Posts belonging to Category Municipal Bonds
Posted by Page PerryonJanuary 17, 2012
Ordinarily, the evidence presented in a FINRA arbitration is kept “confidential” and secret from the public. That’s the way the securities industry likes it, because it really does not want the public to see the evidence against it. But in its zeal to try to overturn the largest amount ever awarded to individual investors in […]
Categories: Alternative Funds, Alternative Investments, Brokerage Firms, Citigroup Hedge Funds, Citigroup/Smith Barney, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Elder Abuses, Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Investigations, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Misrepresentation/Omission, Municipal Bonds, Private Investments/Reg D, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Unsuitable Recommendations
Posted by Page PerryonJanuary 5, 2012
It is a basic principle of Good Government 101 that when a government issues a contract, it should be subject to competitive bidding rather than being doled out to a crony of some bureaucrat. Yet eighty percent of bond underwriting contracts that are issued by state and local governments to Wall Street banks are not […]
Categories: Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Derivatives, Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Investigations, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Misrepresentation/Omission, Municipal Bonds, Regulatory Developments, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation
Posted by Page PerryonAugust 8, 2011
Just as a low tide near the seashore can reveal shipwrecks, a falling stock market often reveals misconduct by investment advisers. This is particularly true with respect to an investment adviser’s duty to recommend only investments to a customer that are suitable in light of the customer’s investment objectives, status in life and risk tolerance. […]
Categories: A General Overview, Asset Backed Securities, Bonds, Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Derivatives, Early Retirement Scams, Elder Abuses, Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs), Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Investor Rights, Mortgage Backed Securities, Municipal Bonds, Mutual Funds, Nontraded REITs, 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 Page PerryonAugust 6, 2011
On Friday, August 5, 2011, Standard & Poors, one of the three major credit rating agencies, downgraded U.S. Treasury obligations for the first time ever. The new grade is AA+, one notch below the highest AAA rating. The other two major ratings agencies, Moody’s and Fitch, have not announced a downgrade of U.S. debt at […]
Categories: Brokerage Firms, Derivatives, Economy, Investment Advisers, Investor Alerts, Market Developments, Municipal Bonds, Reverse Convertibles, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Smart Investing Tools, Structured Notes
Posted by Page PerryonJuly 8, 2011
JP Morgan Chase will pay $228 million to settle SEC charges that it rigged nearly 100 transactions involving municipal-bond auctions, according to David Benoit’s and Jessica Holzer’s Wall Street Journal article entitled “J.P. Morgan Settles Bid-Rig Case.” There are concurrent settlement agreements with various states. The SEC has settled similar cases against Bank of America […]
Categories: Bank of America, Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Investigations, Investment Advisers, Investor Alerts, J. P. Morgan Chase, Municipal Bonds, Regulatory Developments, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, UBS
Posted by Page PerryonJune 15, 2011
During a recent appearance on CNBC, Meredith Whitney repeated her warning about the municipals market, but downplayed the timing of the wave of defaults she sees coming, according to a Wall Street Journal blog entitled “Meredith Whitney Defends Self on CNBC, Warns of Another Big Downdraft in Housing.” She was pressed about her earlier prediction […]
Categories: Asset Backed Securities, Brokerage Firms, CDOs, Derivatives, Economy, Investment Advisers, Market Developments, Mortgage Securities & Collateralized Debt Obligation Problems, Municipal Bonds, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Smart Investing Tools
Posted by Page PerryonMay 21, 2011
Meredith Whitney argues that States’ unfunded obligations threaten the economic recovery in her Wall Street Journal article “The Hidden State Financial Crisis.” Is she correct? While some experts dispute her analysis, people should remember that she called the subprime crisis in 2005 at a time when many of her counterparts scoffed. As she set them […]
Categories: Brokerage Firms, Economy, Employment Issues, Investment Advisers, Market Developments, Municipal Bonds, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Smart Investing Tools
Posted by Page PerryonMay 13, 2011
Small unrated municipal bonds whose coupons are not backed by tax revenues (“mini munis”) are a class of troubled assets that are imbedded in some seemingly safe municipal bond funds, according to a SmartMoney article by Russell Pearlman entitled “The Growing Impact of ‘Mini Muni’ Bonds.” Thousands of them are missing payments and may impair […]
Categories: Bonds, Brokerage Firms, Investment Advisers, Investor Alerts, Market Developments, Municipal Bonds, Mutual Funds, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Smart Investing Tools
Posted by Page PerryonApril 19, 2011
In May of 2008 a small city of Vallejo, which is just north of San Francisco, filed for bankruptcy. According to an article by Roger Lowenstein in the NY Times, the cities bankruptcy could offer “a sneak preview of what could be the latest version of economic disaster.” At the time, the nation paid little […]
Categories: Brokerage Firms, Economy, Investment Advisers, Market Developments, Municipal Bonds, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Smart Investing Tools
Posted by Page PerryonApril 12, 2011
A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration panel in Denver has ordered Citigroup Global Markets, Inc. to pay over $54 million in damages for its abusive conduct in marketing and managing various investments including municipal bond hedge funds known as MAT/ASTA. The arbitration panel issued their award on April 8, 2011.
Categories: Brokerage Firms, Citigroup Hedge Funds, Citigroup/Smith Barney, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Investor Alerts, Municipal Bonds, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation
