Posts belonging to Category TD Ameritrade



SEC Receiver’s Plan is Unfair to Proactive Medical Capital Noteholders

 

In the Medical Capital Receiver case, the SEC Receiver recently filed the “Receiver’s Proposed Plan for Distribution” (the “Plan”) which contains some disturbing news for those investors who were pro-active and obtained recoveries against third-parties through litigation (including class actions) or arbitration. As proposed in the Plan (set forth on Page 14 section 4) the […]

High Risk Options Trading Is Being Pushed By Some Brokerage Firms

 

In another example of brokerage firms catering to retail investors’ worst instincts, supposedly investor-friendly firms like Charles Schwab and TD Ameritrade are focusing on expanding their trading business beyond traditional investment like stocks and bonds into alternative investments like options because the commissions are so high. (“‘Easy Money’ Options Pushed by Online Brokers,” Bloomberg).

Brokers Transition to Smaller,Independent Firms

 

Investment advisors and brokers continue to go independent, and they are taking more assets with them when they leave their firms, according to an InvestmentNews article by Lavonne Kuykendall entitled “When going indie, advisers take more assets: Fidelity,” which cites Fidelity Investments’ 2011 Broker and Advisor Sentiment Index.

Many Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) Provide Investors with a Wild and Dangerous Ride

 

Some exchange traded funds are just plain dangerous, and investors should not be lured by the “siren song of ETF marketers,” according to Dave Kansas’ Wall Street Journal article, “Exchange-Traded Funds Gone Wild.” Leveraged ETFs are unusually volatile and high-risk. They are designed for day-trading and unsuitable for buy-and-hold investors. All 52 leveraged ETFs in […]

Are Brokerage Firms Really the Trusted Financial Advisers that Their Advertisements Claim that They Are?

 

Expecting licensed professionals who provide investment advice to act in their clients’ best interests “should be a basic tenet of the business,” but brokerage firms and their brokers don’t want that fiduciary yoke, says Karen Blumenthal in her InvestmentNews article, “When Your Adviser Can’t Be Trusted.” Moreover, they don’t want the public to know that […]

Wall Street Whistleblower Program Already Paying Off

 

The new whistleblower program that pays big cash rewards for tips about investment fraud has already resulted in a large number of high quality tips to the SEC, according to a news story this week on CNBC. According to the report, the SEC expects to receive 30,000 tips this year?just one year after the program […]

Proposed Changes to New York Law Would Make Wall Street More Accountable

 

Wall Street may face a wave of lawsuits under an expanded version of the Martin Act, New York’s securities anti-fraud statute, if the newly elected Governor of New York has his way, according to a Wall Street Journal Deal Journal blog entitled, “And the Next Mortal Threat to Wall Street Is’”.

Disillusioned Brokers Seek “Greener Pastures”

 

The upheaval in the financial industry has prompted long time brokers in the full-service brokerage firms like Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and UBS Wealth Management Americas to make a break for independence. New smaller firms with strategic alliances within the industry have rewarded these brokers with more flexibility to be […]

Social Networking Services Present a New Risk for Investors

 

“Socialized” or “social” investing is the latest way that some brokerage firms are creating a casino-like atmosphere and catering investors’ worst instincts, according to a Forbes article by Zack O’Malley Greenburg called “Tweets on the Street.” “Social networking is coming to the brokerage business. It’s unlikely to do much to enrich your retirement,” Greenburg writes.

Regulators Charge TD Ameritrade and Amerivest Investment Management with Fraud

 

Pennsylvania regulators have charged TD Ameritrade with fraud in selling its Reserve Yield Plus Fund, according to an August 4, 2010 Wall Street Journal article by Daisy Maxey, “TD Ameritrade Faces Civil Fraud Complaint Over Reserve Fund.” The Reserve Yield Plus lost money in the midst of the financial crisis in September 2008.