For those of you who trade futures contracts

[kiwing100]

 

FYI, for those who of you who trade futures contracts, you might want to note counterparty risk exposures, if you are relying on SIPC for protection.  This is has come from a WSJ article from the Peregrine Financial Corp bankruptcy

 

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303644004577523373688714462.html?mod=WSJ_PersonalFinance_PF15

 

 

When a securities firm becomes insolvent—such as in the case of Lehman Bros. Holdings or Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities—the Securities Investor Protection Corp. makes sure customers' cash and securities are returned to them. Customers can be reimbursed for up to $500,000, of which $250,000 can be in cash.

 

But SIPC doesn't cover futures trades, except in rare cases when a customer has a "cross-margin account" holding both futures and securities, says Stephen Harbeck, chief executive of SIPC. "We have an extremely narrow role," he says.