Dave Lindorff

While politicians and economists debate whether or not tax cuts or expand government stimulus spending -- or both -- to spark the U.S. economy, a new report from REL Consulting, a cash-flow consulting firm based in London and Miami, concludes that the nation’s 1,000 largest firms are hoarding over $853 billion in cash.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke on Friday said that he’s confident that, despite the U.S. economy’s weak performance and the Labor Department's recent downward revision of the second quarter GDP growth rate from 1.3% to just 1%, things are likely to get better going forward. But what if he's wrong and things don’t get better?

Total life insurance sales in the second quarter of 2011 slowed a bit from the pace of the first quarter, but were still marginally better than the same period a year ago, reports LIMRA, the Windsor, Conn.-based insurance and financial services research institute.

S&P equity research analysts say iconic founder Steve Jobs' resignation from an active management role at Apple isn't dissuading them from recommending the company's shares, but investors may still want to at least check their portfolios to see just how many Apple shares they actually own.

U.S. investors may be overly worried about the fate of the euro, and overly confident in the U.S. dollar, according to Kieran Osborne, co-portfolio manager of Palo Alto, Calif.-based Merk Funds.

Two weeks ago, Apple Computer had its day in the sun, briefly surpassing Exxon Mobil in market capitalization to become the largest corporation in the world. Now it’s gold’s turn.

A new report just released by Moody’s Capital Markets Research Group says that the recent volatility of equities markets in the U.S. -- along with other dreary economic news -- is having an unmistakably negative impact on the nation’s economy.

As the cost of college soars and many state institutions are charging as much as $36,000 a year for out-of-state students and private college costs approaching more than $50,000 a year, the percent of total costs families say they are able to cover themselves has fallen. Yet most advisors aren't recommending 529 college savings plans to their clients.

The equities analysts at Swiss-based UBS are taking an increasingly dim view of the U.S. and global economies and are suggesting that investors should be reducing their equity exposure from “overweight” to what they call a “neutral tactical stance” of stocks, bonds and cash.

Standard & Poor’s may be negative on equities markets these days, but its analysts are pretty high on utilities stocks and ETFs.

With stocks bouncing around like they’re on a trampoline, it can be difficult for investors to find companies that offer any possibility of steady growth or protection against a further slump -- particularly with the economy looking increasingly weak. But a handful of consumer goods stocks might ease their pain.

Variable annuities continued to surge in the second quarter of this year, with total sales reaching $40.9 billion, an increase of 16% over the same period last year, according to LIMRA, the Windsor, CT-based financial services research firm.

Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services' $150 million purchase of Securities America, Ameriprise's independent broker-dealer unit, will greatly increase the size and reach of Ladenburg Thalmann, but isn't likely to shift the rankings of the largest independent firms in the financial advisory industry. At least not right away.

Is the sale by Ameriprise Financial of its Securities America advisory services unit to Ladenburg Thalmann a harbinger of yet another wave -- or wavelet -- of consolidation in the asset management industry?

Investors worried about the risks inherent in the market’s dramatic volatility over recent weeks and months might do well to pay attention to fund flows and to put their own money where the flows are going and staying.

Wall Street financial firms -- investment banks, banks, investment management firms, hedge funds -- have been fairly united in opposing and actively lobbying to weaken the new Consumer Financial Protection Board. But at least one leader in the industry, John C. Bogle, founder and former chairman of The Vanguard Group, make the case not only for a strong CFPB, but for the aggressive prosecution and even jailing of some of the bankers.

The last two weeks have been a heart-stopping roller coaster ride for investors. But don’t assume that the ride is necessarily over, said Michael Ryan, chief investment strategist at UBS.

Wells Fargo is buying up most of Citadel’s troubled investment bank operation, which the Chicago-based hedge fund recently decided to unload after concluding that’s its plan to convert the company into an investment bank was not working out.

There’s more bad news for the economy and the stock market after a report from Thomson Reuters and the University of Michigan found that their Consumer Confidence Index in early August plunged to its lowest point since May of 1980.

Investors are rushing out of equities as markets grow increasingly volatile, but maybe there’s another alternative to just sitting on the sidelines and leaving stocks to the big institutional investors.