Jan 11, 2010
By David A. Geracioti, VonAldo.com
Each December analysts at Raymond James pick a list of stocks its will likely “produce above-average price appreciation over the next 55 weeks.” This year’s list contains 14 stocks that Raymond James analysts say should somehow outperform despite “expected relative slow recovery of the U.S. economy” in 2010. For more, go to VonAldo.com, the blog of Registered Rep. Editor-in-Chief David A. Geracioti...
Jan 11, 2010
By Anne Field
The compliance burden borne by branch managers has intensified. Here's how to make the best of it....
Jan 9, 2010
By David A. Geracioti, VonAldo.com
Talk about optimism. Consensus analysts’ earnings estimates for S&P 500 companies for 2010 are now at $77.61 per share—that’s a 30.5 percent jump over 2009 estimated earnings, ThomsonReuters said Friday in its weekly “This Week in Earnings” report. For more, please go to Registered Rep. Editor-in-Chief David A. Geracioti's blog, VonAldo.com...
Jan 8, 2010
By Jerry Gleeson
More proof of the breakaway broker phenomenon, albeit anecdotal? Moneta Group has hired two veterans legacy A.G. Edwards advisors, the company said today, amid a nascent national trend of advisors leaving wirehouses for smaller independents....
Jan 8, 2010
By Halah Touryalai
After a painful year in 2008, some advisors and investors are falling back in love with hedge funds, but the terms of the relationship are changing. ...
Jan 7, 2010
Christina Mucciolo
The Dogs of the Dow strategy has only outperformed the index once in the past five years....
Jan 6, 2010
By Halah Touryalai
The number of wirehouse advisors switching broker/dealers has been in steep decline since June. ...
Jan 5, 2010
By David A. Geracioti VonAldo.com
First the good news: The S&P 500 should climb by about 19 percent or so from yesterday’s close, says mutual fund manager Steve Leuthold in his firm’s “Green Book” monthly research report, released this morning. Now the bad news: “Then [it] will give up those gains in the second half of the year.” In short, the bull is getting old. VonAldo.com, the blog of Registered Rep. Editor-in-Chief David A. Geracioti...
Jan 4, 2010
By Brad Zigler
Welcome to the New Normal, a ghoulish economic scenario. But there are some tweaks investors can make to their portfolios to protect against the apocalypse....
Jan 3, 2010
By David A. Geracioti, editor of Registered Rep.; opinion from vonaldo.com
Ben Bernanke in remarks release this morning by the Federal Reserves, concludes: Monetary policy isn’t to blame for the real estate bubble; rather blame all those crazy “exotic” mortgages for the speculative excess in real estate. ...
Jan 1, 2010
By David A. Geracioti
An RIA's collected wisdom of Warren Buffett. ...
Dec 30, 2009
By Christina Mucciolo
The Financial Services Institute (FSI) plans on lobbying against recently re-introduced legislation in the Senate that threatens financial advisors’ “independent contractor” worker classification. On December 15, Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) introduced the “Taxpayer Responsibility, Accountability and Consistency Act of 2009,” which would change tax rules regarding the classification of independent contractors. ...
Dec 30, 2009
By David A. Geracioti, opinion from vonaldo
With the decade ending tomorrow, the chorus blaming bankers—and only bankers—for the economic “lost decade” will finally grow crescendo. (Lots of think pieces will appear online and in papers everywhere.) Naturally, politicians play the populist claptrap card to fan the flames of blame and envy. In truth, naturally, there is plenty of blame to go around, but it was not just the bankers’ irresponsibility that brought us here. ...
Dec 29, 2009
By Halah Touryalai
Principal-Protected Notes are anything but protected FINRA says, and the SRO wants to make sure brokerages are making that clear to investors....
Dec 28, 2009
By David A. Geracioti, vonaldo
In the past, advisors would advise their clients that to make money, it was best to have “time in the market” versus timing the market. But, the brutal bear market of 2008 prompted new research that shows it may be best to avoid big losing days rather than going long 100 percent of the time. ...
Dec 28, 2009
By David A. Geracioti, VonAldo.com
You gotta love Lloyd Blankfein, it’s true. The Financial Times on Thursday named him its Person of the Year because: “He has led for three years, not only navigated the 2008 global crisis better than others on Wall Street but is set to make record profits and pay up to $23bn in bonuses to its 31,700.” But what about the cohort of retail financial advisors who gather assets and, in general, don’t blow up firms? more…...
Dec 22, 2009
By Stan Luxenberg, RR mutual fund correspondent
In the past, advocates of buy-and-hold investing often said that if you miss just a few of the market’s best days, you are doomed to mediocre performance. Now some say that instead of thinking about the best days, investors should focus on the worst. The goal of advisors should be to avoid unacceptable losses—not to strive for double-digit returns. ...
Dec 16, 2009
By Halah Touryalai
The number of wirehouse advisors switching broker/dealers has been in steep decline since June. In November, just 177 advisors in the wirehouse channel switched firms, the smallest monthly number all year, according to Discovery Database....
Dec 11, 2009
By Kristen French
The House of Representatives passed the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009 by a narrow margin Friday afternoon: 223 votes in favor to 202 against. But it will still be a long time before the regulatory future for broker/dealers and investment advisers is clear. ...
Dec 10, 2009
By John Aidan Byrne
UBS’ Wealth Management Americas unit today unveiled a new compensation program that will reward the firm's biggest financial advisors for loyalty and growth. That’s a departure from other brokerages where compensation is typically based on trailing commissions rather than on growth.
...
Dec 4, 2009
By Stan Luxenberg
Should you stay well away from hot dots, that is, hot mutual funds? Not necessarily. Some top funds have long records for delivering relatively steady results. The best choices among the winners are diversified funds that can produce strong performances in good times and limit losses in downturns. By swapping your weaker holdings for one of the more consistent funds, you may be able to improve results in up and down markets....
Dec 3, 2009
By Kristen French
In her remarks before the Consumer Federation of America Thursday, SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro reiterated her commitment to creating a “strong fiduciary standard” for all securities professionals. She also called for clear point-of-sale disclosures, a re-assessment of 12b-1 fees, a closer look at target date funds and self-funding for the agency. ...
Dec 3, 2009
By Kristen French
The hunt for offshore account holders continues. The IRS is now trying to obtain the names of individuals who held offshore accounts with indicted financier and former billionaire Allen Stanford, according to a story in the New York Post. The IRS believes many of these individuals used the offshore accounts to conceal income, says the story. ...
Dec 3, 2009
By Stan Luxenberg
While the U.S. economy remains sluggish, growth is rebounding in much of the rest of the world. That is creating plenty of opportunities for Laurent Saltiel, portfolio manager of Janus Worldwide (JAWWX) and Janus International Equity (JAIEX). ...
Dec 2, 2009
By Halah Touryalai
Two Bank of America CEO candidates recently told the board of directors that the bank should consider breaking itself up. ...
