Disqus - Latest Comments for ex_wirehouse

Re: Caption Contest Thursday: Money Mitt | The Reformed Broker

ex_wirehouse — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 18:29:31 -0000

Mormon Bacheor Party .....NO strippers

Re: The Problem with Recruiting Bonuses

ex_wirehouse — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 10:44:46 -0000

Fantastic article. The fact that this isnt getting more attention is shocking. Many of these deals are now 7 years and get extended for tax purposes to 10. At least 60% of FINRA Arbitration now involve this nonsense. At some point this becomes predatory lending and I am amazed it hasn't been picked up on by regulators. Actually I am not, regulators are clueless.

Re: Tomnight’s Question: The Most Egregious Signs of Froth The Reformed Broker

ex_wirehouse — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 20:42:54 -0000

Retail Brokers are writing Books....Top Is In!.....)

Re: Tomnight’s Question: The Most Egregious Signs of Froth The Reformed Broker

ex_wirehouse — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 20:36:41 -0000

Retail Brokers are writing books.....top is IN!

Re: Bill Clinton, the Fee-Based Model and Me The Reformed Broker

ex_wirehouse — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 16:13:34 -0000

Congrats on the move! It is great being more Port Manager oriented and less salesman,although i do miss pitching hot stocks and IPO"s. My fear however is that the majority of "advisers" are merely asset gatherers, with little knowledge or interest in strategy timing or anything innovative. These types collect the largest possible fee for essentially indexing there clients. These types of pseudo advisers sent huge sums of client assets to money heaven in the down turn. Have we gone from churning cold call cow boys to brain dead high fee asset gatherers?

Re: Eight-year-old collects soap for Haiti

ex_wirehouse — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 09:12:13 -0000

Fantastic, what a simple and elegant idea! I plan on making a donation who can't help with 1 bar of soap!

Re: You Ain't So Bad

ex_wirehouse — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 19:30:08 -0000

it does....sorta like the MUSH in a Bronx Tale....trade em well and enjoy the summers end!

Re: Why the Kids Don’t Want to be Financial Advisors The Reformed Broker

ex_wirehouse — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 18:21:44 -0000

Fantastic Post Josh.
Where do I begin? I have been saying this forever. As an 11yr wire house veteran, outside of the boom years in the dot com era, I saw little effort to grow talent organically. It used to be that once you left a firm and "cut a deal" you could never come back. Even that practice has been suspended, and you can leave Merrill for Morgan and later cut a deal to come back again! The term shuffling deck chairs on the Titantic comes to mind?

Unfortunateley the nature of the business is no more than asset gathering. Drag in client assets, shovel them into the blandest mix of "who gives a fu@%", layer a fee on it and move on. The thought of actually making any one money or trying, or having any client concerns beyond that is not anywhere in the Job description.

You leave out the predatory nature of most big wall street retail shops. The greatest source of new assets is either screwing your buddy(ala bob sugar in Jerry Maguire) or your partner, in an effort to bulk up assets and cut the big 300% trailing 12 deal and move on. Hardly an uplifting enviroment!

To say compliance is onerous is an understatement. Compliance is fine with you losing huge %'s of client assets in some dog shi% mutual fund, but if the advisor actually takes some initiative and is then the subject of a regulatory/compliance issue you are dead broker walking.

Ultimately I think the whole situation is as unsustainable as a 2 legged bar stool. You are really down to the Citi/Morgan monstrosity and the Merrill/BAC mutation, and soon all brokers will be in a 9 year deal, and then what?

I could go on for ever. Great post, really good stuff

Re: Ominous signs

ex_wirehouse — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 18:45:24 -0000

I wont hold that against you devil dog,

Re: ES_F 1044 Kiss me once Kiss me Twice Kiss me deadly?

ex_wirehouse — Thu, 27 May 2010 17:02:12 -0000

NET short equities long the dollar was a great trade for the month of May apparently it is painful being LEVERAGED long into the month of May, better luck next time

Re: ES_F 1044 Kiss me once Kiss me Twice Kiss me deadly?

ex_wirehouse — Thu, 27 May 2010 08:21:59 -0000

as a fiduciary i do not have the luxury of being perma anything, If i screw up people do not get to retire or worse short equities long the worlds reserve currency, the US Dollar has been a prudent and winning trade for the entire month of May

Re: Sell Strength and Buy the Green Back

ex_wirehouse — Wed, 26 May 2010 11:39:35 -0000

no real fear yet, not that that is indicative of a bottom, but have not seen capitulation, dollar long best bet IMHO

Re: Sell Strength and Buy the Green Back

ex_wirehouse — Wed, 26 May 2010 11:30:26 -0000

working out well so far!

