Dave Lindorff

As U.S. companies increasingly try to cut costs by moving away from employer-funded benefits plans, many are turning to so-called “voluntary” programs which are sponsored by or offered through the employer but are funded by the employees themselves.

Investors are spooked by the increasing volatility of U.S equities markets and in July pulled out nearly $23 billion, an amount of money that is starting to approach the panicky pullback seen in the October 2008 when investors withdrew $27.9 billion from the market.

The Census Bureau's June wholesale inventory number shows that wholesalers increased their inventories by just 0.6% in June, well below the 1% increase that analysts and economists had been anticipating. The bureau also downwardly revised May’s wholesale inventory figure from 1.8% to 1.7%.

The stock market may be reeling, the U.S. sovereign debt rating may have taken a hit from Standard & Poor’s and the Eurozone debt crisis may be worsening, but high-quality corporate bonds are looking like a great deal.

Over a period of three turbulent days leading up to and immediately after Standard and Poor's downgrade of the country's sovereign debt rating, U.S. stocks plunged with a ferocity and velocity not seen the darkest days of the economic collapse of 2008. Not surprisingly, many financial advisors spent lots of time on the phone, alternating between cheerleader, confidante and psychiatrist in an effort to keep their clients from panicking and making matters worse.

The equities markets, which have fallen 12% since May's highs, may have just gone through a sell-off that meets the classic definition of a correction, but UBS Wealth Management Research is cautioning that it still might not be a great idea for investors to jump back into the market just yet.

Maybe the Standard & Poor's downgrade of the U.S. sovereign debt rating is roiling markets and causing China to double down on efforts to diversify its massive cash hoard away from U.S. dollar holdings, but last week's resolution of the debt-ceiling crisis has been good news for the money market fund industry.

The folks at the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA), which runs the financially strapped Philadelphia-area subway and commuter rail transportation system, are anxiously waiting to see what they will be getting out of a $590-million out-of-court settlement just reached with Wells Fargo Bank.

In another sign that the struggling U.S. economy is facing tough headwinds, the U.S. Census Bureau has just released a report showing that home ownership -- a key foundation of the “American Dream" -- has fallen to its lowest level since 1998.

2011 has not been a great year for international equity mutual funds, especially compared to domestic U.S. fund counterparts. But this situation could very well change and investors in the near future, according to analysts at Standard & Poor's Equity Research.

Financial advisors who work in the insurance channel may not make most of their revenue from fees for handling clients assets under management, but a majority of them think that is where the most growth in their business is likely come from going forward.

Don’t count Bill Gross, managing director of the giant investment management firm PIMCO, among those expressing relief at the government’s recent debt ceiling compromise or any subsequent package of budget cuts that may materialize over the next 10 years.

The likely downgrading of America’s sterling AAA debt rating by Standard & Poor's, which some analysts suggest might happen later this month, could cause a “severe” impact on fixed income markets “for some time,” according to Sanford Bernstein analyst Brad Hintz.

With markets reacting negatively to concerns about a weakening U.S. economy, investors might do well to look at the consumer staples sector, according to Standard & Poor's equity analyst Thomas Graves in a new report released Tuesday.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) closed out the first half of the year by closing down another three banks, bringing its total number of closings for first six months of 2011 to 61. More troubling, however, is the fact that it now has identified another 888 as "problem institutions."

Fixed income investment professionals are worried about the prospects for the U.S. economy and are becoming very concerned the continuing stagnation in the jobs market.

Whatever the members of the House and Senate do Monday night with the deficit ceiling and deficit-trimming bill that is being put to a vote, the U.S. is not out of the woods yet, according to Morningstar Investment Management economist Francisco Torralba.

Hold on to your hat. We may be headed for a double-dip recession. In fact, when more current economic data arrives a few months from now, it may turn out that we’re already in one, according to a pair of economists at Moody's Capital Markets Research Group.

A failure by politicians in Washington to reach a deal to raise the U.S. debt ceiling in the next few days -- particularly if Standard & Poor's makes good on its threat to lower the country's AAA sovereign debt rating -- could have “deep and wide reverberations” in credit and equities markets, according to Todd Rosenbluth, an analyst at S&P Equity Research. But bond funds might be unscathed.

Effective July 21, the Securities and Exchange Commission said that any new investment advisor who is managing more than $25 million and less than $100 million will have to join smaller investment advisors in registering with the state regulatory authority where she or he is based. The only exceptions are New York and Wyoming where, because those states don’t require any examination of investment advisors, all investment advisors would still have to register with and be regulated by the SEC.