Cefalu - thanks for the info.
chitae - I just did a little research in the past hour or so and came up with a tentative ranking system for myself. Couple things: 1) I am based in the US so I ranked US exchanges the highest since I have legal recourse here, your ranking will likely be different depending where you live, 2) Several exchanges have addresses in two countries and I haven't had time to figure out where they are truly based yet, 3) I am interested in LTC/PPC and other alt coins so BTC only exchanges don't do me much good, and 4) I take volume into account because you really can't invest significant amounts without volume. With that in mind, here is a very tentative list from my perspective, any additional info/corrections would be appreciated:
1. Cryptsy: Florida USA, most crypto currencies, volume seems high enough (I think)
2. Crypto Street: New Jersey USA, many cryptos but low volume currently
3. Coin Market: California USA, most cryptos but low volume currently
4. LiteTree: BTC/LTC only, Atlanta USA, not much volume currently
5. Campbx: Atlanta USA, but BTC only, volume is good enough
6. Coinbase: California USA, BTC only, has had problems with liquidity recently
7. Bitstamp: BTC only, I've seen addresses for the UK and Slovenia, good volume
8. Crypto-Trade: most cryptos, good volume, address in Hong Kong but the company is registered in Belize?
9. Bifinex: Hong Kong
Others that are so far down the list I won't bother ranking them:
mcxNOW: New signups disabled, most trading halted (this can't be good)
BTC-e: most cryptos, I've seen addresses in Russia (at least one of which is fake) and Bulgaria, I currently have $35k missing
MtGox: Japan, no way to get USD out from the US, has had huge problems with withdrawals & responding to people in the past. I hear it's good for those outside the US though.
Vircurex: Beijing
There are quite a few other exchanges I've never heard of (including 6 in China that I wouldn't trust due to lack of legal recourse), and I'm guessing the others are relatively new and simply don't have the volume needed to invest more than small amounts, but I'll keep researching them.
traderCJ - I agree, the responsiveness of all the exchanges seem to go down when prices spike as they are overwhelmed with new accounts, funds, and support issues. I just hope this is the case vs. them trying to steal it. I will keep writing them in Russian - is there anywhere else I should post this to get their attention? On this forum or others? Or how about social media (fb, twitter, etc.)?
nice work gmoneyjive - one thing to add - Check those companies through the BBB, see if any complaints have been lodged.
I know some are in there, so you might want to re-rank ....