Gian,

yes REFCO was taken over by MF Global. I think it was only the part that was involved in commodities, and they bought it at fire sale prices because of the bankrucpty. Based on what I read they had three distributions to their clients. They had 60% followed quickly by another 20% then quickly followed by the last 20%. Of course no client funds were stolen, and clients were made whole

Any reason why you would say this about RJ Obrien? The reason I asked is that the 75% margin for my one transfered sugar position was transfered to them. It was only about $2,200. I had googled them yesterday because like MF global they are not only a broker, but also a clearing house, and I was trying to determine what exactly it is that makes a broker a clearing house. I read what a clearing house is on the TFC website, but it is still fuzzy to me. If I remember what I read yesterday RJ Obrien has been around since about 1914 and to this day is still family owned based out of Chicago. Seems like they are pretty stable to me, but I have not done much looking into them.

When I first started trading with a full service broker in the late 80's I placed my trades with the broker, but if I remember correctly my statements came from RJ Obrien. That was a long time ago so my memory may be off.