My name in Andrew Abraham. I have been investing in commodities and managed futures since 1994. I adhere to the philosophy of trend following.
Trend following stresses a disciplined approach to commodity/ futures trading. Successful trend following and commodity futures investing requires patience, discipline and actively managing the risk. What sets me apart from other traders is that I am not only concerned about the return on investment but how much risk I will have to tolerate to achieve my goals.
Both Sides of the Atlantic are getting organized in the MF Global Bankruptcy
I have been in touch with a colleague from Europe. He has taken the initiative and pursued a media campaign
Dear Sirs,
We are subscribers of the FT.com. We also happen to be clients of MF Global, and we would like to complain about your coverage of this very serious situation.
What is happening is unprecedented, with customers all over the world seeing their supposedly segregated accounts frozen and facing the prospect of heavy losses as a result.
This is like you parking your car next to an Enron building (with the possibility of someone at Enron illegally parking your fully insured car inside their premises, when the police was meant to prevent this) and when the company goes bust you can’t access your car anymore. Not only your life is affected as a result, but incredibly you will only get back your car in pieces.
Is this how the financial system is supposed to work? In many ways this is much worse than Lehman –we have just crossed the Rubicon as far as segregated customer accounts are concerned. As a result, we may well witness the bankruptcy of other brokers over the very near term as people pull their accounts out of the market. Trust in the markets will break down.
Despite all this, your coverage of this entire affair has been relegated to sub-sections, small articles and on very superficial terms. This, when most of MF Global’s clients are very likely your subscribers as well. Is it any wonder that people increasingly rely on blogs for in depth news and opinions? What does that say about your reporting credentials?
I trust that in the coming weeks you will give this matter the prominence it deserves, as what is happening is truly scandalous. Hopefully you will not be behind the curve as events unfold.
Good post. Could I also say that this issue of designated/pooled accounts applies as much to equity holdings as it does to futures and options. The overwhelming majority of institutuional assets are held in pooled accounts by the 5 dominant custodian banks, including JP Morgan.
Sadly, the FT cannot publish stories on issues it does not fully understand. The journalists are under pressure to crank out stories on a daily basis and don’t have the luxury of having developed 15 years plus in-depth experience.
You might want to cross-post to the Financial Times Linked-In Group: http://www.linkedin.com/groupItem?view=&gid=3306057&type=member&item=81117884&commentID=58882196&report%2Esuccess=8ULbKyXO6NDvmoK7o030UNOYGZKrvdhBhypZ_w8EpQrrQI-BBjkmxwkEOwBjLE28YyDIxcyEO7_TA_giuRN#commentID_58882196