Investment Fraud Lawyer Blog

Dow Corning Corp. has filed its second lawsuit in a month over losses suffered by the company due to auction rate securities. The latest Dow suit, filed against Merrill Lynch in federal court in New York, alleges that Merrill misled the company about the safety and liquidity of the auction rate securities market. According to the complaint filed by Dow’s lawyers, the company invested $166 million in failed auction rate securities due to Merrill’s misrepresentations between 2005 and 2008.

Continue reading " Dow Corning Files Another Auction Rate Securities Lawsuit " »

There have been various developments over the past several weeks which investors may consider relevant in allocating their resources or evaluating alternatives that are available to them. Some of the more significant developments include, but are not limited to, the following:

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average opened the week at 10,318 and, on Monday, the market soared 133 points.

• On Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 17 points.

• On Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rebounded 31 points.

• On Thursday, the markets were closed for Thanksgiving..

• On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 154 points and closed the week at 10,309.

Continue reading " Page Perry's Market Monitor - November 27, 2009 " »

Despite all of Wall Street’s advertisements touting its trustworthy expertise and advice, a Senate Banking Committee bill that would hold brokers to the fiduciary standard of conduct is receiving a “cool” reception on Wall Street, according to Sara Hansard in her November 15 InvestmentNews article, “Dodd bill would make reps fiduciaries.” The standard would require all brokers to put the client’s interests first, the same as traditional investment advisors. Based on pervasive television advertising by brokerage firms, many brokerage firm clients justifiably believe the firms promise to do that already.

There have been various developments over the past several weeks which investors may consider relevant in allocating their resources or evaluating alternatives that are available to them. Some of the more significant developments include, but are not limited to, the following:

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average opened the week at 10,270 and, on Monday, the market soared 136 points.

• On Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 30 points.

• On Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 11 points.

• On Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 94 points.

• On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 14 points and closed the week at 10,318.

Continue reading " Page Perry's Market Monitor - November 20, 2009 " »

A federal court recently certified a class action against Charles Schwab & Company, Inc. brought on behalf of investors in the Schwab YieldPlus Fund. The certification means that the lawsuit can proceed as a class action; no settlement has been reached. Most importantly for YieldPlus investors with significant losses, the deadline to be excluded from this class action is December 28, 2009.

Continue reading " Only 40 Days Left for Schwab YieldPlus Investors to Preserve their Rights " »

There have been various developments over the past several weeks which investors may consider relevant in allocating their resources or evaluating alternatives that are available to them. Some of the more significant developments include, but are not limited to, the following:

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average opened the week at 10,023 and, on Monday, the market soared 204 points.

• On Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 20 points.

• On Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 44 more points.

• On Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 94 points.

• On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rebounded 73 points and closed the week at 10,270.

Continue reading " Page Perry's Market Monitor - November 13, 2009 " »

Private investments (also known as private placements or Reg D offerings) have been the subject of a growing number of fraud charges by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and some states. Such deals, including oil and gas ventures and real estate partnerships, have historically been capitalized by sales to individual investors through independent broker-dealers. Promoters of these investments depend upon this channel to raise money and the broker dealers reap rich commissions on the private placements with loads up to 30%.

Continue reading " Reg D Offerings and Other Private Investments Expose Investors to Huge Risks " »

Dow Corning Corp. has filed a federal lawsuit against BB&T bank for misrepresenting the risk and liquidity of auction rate securities, leaving Dow Corning with $667 million in securities that it cannot sell. Auction rate securities (ARS) are debt instruments for which interest or dividends are regularly reset through a Dutch auction. Auction rate securities were once routinely marketed as safe, cash equivalents that were highly liquid, but the broker-dealers who sold them failed to disclose that liquidity was entirely dependent upon the success of the auction process, which was being artificially supported by the undisclosed participation of brokers bidding in auctions where they had an interest. The Dow Corning suit, filed in federal court in New Jersey, alleges that the bank and its brokerage subsidiary either misstated or failed to disclose material facts about the safety and liquidity of the investment, even as BB&T knew that the market was collapsing.

Continue reading " BB & T Sued over Auction Rate Securities Abuses " »

The Receiver for Medical Capital Holdings Inc. issued his Third Report on October 9, 2009. The most recent report did contain some additional information but was, in most part, a recap of what was included in the Second Report. The reports can be found at http://www.medicalcapitalreceivership.com. Nothing in the Third Report indicates any greater likelihood of recovery for investors directly from Medical Capital. As indicated in the reports, out of the 104 medical accounts receivable clients listed, 53 of the accounts, totaling some $542,894,528, appear to no longer exist.

