Totalled. $5MM remaining. Word is that Wassendorf blew most if it in short index calls and short wheat. What a degen. I hope he goes asystole.
About a month ago I found a dusty cache of SFO magazine, which was heavily sponsored by PFG. His face was on the back of every mag. The content was insipid and useless and I tossed the sub long ago, but still had some old ones lying around. I remember thinking, this guy looks like a real sleazeball. Pomade hair, corny smile, wedding ring prominently posed for every picture, and some description of how he started his business from his basement. Offering what every trader wants -- streamlined funds transfer. Anyone who puts his own face on every ad with a pose trying to declare I Am Honest usually ends up the opposite.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/...-missing-iowa-brokerage-16744763#.T_u36_WDmSo By MICHAEL A. LEE AP Business Writer CHICAGO July 10, 2012 (AP) A regulatory group says it can't account for $220 million in customer funds at Iowa-based brokerage Peregrine Financial Group and has ordered the company's accounts frozen. In a statement to clients, PFG explained the action being taken by the National Futures Association. It also said its founder and chairman, Russell Wasendorf Sr., attempted suicide earlier Monday. PGF officials didn't return email and phone messages from The Associated Press. Attain Capital spokeswoman Lauren Nelson says her company has a "substantial amount" of business with PFG and is assessing its accounts. Nelson provided the PFB statement to the AP. The National Futures Association, which serves a self-regulatory role for the industry, says it received information that PFG may have falsified bank records and had about $5 million of $225 million it claimed.
http://www.elitetrader.com/br/?action=view&R_FirmID=194 PFG review on Elite Trader found Bwolinsky's review..... I wonder if he thinks it's still great and would recommend it. "Great Broker! Would recommend them. PFGBEST has great technology" - bwolinsky April 16, 2012 9:11 PM I am currently using Multicharts to trade at PFG Best, and until the MC8 64bit version there was a connectivity problem that was only corrected after the 64 bit was written. Between my e-signal feed for Multicharts, and the DOM I see in my account, the datafeed of pfg best appears to lag up to 0.2 seconds which was worst case latency estimations when I called to ask about this. I place my orders automatically in a lead account, and those orders get filled at the average price with my autotrading accounts at 1:1 size and 3 units. They have helped me especially create a repoirte with an important business partner, and that's my broker's experience with CTA's at that firm. My broker has made sure that I was always in front of a crowd when I was trading for my CTA, and I've really appreciated the show of support. My commission rates are around $6/rt, and I've considered that to be the basement for beginning traders. Right now I've had a great experience since March 9th 2012 after moving to MC8 64 bit. The connectivity problems were gone after that upgrade eliminated the issue, but since a 64 bit database is not compatible with a 32 bit database I find I'm still using MC7.4.4906 to do my optimizations since the 64 bit version is missing data because the databases aren't compatible. As this relates to pfgbest, I have noticed no lag time with my trading station, and I think if you're into automated trading look into these guys and see what they have to offer, because I've had no technical problems aside from updates that have sometimes come out with bad betas but they usually take care of this problem promptly, and if you've seen doms I find it useful in anticipating price, but I have noticed a 1-3 second lag between DOM on PFG Best and E-signal through Multicharts when it comes to bids and offers and size. I think PFGBest is an amazing broker, and has great technology. Ever since March 9th 2012 I've been happy with the way things are working with them, because it wasn't like I didn't have models that couldn't work, it was that the machine I was using had buggy software between the handshake at Multicharts and PFGBest. They resolved this with 64 bit, and created a bandaid called Stunnel.exe for 32 bit 7.4 users. I've found their technology has done everything I asked it to do. I've had a great experience autotrading with them, and have had no connectivity problems since the 64 bit MC8 beta. While I'm disappointed in the incompatible database issue Multicharts always allows you to revert to a previous version, and I'm hoping to work with them to see about loading my databases onto their computers so they can solve the database compatibility issues that aren't relevant to PFG Best's connectivity now, but they were the only thing from a perfect experience in reliability and the lag I noticed in their quote updates compared to my e-signal feeds in Multicharts. Great Broker! Would recommend them. They've started TV Advertising which I think is always a sign of confidence from a broker looking for new wealth to manage.