fattyasids i don't even have a problem with you but how you talk every firm is doomed. there are good and bad periods in a business cycle. your worried about stuff that does not concern you. if your a trader you trade and if your company goes under you find another. there will always be a firm to trade at if your good. when market gets better maybe firms won't be as nice fee wise.
i don't work for a firm since i trade my own account - meaning not prop. i do not like people holding my money. i've made my money and want to control it. a worldco situation will never happen to me. i use a broker/dealer of course for my executions but i do not work for them. you're right, this firm does not concern me but it can to others. i just provided an observation of one office and the general industry environment. i'm just saying that i would personally rather be in an office that is prospering by offices that do good volume and have traders who are profitable. this gives traders more security in knowing that an office might be around longer (as opposed to offices that have about a dozen traders who don't do volume). i am not saying all offices are doomed. i'm saying that this one and some others have a slimmer chance of surviving because of what i stated.
Do you guys think these firms are doing charity work? No P&L splits and low tix? You guys have lost your minds.
Sungard is committed to ASSENT. I returned earlier this month from a trip to "Corporate" in Hoboken. Had the opportunity to speak with a few of the top chiefs on the ASSENT and Sungard side. Seems the transition has been going well. I can tell you that Sungard is putting money into ASSENT. Technology has been upgraded, additional T-1 lines placed, and Hammer upgrades done. In addition, Sungard has made some changes to that will increase ASSENT's revenues by millions a year. (Without raising rates I might add) Many things have changed since the deal; better trader risk oversight, compliance at the branch level has increased, and better contact with the company regarding issues. I was able to speak frankly with a top level exec in NYC over some beers....Sungard knew what it was doing when it purchased ASSENT. It shows, more traders are signing up everyday. From what I understand, we are doing over 2 billion a month in volume. When there is a buyout, there are changes that are good and bad. I have to say I have not liked all the changes but I understand how they make the company more compliant with regulations. I do not like the one year deposit lockup. ASSENT met with the SEC regarding this issue. It probably will not change. What I would look for is some of the other firms who do not comply with this regulation to watch out. Hint Hint...The SEC might be looking into some of these firms for some "funny accounting" practices to sidestep the regulation (but that is another thread entirely). ASSENT is not dropping the daytraders. Sorry I have not posted in so long. It was nice to stop by and throw in some info that may be useful.
What is there to hint hint about. You are effectively saying that all pro firms that return capital inside of 1 year like Echo, Bright, are doing something illegal. Any counter from the above mentioned firms about this fairly strong statement.
"you guys" are a bunch of promma donnas who lucked out that a price war lowered rates to unsustainable levels. charging rates based on firm's cost of the last trade instead of avg. cost and ignoring return on capital will result in firm going out of business as soon as volume starts to dry up. let's see what heavy volume guys can make if rates go up by ,002 to .004.
OK, once again, I will be glad to offer these facts: If your firm needs your capital to qualify for their "Net capital requirements" then they must wait for 12 months to give you the money back....or else they are in violation. If your firm has adequate capital (without having to include the traders money) to cover their "net capital requirements" ..then they can return money if they choose to. This is one more Very Important reason to review all balance sheets as they relate to you and your money with the Firm. Don
Do you work for Assent/Andover?? And I think you should get your facts straight before you accuse firms of illegal activities.
It's interesting that NO ONE on this board has been able to address my earlier point that Cytrix-Based Hammer is very "long in the tooth" and that management has been dragging its feet when it comes to upgrading Hammer. In your post, you state that Hammer has been upgraded. Care to tell the rest of the board where this upgrade has taken place? It sure hasn't happened with the Cytrix-based Hammer platform for us REMOTE traders.