Investment Fraud Lawyer Blog

Since the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) amended its rules effective January 31, 2011 to allow investors who file securities arbitration claims to opt for an “all-public” panel with no ties to the securities industry (as FINRA defines “ties”), 77 percent of eligible investors have done so, according to Linda Fienberg, president of FINRA Dispute Resolution, which administers arbitration proceedings.

Continue reading " Investors Prefer All Public Arbitration Panels " »

U.S. District Court Judge Jed S. Rakoff has been asked by the SEC and Citigroup to approve a settlement of charges that Citigroup misled investors in a $1 billion dollar CDO deal called Class Funding III that was tied to residential mortgage-backed securities. Citigroup would pay a $95 million penalty and not admit fault. The Judge has some tough questions that he wants answered at a hearing before him in his courtroom on November 9.

Continue reading " Judge Challenges 'Cozy' Deal Between the SEC and Citigroup " »

Knowledge about financial matters falls 2% each year after age 60, while, at the same time, confidence in being financially knowledgeable increases, according to a study done by Michael Finke, an associate professor at Texas Tech University and other entitled “Old Age and the Decline in Financial Literacy."

Continue reading " Study - Investors Over Age 60 Are More Vulnerable to Financial Fraud " »

Anyone who hears Occupy Wall Street protestors dismissed as sore losers who want something for nothing should read Matt Taibbi’s latest blog entitled “Wall Street Isn’t Winning – It’s Cheating.” It is Wall Street banks who are the losers who want something for nothing – and they are getting it. Taibbi exposes the double standard that that is used to support Wall Street banks and their senior management for winning a rigged game with the cooperation of politicians who are recipients of Wall Street money.

Continue reading " Wall Street's 'Entitled to Something for Nothing' Attitude Comes Under Attack " »

Occupy Wall Street has spawned synchronized protests in over 900 cities around the world. Those protests involve more than demonstrations against financial institutions. While expressing solidarity with Occupy Wall Street, many demonstrations have additional roots in local issues. See “Globalizing Occupy Wall Street: From Chile to Israel, Protests Erupt” (ProPublica).

Continue reading " Occupy Wall Street Protests Erupt Across the Globe " »

The Securities and Exchange Commission has launched a general review of exchange trade funds, including the adequacy of disclosures made to investors. The U.S. Senate also held hearings last week examining exchange traded funds. These come amidst growing concerns that exchange traded funds are generating 35-40% of the exchange trading volume and playing a significant role in the extreme volatility of the stock market.

Continue reading " Are Exotic Exchange Traded Funds New Weapons of Mass Destruction? " »

What kind of regulator would alter documents requested by its regulator? The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) does, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission. In 2008, employees at FINRA’s Kansas City office altered three documents just hours before producing them to the SEC pursuant to a document request. The documents were records of staff meeting minutes.

Continue reading " Corruption at Securities Self Regulatory Organization " »

Rutgers history professor James Livingston asserts that economic growth is a function of consumer and government spending in his recent article “It’s Consumer Spending, Stupid." When politicians insist that more incentives for private investors in the form of lower taxes on corporate profits is the way to growth, and polls show most of the public agrees with that, they are wrong, Livingston says. Admitting it is a controversial claim, he makes the following additional points and observations.

Continue reading " Consumer Spending, not Corporate Tax Cuts, Key to Economic Recovery " »

The Securities and Exchange Commission has unanimously approved regulations designed to provide regulators with better information about hedge funds’ leverage, investments, valuation and trading practices in order to help policy makers better manage the systemic risk to the whole financial sector posed by hedge funds. But some, like AFL-CIO president Richard Trumpka think it falls short and more disclosures are needed. “The fact that opaque, highly leveraged pools of capital - - or ‘shadow banks’ - - can pose systemic threats is well acknowledged,” Trumpka was quoted as saying.

Continue reading " Hedge Funds Face New Disclosure Obligations " »

A study by the Charles Schwab Corporation indicates that retail investors want more information about the bonds they invest in, specifically, the base price of bonds and the amount of the markup by brokers. Andrew Osterland’s recent InvestmentNews article entitled “Bond buyers in the dark about broker markups – and not happy about it” discusses this study. Schwab arranged for the study in connection with promoting its BondSource platform. It reportedly provides access to new bond issues from more than 200 dealers, as well as in the secondary bond market, at a price of $1 per bond.

