First one bites the dust

HannesJoubert · Post by **HannesJoubert** » Thu Jan 15, 2015 7:12 pm

I received this email from my broker...the SNB broke their back along with ALOT of other traders...luckily it seems I will be able to get my money out (this is the 2nd time that this has happened to me...) I feel bad for these guys, they were actually an okay outfit...

" The dramatic move on the Swiss franc fueled by the Swiss National Bank's unexpected policy reversal of capping the Swiss franc against the euro has resulted in rare volatility and illiquidity. Both our primary and backup liquidity providers became unresponsive or illiquid for hours after the event. The majority of clients in a franc position were on the losing side and sustained losses amounting to far greater than their account equity. When a client cannot cover their losses it is passed onto us.

ALL OPEN POSITIONS MUST BE CLOSED BY 5PM NEW YORK TIME OR THEY WILL BE AUTOMATICALLY CLOSED AT THAT TIME. NEW POSITIONS CANNOT BE OPENED AS OF THIS TIME.

ALL CLIENT FUNDS ARE IN SEGREGATED ACCOUNTS AND NEVER USED FOR LP MARGINS. 100% OF POSITIVE CLIENT EQUITY OR BALANCE IS SAFE AND WITHDRAWABLE IMMEDIATELY.

******************** Ltd. STP's 100% of order flow and has sustained a total loss of operating capital. GBL can no longer meet regulatory minimum capitalization requirements of $1,000,000 and will not be able to resume business. Losses incurred on trades that could not be exited due to illiquidity were losses incurred directly with the liquidity provider and we do not have the ability to reimburse those. Please note the interbank market for francs was illiquid for hours after the event and no traders with an open franc position were able to close it for a significant period of time, at any broker.

News of the impact of this event on companies and traders is just beginning to come to light. As Directors and Shareholders we would like to offer our sincerest apologies for this devastating turn of events, and to thank you for being such a supportive group.

We ask that you place withdrawal requests for your account balance at your earliest convenience and allow for minor delays as our team begins to experience higher than usual service volumes.

Best Regards, "

Gem, how did you guys fair during this move?

Hannes

dudest · Post by **dudest** » Thu Jan 15, 2015 7:24 pm

Wow... it's crazy, right?

I'm thinking there are ALOT of companies and big traders that have been put out as well [ just by doing the $ math of the drops we saw today ]

Which broker was this (if you don't mind my asking)?

Cheers

PS: the SNB did not lose anything. They knew they were going to do it and had their positions long before they announced. If you had a monopoly on information that could make or break institutions, would *you* lose? You'd be the one acquiring the guys you KNEW you were going to bust!

HannesJoubert · Post by **HannesJoubert** » Thu Jan 15, 2015 7:39 pm

Hey Dudest, I was not sure if it would be kosher to name names here...

It was Excel Markets...they had really good services, reviews and everything moved smoothly, so I think their demise could actually be construed as a loss to the FX market.

Oh well, now they have forced my hand and I will have to open that GP account now, I just hope that GP was able to weather the storm...I have written to Jem on the forum, am waiting for his reply.

I was thinking of the insiders at SNB as well, I think there might be quite a few that are having a single malt whiskey tonight whilst thumbing through the latest island and bentley catalogues...schmucks, I sometimes wonder if these pukes even realise what havoc they cause in peoples lives.

H

HannesJoubert · Post by **HannesJoubert** » Thu Jan 15, 2015 7:41 pm

dudest » Thu Jan 15, 2015 9:24 pm wrote: PS: the SNB did not lose anything. They knew they were going to do it and had their positions long before they announced. If you had a monopoly on information that could make or break institutions, would *you* lose? You'd be the one acquiring the guys you KNEW you were going to bust!

Sorry, I was referring to the back of my broker being broken, I realise that the SNB had positioned itself long ago...

dudest · Post by **dudest** » Thu Jan 15, 2015 7:59 pm

HannesJoubert » Thu Jan 15, 2015 10:39 pm wrote:Hey Dudest, I was not sure if it would be kosher to name names here...

