Posts belonging to Category Market Developments
Posted by Alan PerryonMarch 6, 2013
Why do investors continue to be enamored with hedge funds and other alternative investments? The press recently reported that institutional investors are expected to increase allocations to hedge funs by 300% this year, and hedge fund assets are expected to increase by 11% to $2.5 trillion, according to the 11th annual survey of institutional investors […]
Categories: Alternative Investments, Brokerage Firms, Closed End Funds, Common Securities Broker Abuses, 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, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Limited Partnerships, Market Developments, Misrepresentation/Omission, Nontraded REITs, Oil & Gas, Preferred Stocks, Private Equity Investments, Private Investments/Reg D, Reverse Convertibles, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Structured Notes, Unsuitable Recommendations, Variable Annuities and Equity-Indexed Annuities
Posted by Alan PerryonMarch 2, 2013
J. P. Morgan Chase has announced plans to cut 17,000 jobs over a two-year period and cut $1 billion of expenses this year. The announcement was made at an Investor Day presentation in New York. The bank employs nearly 260,000 people worldwide. Over the past several years, CEO Jamie Dimon reportedly had been adamant that […]
Categories: Brokerage Firms, Economy, Employment Issues, Investment Advisers, J. P. Morgan Chase, Jobs, Market Developments, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation
Posted by Alan PerryonFebruary 25, 2013
Merrill Lynch has agreed to pay $12 million to settle wage and hour class action lawsuits filed by employees seeking compensation for overtime. The period in dispute is between 2010 and 2012. The employees are referred to as “client associates,” whose job is to support the financial advisers by serving clients and developing new business […]
Categories: Bank of America, Brokerage Firms, Economy, Employment Issues, Investment Advisers, Jobs, Market Developments, Merrill Lynch, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation
Posted by Alan PerryonFebruary 14, 2013
The number of brokers switching firms is expected to be higher than average this year for a number of reasons. Among the reasons is a proposed new rule requiring brokers to disclose signing bonuses to clients, which is viewed as very likely to be approved. If brokers switch firms before the rule becomes effective, they […]
Categories: Brokerage Firms, Economy, Employment Issues, Investment Advisers, Investor Alerts, Jobs, Market Developments, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation
Posted by Alan PerryonFebruary 12, 2013
Individual investors who sold and fled the stock market are starting to buy stocks again as stock prices have risen significantly off their lows in March 2009. According to contrarian philosophy, the return of panic sellers to the market is a sign of a market top and an imminent correction. If so, retail investors will […]
Categories: Brokerage Firms, Economy, Elder Abuses, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Market Developments, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Smart Investing Tools
Posted by Alan PerryonFebruary 5, 2013
Experts are seeing signs of bubbles in stocks, bonds and farmland. This froth is basically the result of the Federal Reserve’s policy of credit easing – implemented primarily by its purchase of Treasuries and mortgage securities, which lowers interest rates and drives investors into riskier assets. The Fed’s primary reason for doing this is to […]
Categories: Bonds, Brokerage Firms, Economy, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Market Developments, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Smart Investing Tools, Stocks
Posted by Page PerryonJanuary 4, 2013
The sense that the stock market is rigged became the majority view of disgusted investors in 2012, according to a Yahoo Finance article, “In 2012, Many Felt the Market Was Rigged.” This view is attributable to many factors, including the complexity and lack of transparency of multiple exchanges and alternative networks and the degree to […]
Categories: Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Economy, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Market Developments, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation
Posted by Page PerryonJanuary 2, 2013
The financial press is increasingly critical of an investment product it glamorized in the past ? hedge funds. As a group they have underperformed unmanaged stock and balanced fund indices for the last 10 years while enriching fund managers. Yet more hedge funds continue to come on line. The question is why do they continue […]
Categories: Alternative Funds, Alternative Investments, Brokerage Firms, Citigroup Hedge Funds, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Hedge Funds, Investigations, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Market Developments, Misrepresentation/Omission, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Smart Investing Tools, Unsuitable Recommendations
Posted by Page PerryonDecember 29, 2012
The lowest yields in 40 years and concern over their tax-exempt status sent municipal bonds into their worst monthly decline since 2010, according to InvestmentNews (“Munis take worst pounding since Meredith Whitney”). As of December 21, municipals were on track to lose 1.9 per cent of their market value for the month. Thanks to the […]
Categories: Brokerage Firms, Economy, Investment Advisers, Investor Alerts, Market Developments, Municipal Bonds, Mutual Funds, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Smart Investing Tools
Posted by Page PerryonDecember 14, 2012
CNNMoney’s well-respected senior editor-at-large, Allan Sloan, has a warning for municipal bond investors ? look out below, because even investment grade municipal bonds are mega-inflated by lighter-than-air interest rates and are sure to pop when interest rates (and tax rates) rise. Repeat: high grade munis, he says, are at risk (“Municipal bonds: A train wreck […]
Categories: Bonds, Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Elder Abuses, Investment Advisers, Investor Alerts, Market Developments, Municipal Bonds, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Smart Investing Tools