Continue reading " Bond Investors Want Better Pricing Information " »

Major accounting firms that are supposed to perform audits on big banks and other public companies may have played a role in creating the credit crisis. The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (the “Board”) found evidence that at least one of the Big Four firms routinely performed flawed audits on banks. According to a harshly critical report by the Board, Deloitte & Touche failed to check assumptions and was overly reliant on bank management’s assertions of what was proper. The Board’s report stated in part that Deloitte’s audit flaws were the result of “a firm culture that allows, or tolerates, audit approaches that do not consistently emphasize the need for an appropriate level of critical analysis analysis and collection of objective evidence, and that rely largely on management representations.” See “Audit Flaws Revealed, At Long Last,” by Floyd Norris (New York Times).

Continue reading " Audit Problems Finally Come to Light - Who Can You Trust? " »

The herd mentality of brokerage firm analysts often plays a substantial obstacle to successful investing according to neuroeconomist and behavioral finance presenter Barry Ritholz, CEO of Fusion IQ and author of The Big Picture blog.

Continue reading " Wall Street - Still Putting Lipstick on Pigs " »

Most investors would obviously like to be out of a stock BEFORE a fraud hits the fan. John Waggoner’s recent article entitled “Audit fees can serve as [an] early red flag—If they’re sky-high, that could mean stock trouble” provides a valuable tip that may allow investors to unload a stock before it tanks. He is almost certainly correct in saying that by the time investors read about an auditor’s “substantial doubt about [the company’s] ability to continue as a going concern,” it is probably too late to sell.

Continue reading " High Audit Fees May Be Indicative of Big Problems " »

Reuters blogger Felix Salmon seems to see evidence of the SEC colluding with banks to let them off the hook for most of their “built to fail” synthetic (derivatives-based) CDOs (see “Is the SEC colluding with banks on CDO prosecutions?”). What has raised eyebrows was an email from a Citigroup spokesperson saying that Citigroup has settled all its potential liabilities with the SEC by agreeing to pay $285 million in a case involving a single collateralized debt obligation (CDO) transaction (i.e., Class V Funding III). According to this email, Citigroup believes “the SEC has completed its CDO investigation(s) of Citi” and will not be examining any of the dozens of similar CDO deals.

Continue reading " Is the SEC Selectively Enforcing the Securities Laws? " »

A USAToday poll shows that American blame both Wall Street and Washington politicians for the nation’s economic woes. 87% of those polled said Washington bears a great deal to a fair amount of the blame, and 78% said the same of Wall Street.

Continue reading " Support Grows for 'Occupy Wall Street' Movement " »

Occupy Wall Street has swept the globe and is generating enormous sympathy and interest in Asia as well as Europe. The spread of Occupy Wall Street to Asia – especially Japan – is further evidence that it is a mistake to dismiss a global groundswell of anger over the flow of money from banks to governments that concentrates wealth in the hands of the 1 percent.

In Japan, the protesters gathered at the swanky Roppongi Hills complex where Goldman Sachs maintains offices. Bloomberg News columnist William Pesek was there, reporting signs saying “No Greed,” “Taxiderm the Rich” and “Stop Vampire Squids,” a reference to Goldman Sachs, which Rolling Stone colorfully characterized as a “great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity” (See “The 1 percent meets 2 billion in search of answers,” Daily Report).

Continue reading " Occupy Wall Street As A Global Phenomenon " »

Many investors in alternative investments are in for unpleasant surprises. Alternative investments are very popular these days, as traditional stock and bond investments are not doing well. Alternative Investments include a wide variety of investments that fall outside the traditional stock and bond categories. Examples include structured products (such as principal protected notes and reverse convertibles); hedge funds; private equity; nontraded REITs; niche, leveraged, inverse leveraged, and synthetic exchange traded funds; and many others.

Continue reading " Alternative Investments - High Risk 'Pigs in a Poke' " »

America’s big brokerage firms just don’t get it. Rather than focusing on their clients’ best interests, which would enhance the firms’ long-term interests, they are focused on getting rid of so-called “less productive” financial advisers to save money, and flogging the rest to sell more high-fee products to generate more revenues for the firm. Morgan Stanley’s chief financial officer Ruth Porat confirmed this on a conference call with analysts this week by reportedly saying: “Greg Fleming [head of retail brokerage]…is focused on reducing the number of less productive FAs and that brings some cost savings.” Again, big brokerage firms keep track of what is produced for the firm, not what is produced for clients. CEO James Gorman seconded: “We are not focused myopically on our size but on the returns we generate for our shareholders.”

