As the IB voting for the NFA Board of Directors gets underway, we have been overwhelmed by the flood of responses we’ve received expressing the very frustrations we’ve struggled with, and a desire for reform. One response in particular really drove home why we believe it’s so important to get Jeff Malec and those like him fighting on behalf of the industry and investors onto the NFA Board, and we certainly hope you’ll agree.
Category: Macro Commentary
19
Dec
2012
In Search of Safe Assets
The risk-free rate is a common term in financial equations – it’s a part of everything from the Sharpe Ratio to the (in)famous Black-Scholes equation for pricing options. It’s simple in theory – but where to get such “safe” assets in practice… and what does “safe” mean, exactly?
18
Dec
2012
Let’s Shake Up the NFA: Time to Vote
It’s been more than five months since the revelation of PFG Best’s accounting fraud, and over a year since the collapse of MF Global. Despite the blatant failure of the NFA to carry out its duty, and despite the steps that have been taken to prevent a repeat of these regulatory failures, we haven’t seen the full implementation of reforms the industry needs. That’s why Jeff Malec, CAIA and CEO of Attain, is contesting the 10-year tenure of John Vassalo by running for the Introducing Broker seat on the NFA Board of Directors.
17
Dec
2012
Too Big to Govern?
Following the 2008 crisis, there was a guttural outcry from the public, demanding that the so-called “banksters” be brought to justice. Much to their chagrin, repercussions for those making the decisions that brought the economy to its knees have been few and far between. At the time, the general excuse was that, while many of these figures had made decisions that could be characterized as unethical, they were not criminal decisions in nature. But today, we have to come to terms with the fact that even when a law is broken, the banksters are still above the law.
14
Dec
2012
PFGBest Update: Claim Deadline Today
Today’s it, folks – the deadline for former PFGBest clients, vendors and so forth to file their claim in the bankruptcy. For those who have been languishing and waiting for another distribution, this date (already delayed a month, and we’d argue, far longer than it should have been) could not have come soon enough. But with just hours left to file a claim, some of the numbers we’re seeing don’t seem to add up.
13
Dec
2012
Bridgewater Growing Bearish on Bonds
We’ve been waiting for the 30+ year bull market in bonds to come to an end and a mega down trend to emerge. What can we say – when we think about the tailwind that higher interest rates can provide to managed futures programs and the prospect of a nice sustained downward trend in bond prices… Who can blame us for getting excited? But we (and the rest of the managed futures world) have had to wait, suffer the disappointment of false breakouts lower, and bide our time until the real downtrend emerges. But now it looks like the anticipation has swept up one of the biggest players in industry – Bridgewater’s Ray Dalio.
12
Dec
2012
The Allure of Graphic Predictions
It’s always a good idea to take research from a massive energy conglomerate with a grain of salt, but Exxon’s latest piece – an attempt to look 30 years into the future of the global energy market – caught our eye. We’re more of the technical sort who will react to price moves as they happen instead of where prices will go based off of these long term outlooks, but we couldn’t resist highlighting some of the mind-blowing stats in this piece.
10
Dec
2012
Futures Account Insurance Getting Traction
As the year draws to a close, it’s hard not to reflect on the tumultuous times experienced in the futures industry. A great deal of progress has been made in enhancing customer protections, but there is still work to be done, particularly in what we view as one of the most significant arenas: insuring client funds against an MF Global/PFG type clearing firm failure.
15
Nov
2012
Creeping Towards Justice for Corzine?
As if the loss of customer funds wasn’t bad enough, we’ve had to spend the past year knowing that Jon Corzine, architect of MF Global’s collapse, was a free man. More than a few people we’ve talked to hold a serious grudge against this man…we certainly can’t blame them. But a new report out of Congress is giving us a glimmer of hope that Corzine may yet suffer the consequences of his decisions at MF Global.
13
Nov
2012
Calling All Introducing Brokers- Let’s Shake Up the NFA
It’s been a rough year for the futures industry. Between the MF Global bankruptcy and fraud at PFGBest, investors have had their faith shaken in a system that had, for years, been considered beyond reproach. These events didn’t just unnerve investors, though. It also highlighted what many in the industry have known for years- the NFA needs a shake up. And if you’re an IB, you can help make that happen.