Re: When the Levee Breaks

ex_wirehouse — Thu, 06 May 2010 11:05:49 -0000

PD ouch re the meaning!

Re: An ode to the tin foil hat and black helicopter crowd

ex_wirehouse — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 19:58:04 -0000

For a nano second I actually thought of replying to this semi coherent screed.....I Just ......cant

Re: An ode to the tin foil hat and black helicopter crowd

ex_wirehouse — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 19:54:28 -0000

Dear Old Man
I am sure I am older than you, in addition to being a combat veteran, I have spent over 13 years managing other peoples money through some of the greatest bull and bear markets most have ever seen. Unlike those who reside ONLY in the fourth estate(I will give you time to look that up) I do not have the luxury of looking for the proverbial boogie man around every corner. I have a fiduciary responsibility to clients. For those who are actually managing the assets of others, wining and pouting about manipulation and the PPT, is a pastime reserved for those who have been barred from the industry for various regulatory and compliance infractions. I am probably one of the biggest bears on the street, but i suck it up every day and trade the tape I am given not the one I might cook up.
Have a good night son
SOB

Re: The Dick is at it again

ex_wirehouse — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:55:09 -0000

Glad some body said it! I have never understood how this hack is constantly thrown out there as the "ax' on banking. What bucket shop from western Florida or PA is he from these days? He essentially had you buying all the way down to oblivion on almost every financial. Lets not forget his "Korea saves LEH" call which sucked in legions of knot heads right before the fall. This call was wideley publicized by the bubble heads at CNBC also. I remember Smith Barney Management distributing his research
peices in the spring of 08 trying to encourage participation in the CAP(employee stock purchase) plan

Re: The Real Heroes

ex_wirehouse — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:59:18 -0000

Dasan

Well said. It is the countless stories like these that make the mindless money chasing we do now seem so inconsequential

Re: Party on Bulls, Party on!

ex_wirehouse — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:17:09 -0000

trimming hedging prudent, but i will be shocked if we do not RIP higher tomorrow.....poor doug kass he will be 12,000,000% to the tenth power short by tomorrow afternoon!

Re: Noise!

ex_wirehouse — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 18:56:28 -0000

True regards pro's tweetin less and more cryptically. As a 11 year veteran of the wire house I am paranoid to even email CLIENTS, much less tweet real time trades, less is more is so true

Re: An Exercise in Humility

ex_wirehouse — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 11:28:09 -0000

Excellent post! Humility is Key. Learning to sell losers fast and hold winners probably one of the hardest skills to learn as a trader but the one that wil lead to themost profitability. Nice Work.

Re: Driving That Train High on Cocaine

ex_wirehouse — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 18:50:34 -0000

perhaps there is something to all that tape paionting and window dressing bunk!

Re: 7/21 Market Analysis - Keeping it Simple

ex_wirehouse — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 22:06:01 -0000

Great Commentary Vlad
Fighting this tape ahs been the biggest losing trade since ling finnies in the fall of '08, trade the tape you get not the one you want
Good Trading

Re: Bang and Blame

ex_wirehouse — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 10:33:35 -0000

direxion and the proshares have there hands in the Korean missle crisis and the Somalian Piracy as well as the rigged election in Iran too.....realistically, I think that being able to do 3x short trades in qualified accounts(IRA) adds a big pot o money that could never participate on the down side.....any thoughts

Re: David Faber Openly Ridicules Dick Bove

ex_wirehouse — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 12:54:09 -0000

It is about time! The guy is a boob, yet he is treated as if he is a genius. Faber failed to mention the most infamous Korea saves Leh call!! What cred does this guy have. His reports used to be passed around at SB/C by clueless management, at the bottom trying to promote stock purchase by brokers/employees