Continue reading " Why Wall Street has a Culture of Corruption " »

The Securities and Exchange Commission is expanding its investigation into the use of derivatives by mutual funds and exchange trade funds, and will also focus on problems related to disclosures, valuations, transparency, market volatility, liquidity and other systemic risks associated with exchange traded funds, particularly "leveraged" funds that amplify investor bets often through the use of derivatives. See the Wall Street Journal (“SEC Reviewing Effects of ETFs on Volatility,” Andrew Ackerman).

Continue reading " SEC Expands Investigation into Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) " »

USA Today reports that Occupy Wall Street is a middle class revolt (“Protests spotlight a stressed middle class”). Long term unemployment, slumping pay, rising health care costs are behind it. “These people are not just protesting for the hell of it,” Allen Sinai, chief economist at Decision Economics in New York, which consults for banks and hedge funds, was quoted as saying, adding: “A lot of people don’t have purple hair, but underneath, they feel what these people are saying. The middle class is under tremendous pressure.”

Continue reading " Middle Class Values Behind Occupy Wall Street " »

There is doom and gloom on Wall Street, a feeling that there is no money to be made, and that it is not going to get better. Wall Street pay is expected to fall 30% this year, even more for executives. The economy is stagnant. New rules and regulations will stifle leveraged risk-taking at the big banks. Even if they did not, the big banks are now risk-averse. At JP Morgan third-quarter trading revenue is expected to drop 30% and investment banking fees by 50%. The financial bubble is still deflating.

Continue reading " Wall Street Disillusioned About the Future " »

Focus funds, highly concentrated (undiversified) and volatile equity mutual funds that are actively managed, are some of the worst performing funds of 2011. They typically own fewer than 50 stocks or have more than 50% of their funds invested in their top 10 holdings. They also have higher management fees. In an up year, focus fund managers may far outshine indexed and diversified funds. In a down year, they resemble mackerels rotting in the moonlight. Going from “manager of the year” to “chump of the year” in 12 months is not unheard of.

Continue reading " Focus Funds Only Appropriate for Investors Willing to Take a Wild Ride " »

Hedge funds lost $85 billion in the third quarter, the worst quarterly performance since the fourth quarter of 2008 and the fourth worst ever, according to CNNMoney. The article contains a chart depicting a stomach-churning ride for hedge fund investors: down 19.03% in 2008, up 19.98% in 2009, up 10.25 in 2010, down 5.44 so far this year. With all that volatility, investors (if they rode it all out) have a net 5.76% gain since 2008, which is 1.54% per year. Investors would have been better off buying a 10-year treasury bill yielding 3.66% per year in 2008.

Continue reading " Hard Times for Most Hedge Funds " »

InvestmentNews reports that “the music has stopped for Boogie Investment Group Inc,” another small broker-dealer that collapsed under liabilities associated with sales of a fraudulent Reg D offering, Provident Royalties. See “Boogie down and out after selling private placements,” by Bruce Kelly, InvestmentNews.

Continue reading " Private Offerings Continue to Leave a Path of Destruction " »

Wall Street is its own worst enemy, according to Tom Petruno of the LA Times (“Biggest Threat to Wall St. is the Enemy Within”). The enemy is not the occupiers of Wall Street or the regulators but the high-frequency computerized trading firms that comprise 70% of the market and cause the extreme volatility that is scaring off investors.

Continue reading " Wall Street's Worst Enemy is Wall Street " »

A U.S. Senate banking subcommittee is starting hearings today on the structure and market impact of exchange traded funds. As referenced in the Wall Street Journal article, “ETFs on the Hot Seat,” they are intensely controversial alternative investments. This is especially true of the high-risk synthetic, leveraged and niche exchange traded funds that have proliferated in recent years. These securities have increased market volatility and portfolio risk for many unsuspecting investors.

Continue reading " Congress Studying Risks and Dangers of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) " »

Volatility in the stock market increases the risk of stock ownership and is causing many retail investors to withdraw from the equity investments and explore other alternatives. This stock market volatility is increasing the bid-ask spread on stocks, which, in turn, is causing even greater volatility and drying up liquidity. Even stocks that are normally actively traded, like Apple and Netflix, are less liquid today. The reason for the illiquidity has to do in part with increasing bid-ask spreads. See Tom Lauricella’s and Gregory Zuckerman’s Wall Street Journal article “Traders Warn of Market Cracks.”

