Consolidated Statements of Financial Condition (USD $) In Thousands	Sep. 30, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010
Assets
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 214,619	$ 253,529
Restricted cash	6,880	6,868
Cash segregated for regulatory purposes	26	6,023
Receivables:
Brokerage clients, net	526,774	477,514
Brokers, dealers, and clearing organizations	235,950	247,707
Securities purchased under agreements to resell	121,004	123,617
Trading securities owned, at fair value (includes securities pledged of $300,249 and $272,172, respectively)	526,444	444,170
Available-for-sale securities, at fair value		1,012,714
Held-to-maturity securities, at amortized cost	159,132	52,640
Loans held for sale	114,452	86,344
Bank loans, net of allowance	568,293	389,742
Bank foreclosed assets held for sale	550	1,577
Investments	176,550	178,936
Fixed assets, net		71,498
Goodwill	309,519	301,919
Intangible assets, net	30,566	34,595
Loans and advances to financial advisors and other employees, net	170,203	181,357
Deferred tax assets, net	179,410	197,139
Other assets	204,565	145,226
Total Assets	4,942,364	4,213,115
Liabilities and Shareholders' Equity
Short-term borrowings from banks		109,600
Payables:
Brokerage clients	241,849	212,642
Brokers, dealers, and clearing organizations	143,410	114,869
Drafts	45,377	73,248
Securities sold under agreements to repurchase	52,805	109,595
Bank deposits	2,120,763	1,623,568
Trading securities sold, but not yet purchased, at fair value	272,190	200,140
Accrued compensation	159,112	234,512
Accounts payable and accrued expenses	228,235	170,382
Other	16,815	19,935
Total Liabilities	3,673,656	2,950,991
Liabilities subordinated to claims of general creditors	6,957	8,241
Shareholders' Equity:
Preferred stock - $1 par value; authorized 3,000,000 shares; none issued	0	0
Exchangeable common stock - $0.15 par value; issued 172,672 and 897,618 shares, respectively	26	135
Common stock - $0.15 par value; authorized 97,000,000 shares; issued 53,546,813 and 52,822,428 shares, respectively	8,032	7,923
Additional paid-in-capital	1,065,018	1,082,788
Retained earnings	259,816	232,415
Accumulated other comprehensive income	7,756	(381)
Total Stockholders' Equity	1,325,136	1,323,642
Treasury stock, at cost, 700,364 and 2,235,473 shares, respectively	(63,020)	(69,238)
Unearned employee stock ownership plan shares, at cost, 97,619 and 122,024 shares, respectively	(365)	(521)
Total Equity	1,261,751	1,253,883
Total Liabilities and Shareholders' Equity	4,942,364	4,213,115
Debenture to Stifel Financial Capital Trust II [Member]
Payables:
Debenture to Stifel Financial Capital Trust	35,000	35,000
Debenture to Stifel Financial Capital Trust III [Member]
Payables:
Debenture to Stifel Financial Capital Trust	35,000	35,000
Debenture to Stifel Financial Capital Trust IV [Member]
Payables:
Debenture to Stifel Financial Capital Trust	$ 12,500	$ 12,500