News & Insights

Market Commentary

• January 5, 2012
  Market Commentary January, 2012

  After earthquakes, floods, droughts, revolutions, countries teetering on bankruptcy, a Congress missing-in-action and more than one billion dollars in cash missing at MF Global, who wouldn’t welcome a new year?

• October 6, 2011
  Market Commentary October, 2011

  Summer is usually a choppy time for the market and September is the only month of the year with an average negative return—a bad one at that. Since 1896, September has suffered an average loss of 1.1% in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.  In contrast, the other months enjoy an average gain of 0.7%.  

• July 11, 2011
  Market Commentary July, 2011

  Summary

• April 4, 2011
  Market Commentary April, 2011

  A catastrophic earthquake struck Japan in the first quarter, followed by a tsunami and a nuclear disaster.  Oil topped $100 a barrel and commodity prices soared.  Home sales dropped to the lowest on record.  Sovereign default fears resurfaced in Europe as Portugal’s government collapsed.  And the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained more than 6%.

• January 15, 2011
  Market Commentary January, 2011

  We spent the early hours of 2000 fearing Y2K would cause planes to drop from the sky. Nothing happened. This year, if you set a wake-up call for January 1st on your iPhone, the alarm failed and you missed your flight. That was a bad day but most stocks missed an entire decade, generating no return (or worse) for the ten years ending 12/31/2009.

• October 5, 2010
  Market Commentary October, 2010

  Stocks soared 11% in the third quarter, a mirror image—but much prettier—of the second quarter when the Standard & Poor's 500 Stock Index lost an ugly 11%.

• July 23, 2010
  Market Commentary July, 2010

  Last year, the Wall Street bromide “sell in May and go away” didn’t work. From May to November, stocks soared more than 25%. This year, it’s working like a charm.

Articles

• March 28, 2011
  Will New Rules Stop Brokers From Nibbling on Your Returns?

  Brokers' charges might—just might—be about to drop. But you shouldn't drop your guard.  The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, which oversees the brokerage business, is seeking to modernize its decades-old standards for judging whether transaction costs are appropriate.

• August 14, 2010
  Regulating the Givers of Advice

  AMERICANS IN NEED OF INVESTMENT advice may benefit from the new financial-reform act. But much depends on what the Securities and Exchange Commission will require of financial-services professionals, Will the commission force all advisors to follow the strictest standard of care, or will it continue to hold some to a lesser standard?

• April 10, 2010
  Why Timing Isn't An Investor's Strength

  AMERICANS IN NEED OF INVESTMENT advice may benefit from the new financial-reform act. But much depends on what the Securities and Exchange Commission will require of financial-services professionals, Will the commission force all advisors to follow the strictest standard of care, or will it continue to hold some to a lesser standard?

• October 4, 2009
  Let's Call a Spade a Spade

  The majority of those working in the financial services industry are aware of the report last year by the Securities and Exchange Commission that found that 76% of Main Street investors surveyed did not know the difference between a representative of a broker-dealer and a registered investment adviser.

• March 28, 2009
  The Fight Over Who Will Guard Your Nest Egg

  A power struggle in Washington will shape how investors get the advice they need.  On one side are stockbrokers and other securities salespeople who work for Wall Street firms, banks and insurance companies. On the other are financial planners or investment advisers who often work for themselves or smaller firms.

• August 26, 2005
  Brokers In Sheep's Clothing

  IS YOUR TRUSTED ADVISER really just a salesperson? Sometimes it's hard to tell, given all the titles used by brokers: financial adviser, financial consultant and financial planner, to name just a few.