CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (USD $) Share data in Thousands, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010
Revenues
Principal transactions	$ 52,771,000	$ 89,108,000	$ 79,433,000
Commissions	71,418,000	71,347,000	76,817,000
Investment banking	30,553,000	33,069,000	43,400,000
Investment banking revenues from related party			1,947,000
Investment gains, net	1,233,000	2,996,000	7,000
Interest income	48,796,000	66,194,000	57,292,000
Gain from bargain purchase - ClearPoint Funding, Inc. acquisition (Refer to Note 11)		2,330,000
Fees and other	11,651,000	8,041,000	1,004,000
Total revenues	216,422,000	273,085,000	259,900,000
Interest expense	12,827,000	11,913,000	11,318,000
Net revenues	203,595,000	261,172,000	248,582,000
Expenses (excluding interest)
Compensation and benefits	143,414,000	162,537,000	222,833,000
Clearing, settlement and brokerage	40,281,000	35,203,000	4,314,000
Impairment of goodwill and intangible assets (Refer to Note 12)	21,096,000	80,244,000
Professional fees	15,504,000	8,135,000	7,966,000
Communications and data processing	12,806,000	13,471,000	11,464,000
Occupancy, depreciation and amortization	8,919,000	8,455,000	11,941,000
Business development	3,719,000	4,620,000	4,825,000
Loss from extinguishment of mandatorily redeemable preferred stock (Refer to Note 17)			1,608,000
Other	11,209,000	10,384,000	9,414,000
Total expenses (excluding interest)	256,948,000	323,049,000	274,365,000
Loss before income taxes and discontinued operations	(53,353,000)	(61,877,000)	(25,783,000)
Income tax expense/(benefit)	24,602,000	2,207,000	(9,778,000)
Loss from continuing operations	(77,955,000)	(64,084,000)	(16,005,000)
Income/(loss) from discontinued operations, net of taxes (Refer to Note 26)	265,000	(18,040,000)	(4,616,000)
Net loss	(77,690,000)	(82,124,000)	(20,621,000)
Basic loss per share:
Continuing operations (in dollars per share)	$ (0.66)	$ (0.52)	$ (0.13)
Discontinued operations (in dollars per share)		$ (0.15)	$ (0.04)
Loss per share (in dollars per share)	$ (0.65)	$ (0.67)	$ (0.17)
Diluted loss per share:
Continuing operations (in dollars per share)	$ (0.66)	$ (0.52)	$ (0.13)
Discontinued operations (in dollars per share)		$ (0.15)	$ (0.04)
Loss per share (in dollars per share)	$ (0.65)	$ (0.67)	$ (0.17)
Weighted average shares of common stock:
Basic (in shares)	118,977	123,439	121,301
Diluted (in shares)	118,977	123,439	121,301
Continuing operations
Expenses (excluding interest)
Impairment of goodwill and intangible assets (Refer to Note 12)	$ 21,096,000	$ 80,244,000