i am surprised there is no post on this yet, particularly from a few 'tier1 banks or nothing' enthusiasts: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=conews&tkr=Rfx:US lets see how refco's going to cope with the foreseeable panic from legions of acct holders, including at fxcm & acm!
Forget Forex, commod's. Refco cleared for scum brokerage firms. There is a Wells notice against them now for mainipulating a stock, SDNA. There are probably many, many more Sedonas on the books. The Sec complaint is about helping brokers naked short. When clearing firms naked short, the crap stays on the books of the clearing firm. What you saw yesterday was IMHO, institutions knowing about this and getting out regardless. What do think "questionable receiveables " are? They are a BD. It's bad trades. Watch OSTK to see this play out. A director, the CEO's dad, bought 200,000 on 8/30. The stock is on the SHO list, Morgan Stanley, per Bryne on fool.com can't deliver, in direct violation of SHO list. You have 13 days. Go in, buy 200000 guarantee delivery, and watch what you pay. That's what's wrong w/Refco.
Well, Refco has had a dubious reputation for years now... if the firm does go down i feel bad for the employees and the small shareholders, but NOT for the crooked management and their buddies at FXCM and ACM. " I have enough cash to get away with anything" mentality works only up to a point. The other question is how safe the customer funds are right now. In this business trust is everything, if you dont have that, the balance sheet is ultimately worthless.
the refco accounts that are large enough to matter know better. the little ones are better off gone anyway. never saw refco as a retail shop.
The following is excerpted from http://www.bloomberg.com/news/markets/currencies.html Refco's Impact The U.S. currency erased advances yesterday after futures broker Refco Inc. blocked customer withdrawals from a currency trading unit, raising speculation traders were forced to sell dollar assets to raise funds. Today, its biggest unit, Refco Securities LLC ``has initiated the process of unwinding proprietary and client positions'' and won't seek any new business, Refco said in a statement.
MAN FINANCIAL interested in buying Refco's futures business: http://today.reuters.com/stocks/Quo...&symbol=EMG.L&storyid=234477+14-Oct-2005+RTRS Came out around 5:30PM EST