Posts belonging to Category Alternative Investments
Posted by Page PerryonSeptember 10, 2012
The iPath S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures exchange-traded note (VXX), supposedly a hedge against stock market volatility, crashed last week losing over 10% of its market value. The sharp drop, which sent the VXX to an all-time low, occurred as positive economic news in the U.S. and Europe sent the S&P 500 stock index sharply […]
Categories: Alternative Investments, Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Exchange Traded Notes (ETNs), Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Misrepresentation/Omission, Options, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Smart Investing Tools, Unsuitable Recommendations
Posted by Page PerryonSeptember 7, 2012
Investors who are putting money into Royalty Trusts are making a big mistake and the brokers that sell them should be ashamed of themselves. According to Jason Zweig, a noted columnist with the Wall Street Journal (“Will These Royal Yields Rule?” WSJ), these trusts own nothing except income from oil wells and the right to […]
Categories: Alternative Investments, Asset Backed Securities, Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Early Retirement Scams, Elder Abuses, Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Investigations, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Misrepresentation/Omission, Private Investments/Reg D, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Smart Investing Tools, Unsuitable Recommendations
Posted by Page PerryonAugust 29, 2012
InvestmentNews, a publication geared to financial advisers, recently published a list showing how eight of the largest nontraded real estate investment trusts (REITs), which have raised over $30 billion from investors, have lost over $11 billion in value (“Decline in equity value of major nontraded REITs”).
Categories: Alternative Investments, Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Early Retirement Scams, Elder Abuses, Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Investigations, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Misrepresentation/Omission, Nontraded REITs, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Unsuitable Recommendations
Posted by Page PerryonAugust 23, 2012
InvestmentNews is reporting that the Behringer Harvard Strategic Opportunity Fund I owes more money than it can pay, that its liabilities exceed its assets (“Behringer Harvard opportunity fund under water”). “Behringer Harvard informed brokers last week of the fund’s problems and is preparing to inform investors by Friday,” according to the article. The Behringer Harvard […]
Categories: A General Overview, Alternative Investments, Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Early Retirement Scams, Elder Abuses, Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Investigations, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Misrepresentation/Omission, Nontraded REITs, REITs, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Unsuitable Recommendations
Posted by Page PerryonAugust 15, 2012
Another nontraded REIT, CNL Lifestyle Properties Inc. (CNL), has informed investors that it is worth significantly less than they paid for it, and that it will also be cutting its dividend. CNL has reported that its share price had declined from its offering price of $10.00 down to $7.31 per share, a 27% decline (“Another […]
Categories: Alternative Investments, Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Investigations, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Misrepresentation/Omission, Nontraded REITs, REITs, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Smart Investing Tools, Unsuitable Recommendations
Posted by Page PerryonAugust 6, 2012
A former UBS research analyst has filed a lawsuit filed against the bank alleging that he was fired for refusing to write inaccurate research reports to benefit (or avoid harming) UBS’s trading positions in the commercial mortgage-backed securities market. The analyst reportedly seeks reinstatement with 2.5 times accrued back pay. (“Former UBS Research Analyst Sues […]
Categories: Alternative Investments, Brokerage Firms, Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Employment Issues, Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Financial Industry Whistleblowers, Investigations, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Misrepresentation/Omission, Mortgage Backed Securities, SEC Whistleblowers, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, UBS
Posted by Page PerryonJuly 27, 2012
Exchange-traded notes are complex products sold by “the best salesmen in the world” who are often betting that their potential customers do not know just how complex they are. In most cases, investors would be better off not buying exchange-traded notes, according to USA Today’s John Waggoner (“Non-experts may want to avoid ETNs”).
Categories: Alternative Investments, Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Derivatives, Early Retirement Scams, Elder Abuses, Exchange Traded Notes (ETNs), Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs), Investigations, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Regulatory Developments, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Structured Notes
Posted by Page PerryonJuly 12, 2012
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the self-regulatory arm of the U.S. securities brokerage industry, has issued an Investor Alert regarding the features and risks of exchange-traded notes (“U.S. brokerage regulator warns of ‘unpleasant surprises’ on ETNs,” by Stuart Gittleman, Reuters).
Categories: Alternative Investments, Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Derivatives, Elder Abuses, Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs), Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Investigations, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Misrepresentation/Omission, Regulatory Developments, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Smart Investing Tools, Structured Notes, Unsuitable Recommendations
Posted by Page PerryonJune 29, 2012
Investors are being guided (some say pushed) into alternative investments at the wrong time. Many of these alternative investments are recommended by investment advisers. Many of these advisers have come to believe that they can cater to their client’s instincts to avoid equities by recommending alternative funds that use hedge fund-like strategies or watch client […]
Categories: Alternative Funds, Alternative Investments, Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Elder Abuses, Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Hedge Funds, Investigations, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Misrepresentation/Omission, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Smart Investing Tools, Unsuitable Recommendations
Posted by Page PerryonJune 22, 2012
High-yield (junk) municipal bonds have attracted about $5.3 billion of investors’ money so far this year, but some experts think that their party is about to end. The reason for the robust growth is that the yield of junk municipal bonds is approximately 5.2 percent compared with investment grade munis that are yielding 2 percent. […]
Categories: Alternative Investments, Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Elder Abuses, Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, High Yield (Junk) Bonds, Investigations, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Misrepresentation/Omission, Municipal Bonds, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Smart Investing Tools, Unsuitable Recommendations
