So he did.
The margin money was the property of the customers.
Absolutely.
He had no right to take it.
He had even less right to take his customers' money than Madoff did to take his customers'. Madoff's customers knew or should have known Madoff was up to no good. That's common in con games. The victims are, to some extent, co-criminals.
MF Global's customers, on the other hand, were upright, honest citizens. They trusted that they had placed their assets in honest hands and that any losses they might suffer would be because the market went against them, not because the custodian of their assets was a thief. Thus, my original point stands. Corzine is a lower form of life than Madoff.
JP Morgan has just announced that it wants to hold customer collateral. It wants to be the body that holds customer collateral for FCMs. Now the argument theyre making is, look at these FCMs. You cant trust them, so now we need a third party to hold customer collateral. Guess whos going to get to be that third party?
ITS GOING TO BE JP MORGAN!! They know that the end is in sight, and they know that in a lawless environment, possession is EVERYTHING. They want as much in their physical possession as they can possibly get because they know that when the poop hits the fan and this whole deal collapses, theyre going to be able to keep everything that they have. They want as much as possible.
within the next few weeks to months- I think that what theyre going to try to do is to try to consolidate these mega banks even more, and I think that JP Morgan is probably going to end up making a play for Citi at some point, and they are just going to try to have as much as possible under Jamie Dimons roof, because I think they know that the end is coming. Its rotten to the core.
Were seeing the complete disintegration of the financial system before our very eyes. Everyone needs to get their money out of the financial system. Nothing is safe. Not just the futures markets, but the entire thing. Stocks, 401k, IRA, deposit accounts. And the sooner the better.
I had account there since 1974. They were honest for many years until the firm changed hands. The futures business operated well on trust for many years. Old timera are now starting new firms based on the old trust, but using the new technology. The business serves an essential need in agriculture. The crooked bureaucrats and judges will be sidelined by free markets. Free markets will develop alternative self policing commerce free of government, like it once was.