It was Excel Markets...they had really good services, reviews and everything moved smoothly, so I think their demise could actually be construed as a loss to the FX market.

Oh well, now they have forced my hand and I will have to open that GP account now, I just hope that GP was able to weather the storm...I have written to Jem on the forum, am waiting for his reply.

I was thinking of the insiders at SNB as well, I think there might be quite a few that are having a single malt whiskey tonight whilst thumbing through the latest island and bentley catalogues...schmucks, I sometimes wonder if these pukes even realise what havoc they cause in peoples lives.

H

You're absolutely right, they don't care :/

Ever watched this? http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/the-money-masters/

.

HannesJoubert · Post by **HannesJoubert** » Thu Jan 15, 2015 8:06 pm

Nope, not yet any way...

Thanks for the link, I will google it to see what it's about.

H

dudest · Post by **dudest** » Thu Jan 15, 2015 8:16 pm

HannesJoubert » Thu Jan 15, 2015 11:06 pm wrote:Nope, not yet any way...

Thanks for the link, I will google it to see what it's about.

H

It's a documentary on money, and its manipulation through the centuries.

Once you watch it, you'll see clearly that what the SNB did today is not only 'normal' for Central Banks, it is childs-play compared to the manipulations they've carried out over the decades.

The Fed, The Bank of England, The SNB --> same fox, different suit

.

Post by **Jemook** » Thu Jan 15, 2015 10:43 pm

Hi Hannes,

I posted a reply on the GP thread here:

http://www.stevehopwoodforex.com/phpBB3 ... 15#p111315

Hi guys,

What a hectic night. I was about to go to sleep for the evening and saw one of my CADCHF trades closed for profits with a TP very far away from the market so I thought hmm that's strange and jumped on to the charts. First I freaked out thinking bad tick but then I quickly checked other brokers and saw the same drop on CHF pairs. Checked the news and there it was.. damn SNB.

I quickly jumped in the car and met one of my colleagues at the office until 4am to help look after anyone affected.

From our client side we had a couple of clients that made a bucketload on shorts. One client with a 10k account is withdrawing profits today of ~$150,000 which they made in 5 minutes. Other clients not so lucky with a handful of accounts that are in negative balance and anyone long looking at large losses.

From GP side we have always been super careful giving higher leverage to larger deposits. When we refuse to give higher leverage some of our clients ask "why can't you offer me 1:888 leverage like broker X"? Now you can see why. The account balances that are in negative are required to top up to bring the balance back to zero and last thing we want to do is chase clients for these funds.

Due to us not allowing higher leverage on the larger accounts there was not that many large negative accounts so as a broker we were not affected by the situation. We stayed stable throughout the mayhem and trades were filled by LPs during the drop as can be seen by other posters. While other brokers were freaking out and pulling their pricing we remained steady and pricing continued with clients able to close positions shortly after the drop.

My heart goes out to all the clients out there who have lost money because of this. I can imagine a lot of traders are hanging up their shoes today. A lot of brokers too as we can see from Excel and others that will follow.

From GPs end it's business as usual - if anyone would like to chat on a personal level about this you know where to find me.

Regards,
Jeremy

Post by **trendinator** » Fri Jan 16, 2015 8:10 am

Jemook » Fri Jan 16, 2015 8:43 am wrote:One client with a 10k account is withdrawing profits today of ~$150,000 which they made in 5 minutes.

holy fuck! lucky day!!

Post by **SteveHopwood** » Fri Jan 16, 2015 9:58 am

******************** Ltd. STP's 100% of order flow and has sustained a total loss of operating capital. GBL can no longer meet regulatory minimum capitalization requirements of $1,000,000 and will not be able to resume business. Losses incurred on trades that could not be exited due to illiquidity were losses incurred directly with the liquidity provider and we do not have the ability to reimburse those. Please note the interbank market for francs was illiquid for hours after the event and no traders with an open franc position were able to close it for a significant period of time, at any broker.

Let's put a favourable interpretation on this and assume it was a mistake rather than an outright lie. All of my chf positions closed smoothly (and at a mahoosive profit) bar one, and Jeremy closed that one for me. Broker? Global Prime, who else.