Continue reading " Medical Capital Holdings Alert - Investors Face Tremendous Losses " »

The increasing number of senior citizens has resulted in an increase in the number of corrupt financial advisors looking to make a commission by persuading trusting seniors to buy unsuitable financial products, such as variable annuities, and engage in other inappropriate financial strategies, according to a July 2009 article in Trial magazine by Ingrid M. Evans and David L. Cheng, called “Protecting seniors from financial abuse.”

Continue reading " Financial Abuse of Senior Citizens is a Growing Problem but Remedies are Available " »

A federal court recently certified a class action against Charles Schwab & Company, Inc. brought on behalf of investors in the Schwab YieldPlus Fund. The certification means that the lawsuit can proceed as a class action; no settlement has been reached. Most importantly for YieldPlus investors with significant losses, the deadline to be excluded from this class action is December 28, 2009. Otherwise, YieldPlus investors who happen to be class members (i.e., who purchased the YieldPlus Fund within certain dates) are automatically included and will be bound by any settlement that may be reached.

Continue reading " Time is Running Out on Schwab YieldPlus Investors who Want to Opt Out of the Class Action " »

There have been various developments over the past several weeks which investors may consider relevant in allocating their resources or evaluating alternatives that are available to them. Some of the more significant developments include, but are not limited to, the following:

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average opened the week at 9,713 and, on Monday, the market jumped 77 points.

• On Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 18 points.

• On Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 30 points.

• On Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 204 points.

• On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 17 points and closed the week at 10,023.

Continue reading " Page Perry's Market Monitor - November 6, 2009 " »

Investment adviser firms, their lawyers, and their consultants all report that the Securities and Exchange Commission's examinations are becoming more demanding. Examiners are spending more time on the exams and are writing up more lengthy and detailed deficiency reports. The SEC is deferring less and less to firms’ explanations as to why supervision or compliance procedures were not in effect at the time of the examination, and seems to be taking a hard look at whether there are inconsistencies in what firms report and what they actually do in practice. Firms must prove that their compliance manuals are updated regularly and produce emails and other documents quickly. These developments are described in the October 26, 2009 Investment News article written by Jed Horowitz.

Continue reading " Examinations of Investment Advisers Are Becoming More Demanding " »

Illiquid, unregulated private placement investment offerings are worrying state regulators, who are charged with protecting the investing public from investment scams, according to a recent article in InvestmentNews by Bruce Kelly. They are known as “Reg D” offerings. There were 26,485 of Reg D offerings in 2008 ($609 billion) compared with 11,000 in 1996, according to the article.

Continue reading " Private Investments (a/k/a Reg D Investments) Pose Significant Risks to Investors " »

There has recently been a spate of litigation and regulatory activity surrounding exchange-traded funds (ETF’s), particularly leveraged or inverse ETF’s. Both the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) have issued warnings that leveraged and inverse exchange ETF’s are not suitable for most retail investors, and at least one state has announced an investigation into the sales practices of ETF’s. More recently, several class actions have been filed against specific EFT providers, notably ProShares Trust, which is one of the largest providers of leveraged and inverse ETF’s.

Continue reading " Have You Lost Money in ETF's? " »

Investors in Charles Schwab’s YieldPlus Fund need to be aware of their options in light of the recent certification of a class action brought by YieldPlus investors against Schwab. Most importantly, YieldPlus investors who are class members need to request exclusion from the class if they wish to maintain individual claims against Charles Schwab (even if those claims are already filed). Requests for exclusion must be properly filed and received by the claims administrator no later than Monday, December 28, 2009.

Continue reading " Schwab YieldPlus Investors Should Consider Their Options " »

There have been various developments over the past several weeks which investors may consider relevant in allocating their resources or evaluating alternatives that are available to them. Some of the more significant developments include, but are not limited to, the following:

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average opened the week at 9972 and, on Monday, the market fell 104 points.

• On Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rebounded 14 points.

• On Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 119 points.

• On Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 200 points.

• On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 250 points and closed the week at 9713.

Continue reading " Page Perry's Market Monitor - October 30, 2009 " »