Although I've made no bad mistakes trading with TD Waterhouse, sometimes the limitations - due to not having a futures trading account - are frustrating. So this evening I again started looking at Canadian futures brokers. First one I called was OptionsXpress.

My prepared questions in order of importance are about 1) how safe is my money, 2) do they use SPAN margining, 3) trading platform.

So my first question to the OptionsXpress rep was to ask if they're with CIPF (Canadian Investor Protection Fund). His answer was that they've "made a business decision to close the Canadian section of their business". He wouldn't divulge anything else.

Sounds suspicious to me. My paranoia kicks in and I imagine brokerages dropping like flies. :-) Anybody know anything about this?

.....Susan