Continue reading " The Dynamics of the Stock Market are Changing for Retail Investors " »

Many investors have reason to support the Occupy Wall Street movement that objects to Wall Street greed. These investors have seen their hard-earned money dissipate in the hands of their “trusted financial professionals.”

Continue reading " Investors Should Be Leading The 'Occupy Wall Street' Charge " »

Recent evidence indicates that investors were misled about the “income” being generated by non-traded Apple REITs. Brokers at David Lerner Associates regularly represented to investors that the Apple REITs were safe, conservative investments that would protect savings from the volatility of the stock market and had produced steady, annualized returns in the neighborhood of 7% to 8%. A recent expert report, however, concluded that the Apple REITs consistently paid distribution using borrowed fund or funds received from investors – effectively recycling investors’ funds back to them as “distributions.”

Continue reading " Lerner Cases Reveal Some of the Abuses Associated with Non-Traded REITs " »

The Occupy Wall Street movement has spread worldwide across Asia, Europe and the Americas. In Rome, there were riots with protestors and police officers reportedly injured. Greece has also experienced riots. The demonstrations and violence are not confined to the economically weaker, socialist European countries but are also taking place in Berlin and London.

Continue reading " 'Occupy Wall Street' Movement Fueled by Income Disparity and Lack of Jobs " »

Investors continue to pull billions from mutual funds, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing the Investment Company Institute. Almost $11 billion flowed out of mutual funds the week ended October 7, as bond, hybrid and domestic equity funds declined. Money market funds have reported outflows this year. Investors continue to be worried about the debt situation in the U.S. and Europe.

Continue reading " Mutual Funds in Turmoil " »

State regulators uncovered 3,543 unethical practices and rule violations, an average of 4.3 violations per advisory firm, during the first half of this year. Among the violations that InvestmentNews, an industry publication, found to be especially noteworthy were individual advisers falsely designating themselves as “registered investment advisers.” See “States: Advisers violating rules by using ‘RIA,’” InvestmentNews). Misleading investors about credentials is a form of fraud.

Continue reading " Securities Regulators Say That Bad Business Practices Are on the Rise at Investment Advisers " »

Bank of New York Mellon has been sued in separate civil lawsuits filed by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Attorney General of New York seeking damages in excess of $2 billion related to BNY’s alleged practice of fraudulently misleading and overcharging public pension funds, universities, and other clients for foreign exchange (FX) currency transactions. In essence, the complaints allege that BNY Mellon profited by giving its foreign exchange clients the worst exchange rates of the day, and even created fake trades.

Continue reading " Forex Fraud Case Reveals the Value of Whistleblowers " »

A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration panel has ordered Societe Generale SA and affiliates to pay $61 million to Aurum STS Aggressive Trading LLC, a California fund manager. The dispute involved warrants sold to Aurum by a unit of Societe Generale.

Continue reading " Securities Arbitration Panel Awards Hedge Fund Manager $61 Million " »

While alternative funds have grown in popularity, they have not lived up to their hype. Mutual funds composed of alternative investments have proliferated in recent years and brokerage firms have sold billions of dollars of them as a way to combat low returns and high volatility that have soured investors away from traditional stock and bond investments. There are reportedly 251 alternative-style mutual funds and 303 alternative exchange traded funds, according to Morningstar.

Continue reading " The Performance of Alternative Funds Leaves Much to be Desired " »

Stock market volatility is up, is expected to continue into 2012, and has severely damaged investor confidence, according to a CNBC.com article entitled “Buckle Up: Stock Market Volatility Could Get Worse.” Since August, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has moved over 100 points 35 times, there have been no initial public offerings, and a number of companies have withdrawn their IPOs citing unfavorable market conditions. Investors withdrew $60.4 billion from global stock markets in July and August alone.

Continue reading " Stock Market Volatility Likely to Continue " »

Protests around the world may be as different as the Arab street is from Main Street USA, but they all share some things in common. According to Reuters Political Risk Correspondent Peter Apps, there is a pervasive “feeling that the youth and middle class are paying a high price for mismanagement and malfeasance by an out-of-touch corporate, financial and political elite.” In that sense, Occupy Wall Street may be part of a global Arab Spring, and is not explained away by Presidential contender Herman Cain’s “Cadillac envy” theory.

