Posts belonging to Category A General Overview
Posted by Alan PerryonApril 19, 2013
According to financial advisers, do not be fooled by the recent market in stocks into believing that we are in for a continuing period of sustained low volatility. Those advisers want you to expect lots of volatility and market corrections and to invest accordingly. In light of the foregoing, investors should adopt alternative investment strategies […]
Categories: A General Overview, Alternative Investments, Brokerage Firms, Church Bonds, Closed End Funds, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Crowd Funding, Derivatives, Early Retirement Scams, Elder Abuses, Exchange Traded Products (ETPs), Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Hedge Funds, High Yield (Junk) Bonds, Investigations, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Limited Partnerships, Misrepresentation/Omission, Non-Traded Business Development Companies, Nontraded REITs, Oil & Gas, Options, Preferred Stocks, Private Equity Investments, Private Investments/Reg D, Promissory Notes, Reverse Convertibles, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Structured Notes, Unsuitable Recommendations
Posted by Alan PerryonApril 12, 2013
A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Arbitration Panel has ordered MML Investors Services LLC to pay $1,137,923 to a California investor in connection with the sale of an unregistered security (a promissory note) issued by Diversity Lending Group, Inc. (“DLG”). The award includes compensatory damages plus reimbursement for expert witness fees, deposition costs, and the […]
Categories: A General Overview, Alternative Investments, Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Early Retirement Scams, Elder Abuses, Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Misrepresentation/Omission, Private Investments/Reg D, Promissory Notes, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Smart Investing Tools, Unsuitable Recommendations
Posted by Alan PerryonApril 9, 2013
Stockton, California, the most recent U.S. city to file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection, has presented serious issues about whether municipal bondholders will be forced to take a “haircut” while Stockton pensioners do not. With 300,000 residents, Stockton is the largest U.S. city in history to file bankruptcy. Stockton has total outstanding debt of over […]
Categories: A General Overview, Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Early Retirement Scams, Elder Abuses, Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Investigations, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Misrepresentation/Omission, Municipal Bonds, Regulatory Developments, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Unsuitable Recommendations
Posted by Alan PerryonApril 4, 2013
Allan S. Roth prefers low-cost diversified bond funds for investors seeking the best interest yields on their investments. Mr. Roth, the noted financial planner and Wall Street Journal contributor, periodically reviews clients’ portfolios and makes recommendations. Sometimes the only thing a client wants to keep is the municipal bond manager who seems to be producing […]
Categories: A General Overview, Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Early Retirement Scams, Elder Abuses, Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Misrepresentation/Omission, Municipal Bonds, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Unsuitable Recommendations
Posted by Alan PerryonMarch 29, 2013
Rising interest rates may be death to traditional bonds and bond funds, but a number of alternative investment strategies allegedly designed to protect principal in a rising interest rate environment are springing up to take their place. It remains to be seen whether they will provide ballast when bond prices fall. For decades, bond investors […]
Categories: A General Overview, Alternative Funds, Alternative Investments, Brokerage Firms, Closed End Funds, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Credit Default Swaps, Derivatives, Early Retirement Scams, Elder Abuses, Exchange Traded Notes (ETNs), Exchange Traded Products (ETPs), Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs), Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Hedge Funds, High Yield (Junk) Bonds, Investigations, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Limited Partnerships, Misrepresentation/Omission, Mutual Funds, Penny Stocks, Private Equity Investments, Private Investments/Reg D, Promissory Notes, Reverse Convertibles, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Smart Investing Tools, Structured Notes, Unsuitable Recommendations, Variable Annuities and Equity-Indexed Annuities
Posted by Alan PerryonMarch 28, 2013
Swiss banking giant UBS AG is reported to be engaged in settlement discussions with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission regarding its structuring and underwriting of an allegedly fraudulent mortgage bond deal. The SEC has alleged that UBS defrauded clients that invested over $748 million in notes linked to a CDO known as ACA ABS […]
Categories: A General Overview, Alternative Investments, Brokerage Firms, CDOs, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Early Retirement Scams, Elder Abuses, Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Investigations, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Misrepresentation/Omission, Mortgage Securities & Collateralized Debt Obligation Problems, Regulatory Developments, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Smart Investing Tools, Unsuitable Recommendations
Posted by Alan PerryonMarch 28, 2013
Anastasios “Tommy” Belesis, owner of John Thomas Financial, a brokerage firm, and George R. Jarkesy Jr., a hedge fund manager, worked together to defraud investors in the John Thomas Bridge and Opportunity Fund LP I and John Thomas Bridge and Opportunity Fund LP II, according to a recently filed SEC complaint. The funds reportedly invested […]
Categories: A General Overview, Alternative Investments, Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Early Retirement Scams, Elder Abuses, Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Hedge Funds, Investigations, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Misrepresentation/Omission, Regulatory Developments, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Smart Investing Tools, Unsuitable Recommendations
Posted by Alan PerryonMarch 27, 2013
A decided majority (61%) of financial advisers do not provide their clients with a written investment policy statements. Such policy statements should, at a minimum, be based upon a number of suitability factors developed by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). Those factors include, but are not limited to, the client’s age, other investments, financial […]
Categories: A General Overview, Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Early Retirement Scams, Elder Abuses, Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Misrepresentation/Omission, Regulatory Developments, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Smart Investing Tools, Unsuitable Recommendations
Posted by Alan PerryonMarch 26, 2013
A recent Wall Street Journal column advises money managers not to put more client money in municipal bonds. The column sets forth a number of risks and problems that it urged money managers to consider before placing clients’ money in these investments. First, municipal bonds’ tax-exempt status may be in political jeopardy (“Morning Call: Advisers […]
Categories: A General Overview, Bonds, Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Early Retirement Scams, Elder Abuses, Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Investigations, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Misrepresentation/Omission, Municipal Bonds, Mutual Funds, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Smart Investing Tools, Unsuitable Recommendations
Posted by Alan PerryonMarch 25, 2013
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), as well as the SEC and state regulators, have announced that they are concerned about broker/adviser sales practices involving alternative investments including variable annuities and equity-indexed annuities. They have the distribution of these complex products on their radar screens. On January 11, 2013, FINRA sent a letter to its […]
Categories: A General Overview, Alternative Investments, Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Early Retirement Scams, Elder Abuses, Exchange Traded Notes (ETNs), Exchange Traded Products (ETPs), Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs), Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Hedge Funds, High Yield (Junk) Bonds, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Misrepresentation/Omission, Nontraded REITs, Oil & Gas, Private Equity Investments, Private Investments/Reg D, Promissory Notes, Regulatory Developments, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Structured Notes, Unsuitable Recommendations, Variable Annuities and Equity-Indexed Annuities
