Posts belonging to Category Smart Investing Tools
Posted by J. Boyd PageonApril 12, 2013
A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Arbitration Panel has ordered MML Investors Services LLC to pay $1,137,923 to a California investor in connection with the sale of an unregistered security (a promissory note) issued by Diversity Lending Group, Inc. (“DLG”). The award includes compensatory damages plus reimbursement for expert witness fees, deposition costs, and the [...]
Categories: A General Overview, Alternative Investments, Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Early Retirement Scams, Elder Abuses, Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Misrepresentation/Omission, Private Investments/Reg D, Promissory Notes, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Smart Investing Tools, Unsuitable Recommendations
Posted by J. Boyd PageonMarch 29, 2013
Rising interest rates may be death to traditional bonds and bond funds, but a number of alternative investment strategies allegedly designed to protect principal in a rising interest rate environment are springing up to take their place. It remains to be seen whether they will provide ballast when bond prices fall. For decades, bond investors [...]
Categories: A General Overview, Alternative Funds, Alternative Investments, Brokerage Firms, Closed End Funds, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Credit Default Swaps, 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, Investigations, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Limited Partnerships, Misrepresentation/Omission, Mutual Funds, Penny Stocks, Private Equity Investments, Private Investments/Reg D, Promissory Notes, Reverse Convertibles, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Smart Investing Tools, Structured Notes, Unsuitable Recommendations, Variable Annuities and Equity-Indexed Annuities
Posted by J. Boyd PageonMarch 28, 2013
Swiss banking giant UBS AG is reported to be engaged in settlement discussions with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission regarding its structuring and underwriting of an allegedly fraudulent mortgage bond deal. The SEC has alleged that UBS defrauded clients that invested over $748 million in notes linked to a CDO known as ACA ABS [...]
Categories: A General Overview, Alternative Investments, Brokerage Firms, CDOs, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Early Retirement Scams, Elder Abuses, Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Investigations, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Misrepresentation/Omission, Mortgage Securities & Collateralized Debt Obligation Problems, Regulatory Developments, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Smart Investing Tools, Unsuitable Recommendations
Posted by J. Boyd PageonMarch 28, 2013
Anastasios “Tommy” Belesis, owner of John Thomas Financial, a brokerage firm, and George R. Jarkesy Jr., a hedge fund manager, worked together to defraud investors in the John Thomas Bridge and Opportunity Fund LP I and John Thomas Bridge and Opportunity Fund LP II, according to a recently filed SEC complaint. The funds reportedly invested [...]
Categories: A General Overview, Alternative Investments, Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Early Retirement Scams, Elder Abuses, Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Hedge Funds, Investigations, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Misrepresentation/Omission, Regulatory Developments, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Smart Investing Tools, Unsuitable Recommendations
Posted by J. Boyd PageonMarch 27, 2013
A decided majority (61%) of financial advisers do not provide their clients with a written investment policy statements. Such policy statements should, at a minimum, be based upon a number of suitability factors developed by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). Those factors include, but are not limited to, the client’s age, other investments, financial [...]
Categories: A General Overview, Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Early Retirement Scams, Elder Abuses, Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Misrepresentation/Omission, Regulatory Developments, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Smart Investing Tools, Unsuitable Recommendations
Posted by J. Boyd PageonMarch 26, 2013
A recent Wall Street Journal column advises money managers not to put more client money in municipal bonds. The column sets forth a number of risks and problems that it urged money managers to consider before placing clients’ money in these investments. First, municipal bonds’ tax-exempt status may be in political jeopardy (“Morning Call: Advisers [...]
Categories: A General Overview, Bonds, Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Early Retirement Scams, Elder Abuses, Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Investigations, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Misrepresentation/Omission, Municipal Bonds, Mutual Funds, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Smart Investing Tools, Unsuitable Recommendations
Posted by J. Boyd PageonMarch 14, 2013
OppenheimerFunds Inc. has agreed to pay more than $35,000,000 to settle SEC charges that it made misleading statements about two of its mutual funds during the credit crisis. The payments include a penalty of $24,000,000, disgorgement of $9,879,706, and prejudgment interest of $1,487,190. According to the SEC, Oppenheimer used total return swaps (a type of [...]
Categories: Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Elder Abuses, Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Misrepresentation/Omission, Mutual Funds, Oppenheimer, Regulatory Developments, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Smart Investing Tools, Unsuitable Recommendations
Posted by J. Boyd PageonMarch 1, 2013
As the population ages and investors’ financial acumen decline, financial advisers will be forced to assume additional duties and responsibilities in order to avoid liability exposure. For example, Alzheimer’s disease will raise legal and ethical challenges for investment advisers over the next 40 years as the incidence of that dread disease is expected to nearly [...]
Categories: Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Early Retirement Scams, Elder Abuses, Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Investigations, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Misrepresentation/Omission, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Smart Investing Tools, Unsuitable Recommendations
Posted by J. Boyd PageonFebruary 20, 2013
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 [...]
Categories: Bonds, Brokerage Firms, Church Bonds, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Elder Abuses, Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, High Yield (Junk) Bonds, Investigations, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Misrepresentation/Omission, Mutual Funds, Regulatory Developments, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Smart Investing Tools, Unsuitable Recommendations
Posted by J. Boyd PageonFebruary 13, 2013
InvestmentNews recently published a lengthy excerpt from Simon Lack’s book entitled “The Hedge Fund Mirage: The illusion of Big Money and Why It’s Too Good to be True” (“Hedge funds benefit insiders only”). Mr. Lack studied the matter and concluded that the appeal of hedge funds has no sensible basis. While there are occasional shooting [...]
Categories: Alternative Investments, Brokerage Firms, Citigroup Hedge Funds, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Elder Abuses, Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Hedge Funds, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Misrepresentation/Omission, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Smart Investing Tools, Unsuitable Recommendations
Posted by J. Boyd PageonFebruary 12, 2013
The biggest problem with exchange traded funds is the fact that they can be traded, according to Vanguard Funds Founder and index fund proponent John Bogle. The ability to trade ETFs plays into one of the top ten mistakes made by investors. That mistake – trying to time the market. Market timing is speculation, not [...]
Categories: Alternative Investments, Brokerage Firms, Churning, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Exchange Traded Notes (ETNs), Exchange Traded Products (ETPs), Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs), Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Misrepresentation/Omission, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Smart Investing Tools, Unsuitable Recommendations
Posted by J. Boyd PageonFebruary 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 J. Boyd PageonFebruary 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 7, 2013
The SEC has hired hedge fund industry professionals to assist in its investigation of problems and abuses in the hedge fund industry. Three SEC enforcement units are involved in the investigations: the Asset Management unit headed by Bruce Karpati, the Market Abuse unit, and the Structured and New Products unit. The SEC has brought over [...]
Categories: Alternative Investments, Brokerage Firms, Citigroup Hedge Funds, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Hedge Funds, Investigations, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Misrepresentation/Omission, Regulatory Developments, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Smart Investing Tools, Unsuitable Recommendations
Posted by Page PerryonJanuary 7, 2013
A recent change in policy by the SEC could have a significant impact on the risk profile of some ETFs. In response to pressure from the industry, the SEC has lifted its moratorium on the use of derivatives by certain exchange traded funds. This move is expected to result in an increase in the number [...]
Categories: Alternative Investments, Brokerage Firms, Exchange Traded Products (ETPs), Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs), Investment Advisers, Investor Alerts, Regulatory Developments, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Smart Investing Tools