Continue reading " 'Occupy Wall Street' Part of a Worldwide Revolt Against Elitism and Oppression " »

Financial industry lobbyists know that money is the key that opens doors on Capitol Hill. Trade groups representing the insurance, securities brokerage and financial advisor industries are lobbying and donating huge amounts of money in an effort to buy hearings and sway votes on legislation and rulemaking they deem important to their interests, according to an InvestmentNews article by Mark Schoff Jr. entitled “Industry trade groups flex lobbying muscles.”

Continue reading " Wall Street Pays to Play " »

The securities industry in New York City has lost 22,000 jobs since January 2008, and will lose another 10,000 by the end of next year, according to a report by New York City’s Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli. If his predictions are correct, Wall Street will have lost 17% of its jobs. Wall Street has shed 4,100 jobs since April. Bonuses and other compensation are declining as well. (See “Wall Street Shrinkage,” by Andrew Grossman, Wall Street Journal).

Continue reading " Wall Street: Under Siege and Contracting " »

Regulators in the U.S. and abroad are reportedly cracking down on certain trading practices associated with high-speed electronic trading, but have yet to develop a comprehensive strategy or an effective means to carry it out.

Continue reading " Are High Speed Trading Practices a New Form of Market Manipulation? " »

The world’s largest money manager, BlackRock Inc., which owns 42% of the exchange traded fund market, has issued a report calling for increased transparency and regulation concerning synthetic exchange traded funds. Synthetic exchange traded funds rely on derivatives (options and swaps) to replicate exposure to a reference asset. This practice introduces risks associated with “mis-tracking as well as counterparty risks,” Jennifer Grancio, managing director and head of BlackRock’s iShares U.S. distribution, was quoted as saying.

Continue reading " Dominant ETF Firm Expresses Concerns About Synthetic ETFs " »

Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, has declared our unemployment situation a national crisis according to an article in Bloomberg by Joshua Zumbrun and Vivien Lou Chen. The American unemployment rate is still hovering between 9% and 10% and has been for the last few years. Worst of all, 45% of those unemployed have been without work for more than 6 months.

Continue reading " Unemployment and Resulting Consumer Pessimism Present a National Crisis " »

Investors have lost $1 billion investing in initial public offerings of closed-end mutual funds – on average 22% of their money – between January and August, 2011. Popular Wall Street Journal columnist Brett Arends suggests that the investors in these closed-end funds have been scammed.

Continue reading " Investors in Closed-End Funds Get 'Scammed' " »

The SEC’s Inspector General, David Kotz, has reportedly confirmed that the SEC improperly shredded documents related to closed investigations, and misled another federal agency, the National Archives and Records Administration, which had confronted the SEC last year about record destruction. Mr. Kotz’s report was issued to the SEC and has not officially been made public.

Continue reading " SEC Inspector General Confirms that SEC Improperly Destroyed Records " »

Recent developments suggest that most non-traded (private) real estate investment trusts (REITs) are under water even though they may be valuing their securities at cost in reports to their investors.

Continue reading " Are Non-Traded REITs Really immune from the Market Downturn? " »

Liquidity concerns are swirling around Morgan Stanley. Worries of defaults by European banks or governments are eroding the value of its assets and derivatives contracts. Hedge funds are so concerned that they have begun to withdraw cash from their prime brokerage accounts at Morgan Stanley. In the face of these developments, Morgan Stanley is telling investors not to worry, that its liquidity is strong.

Continue reading " Is Morgan Stanley Telling the Truth about its Condition? " »

“Occupy Wall Street,” the once loosely-organized protest against Wall Street greed and corruption, has swelled in number, garnered union support and appears to be morphing into the Tea Party of the Left. Powerful unions like the AFL-CIO and the American Federation of Teachers unions are lending support.

Continue reading " 'Occupy Wall Street' on its Way to Becoming a Massive, Vibrant Movement " »

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has issued an Investor Alert regarding non-traded Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs). Non-traded REITS carry significant risk to investors. FINRA is concerned that sales agents are not explaining those risks to investors.

Continue reading " FINRA Issues an Investor Alert Regarding Non-Traded (Private) REITs " »

Merrill Lynch agreed to pay $1 million to settle charges by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) that it failed to supervise Bruce Hammonds, a San Antonio-based representative, who was ‘selling away’ from the firm by operating a $1 million dollar Ponzi scheme for more than 10 months. The ponzi scheme, named B&J Partnership, used Merrill Lynch accounts.

