinghouses in coming years, that business could prove increasingly lucrative, they said. It could draw the interest of foreign-based firms, such as Australian banking firm Macquarie Group, which already has a large commodities, currency and derivatives trading business. A Macquarie spokeswoman declined to comment. Some analysts said MF Global could prove interesting to Interactive Brokers Group Inc., already an established player in derivatives trading. If nothing else, analysts said, Interactive Brokers may covet MF Globalâs customer accounts. A spokeswoman for Interactive Brokers declined to comment. The analysts said MF Globalâs retail brokerage could be attractive to other retail brokers generally. In recent months, MF Global has worked to streamline its retail brokerage operations. One sign that doesnât bode well for MF Globalâs sale prospects is that a competitor is also in the market for a sale: Newedge, a futures brokerage owned by Societe Generale and Credit Agricole. Newedge is much larger than MF Global in terms of customer deposits. Given MF Globalâs exposure to European sovereign debt woes, Newedge might prove more attractive to suitors, analysts said. A spokesman for Newedge had no immediate comment. Investors on Wednesday first appeared to be skeptical about odds of an MF Global sale. Shares were down as much as 42% on Wednesday, after The Wall Street Journal reported that MF Global had hired Evercore Partners and another adviser to look at the companyâs strategic options. MF Global shares closed the trading session down 8.6% at $1.70. http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2011/10/26/who-might-buy-all-or-parts-of-mf-global/
MF Said to Seek Buyer in Days for Futures Unit MF Global Holdings Inc. is seeking a buyer for its futures brokerage unit and is looking to strike a deal within days, said two people with knowledge of the matter. MF Global has been contacting large banks already in the futures business, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks are private. Under the plan being discussed, the New York-based companyâs holding company and other businesses wouldnât be included in the sale, the people said. The firmâs futures unit could sell for around $765 million, equivalent to $4.60 per diluted share, Niamh Alexander, an analyst with KBW Inc. in New York, wrote in a note to clients today. She estimated the futures unit accounted for $1.02 billion of group tangible book value, which includes the firmâs broker-dealer unit, and could sell for 75 percent of that. âWe think that any of the big dealers could relatively easily tuck this business into their own portfolios,â Alexander wrote. âWe believe private equity is very interested in businesses with touchpoints to retail and high net worth clients.â Alexander noted that privately held futures broker R.J. OâBrien has investors that include private-equity firms. Diana DeSocio, an MF Global spokeswoman in New York, declined to comment.