Posts belonging to Category High Yield (Junk) Bonds



Bond Warning Issued by FINRA

 

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has finally joined the crowd in warning investors about the risks of bonds and bond funds in the current environment. If FINRA is worried about bonds, the end may be near. FINRA may be late in warning investors about bond and bond fund risks say financial advisers, but investors […]

Alternative Investments Begin to Haunt LPL Financial

 

LPL Financial, the country’s largest independent broker-dealer, is encountering serious problems involving its sales of alternative investments. LPL is also (not coincidentally) one of the country’s largest sellers of alternative investment products. In 2011, LPL sold $758,435,677 of variable annuities (which are considered by most industry observers as being alternative investments) and $110,643,148 of other […]

Victims of Elder Investment Fraud – A Growing Problem

 

Investment scams targeting senior citizens continue to proliferate in Georgia and across the country. In fact, the Atlanta Journal Constitution recently published an article dealing with financial fraud perpetrated against seniors.  The article (“Financial fraud scams target Georgia seniors”) focused on an 81 year-old lady who was the victim of a ponzi scheme.  A ponzi […]

Today’s ‘Alternative Investments’ Resemble ‘Limited Partnerships’ of the Past

 

Wall Street’s recent promotion of alternative investments should warrant serious concern among investors. It serves as an unpleasant example of history repeating itself. In the mid-1980s, Wall Street firms became enamored with limited partnerships (a form of alternative investment) that invested in so-called hard assets, paid the firms high commissions and fees, were illiquid and […]

Will Alternative Investments Fuel the Next Financial Debacle?

 

Investors are being sold more and more alternative investments and large broker-dealers are ramping up to supply that demand, according to the Wall Street Journal (“Alternatives Get a Boost”). The trouble is that most investors do not fully understand these products and their brokerage firm advisers do not fairly explain the risks and problems associated […]

More Experts View Bonds as High Risk

 

Many experts believe that fixed income has become a high-risk asset class, more so than at any time in recent years. Demand has pushed bond prices way up and yields way down. Bond sales for 2012 are expected to break the 2009 record of $1.024 trillion. Investors’ average allocation to fixed income is 26%, double […]

Insurance Companies Raise Red Flags on Certain Alternative Investments

 

The recent actions of errors and omissions insurance carriers should serve as a major red flag to investors. Many of these carriers are refusing to issue coverage for sales of certain alternative investments. In other words, these carriers have determined that the risk of loss associated with the sale of certain alternative investments is too […]

Morgan Stanley Advises Investors to Sell Junk Bonds

 

Record low yields on junk bonds have led Morgan Stanley to downgrade them and advise investors to reduce their holdings. Even in good economic times, junk bond are riskier than investment grade bonds and are supposed to pay significantly more interest as a risk premium. However, today’s weak economy increases the risk of default by […]

Page Perry Pursuing Church Bond Loss Claims

 

Page Perry announces that it is investigating instances where church bonds were improperly sold to members of the investing public. Recently the firm has been approached by investors whom sustained devastating losses as a result of investing in church bonds and has found an array of misconduct by the sellers ranging from outright fraud to […]

The Risks of Junk Bonds Grow

 

The Federal Reserve’s recent announcement of the new stimulus package has resulted in another stampede by investors into higher-risk high-yield (junk) bonds. Inflows into junk bond funds were the second highest ever and the highest for this year. Even lower grade borrowers are selling junk notes in the U.S. at an “unprecedented pace” (“Junk-Bond Fund […]