Continue reading " 'Selling Away' Abuses Result in Merrill Lynch Being Fined $1 Million " »

Occupy Wall Street is in its third week of protests against the Lords and Masters of Wall Street. Noted author Michael Lewis (“Liar’s Poker,” “The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine,” and “Boomerang: Travels in the New Third World”) said they are right to be angry. He told Bloomberg that the Occupation would get very interesting if they presented a list of specific demands. (See “Michael Lewis Slams Wall St., Leadership Deficit,” Bloomberg).

Continue reading " 'Occupy Wall Street' Supporters Vow to Erase The New York Stock Exchange from the Internet " »

Investors should use extreme caution before investing in alternative investments. Alternative investments have become the popular “investment du jour" but these investments are fraught with risks. Simply stated, alternative investments are not the panacea that so-called experts represent them to be. For the reasons discussed below, investors need to be very skeptical of any recommendation encouraging them to invest in alternative investments.

Continue reading " Most Alternative Investments Carry Huge Risks " »

Brokers often pitch alternative investments when the stock market is declining and returns on traditionally safe investments are too low. A few alternative investments may have some merit. Many more are flawed, bad and ugly in that they provide investors little more than uncompensated high risk. Then there are those that cross the line into the realm of the outright fraudulent. Unless the brokerage firm is itself a criminal enterprise, brokers often try sell fraudulent investments away from the firm to avoid detection by the firm. The practice is known as “selling away.”

Continue reading " 'Selling Away' Abuses Are Costing Investors Millions " »

The recent sell-off in the high yield bond market could mean an increase in bankruptcy filings as shaky companies that depend on that market find it is closed to them, according to Oleg Melentyev, head of high yield strategy at Bank of America. Despite the extremely low yields on traditionally safe investments such as certificates of deposit and money market funds, weak economic data, U.S. budget concerns, rising commodities prices, and, especially, a resurgence of Europe's sovereign debt problems sent many investors out off riskier asset classes like high yield bonds and into U.S. Treasuries.

Continue reading " High Yield ('Junk') Bonds Are Speculative " »

Morgan Stanley’s credit default swaps and bond yields are climbing, signaling that investors are concerned about the firm’s creditworthiness. The price of a credit default swap on Morgan Stanley represents the price demanded to insure its debt against default. The higher the price, the greater the risk the bank will default, in the eyes of its insurers. According to Moody’s Analytics, Morgan Stanley’s credit default swap price level implies a credit rating of Ba2, which is non-investment grade, speculative – aka junk. That is down from Ba1 (also junk level) a month ago and vastly below the high-grade rating of A2 assigned by Moody’s Investors Service (a different Moody’s company).

Continue reading " Storm Clouds Over Morgan Stanley " »

The independent broker-dealers that sell non-traded real estate investment trusts (REITs) are reportedly trying to reduce their own risk by raising their due diligence standards. More stringent standards means fewer non-traded REITs being put on brokers’ approved lists to sell. At the same time, the number of non-traded REITs on the market is at an all-time high of 68, and sponsors are beating the bushes to keep them on the brokers’ shelves, according to Bruce Kelly’s InvestmentNews article, “Indies cut back on some REITs to lessen risk.”

Continue reading " Brokerage Firms Become More Concerned About Non-Traded (Private) REITs " »

Raymond James affiliates have been ordered to pay $2.1 million in fines and restitution to more than 15,500 of its customers for overcharging them in 27,000 transactions. Raymond James customers paid nearly $1.7 million in excess commissions, according to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). In addition, FINRA found that Raymond James’ supervisory systems were inadequate. The excessive commissions primarily involved low-priced securities (commonly known as penny stocks).

Continue reading " Raymond James' Affiliates Gouge Investors " »

More than 700 “Occupy Wall Street” demonstrators were arrested and handcuffed as they tried to cross the Brooklyn Bridge in New York on Saturday, October 1. The arrests, mostly for disorderly conduct, were videotaped and broadcast on the internet. The NYPD allegedly pepper-sprayed a group of demonstrators earlier in the week, and an investigation was opened.

Continue reading " 'Occupy Wall Street' Continues Demonstrations Against Wall Street Greed " »