Dave Lindorff

Securities Fraud Attorney Mark A. Tepper has filed a new round of claims with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) against Minneapolis-based Questar Capital, alleging “failure to supervise” a Questar Capital broker-dealer named Edward Gelb.

Investors -- institutional and individual -- continue to be cautious, favoring conservative funds within the equities area and favoring debt over riskier investments. But any sense of serious worry among investors seems to be waning.

A trio of new bond fund products on offer by Fidelity, iShares and PIMCO provide smaller investors with the opportunity get more of the benefits of a bond ladder without the usual bond fund downsides.

While the zero or near-zero interest-rate policies of central banks around the developed world are continuing, trading of active cash treasuries and their corresponding futures products remains active and interest rate futures markets both in the U.S. and Europe continue to grow and to add new products and new competition.

Sure, the economy is looking weaker these days, but fears about a double-dip recession are “overblown,” according to researchers at the money management firm Lord Abbett.

The Financial Planning Coalition, a group that includes several organizations representing thousands of financial advisors, this week released a copy of a petition it sent to the Securities and Exchange Commission, asking the regulatory agency to extend the definition of fiduciary standard to include “anyone providing personalized investment advice to retail clients.”

Conventional wisdom these days suggest that the U.S. dollar remains a safe haven for investors compared to the euro, which is under considerable pressure due to the growing debt crisis facing Greece and a few other European countries. But at least one analyst contends investors shouldn't be so quick to assume these macroeconomic developments are necessarily good for the U.S. dollar.

Morgan Keegan & Co. agreed to a $200 million settlement with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and five state securities regulators that resolves a civil case brought against the firm last year accusing top executives of defrauding investors by artificially inflating the value of mortgage-backed securities in several of its mortgage bond funds.

In bull markets, many investors may overlook the importance of dividends. But when markets become more tentative or start to slump, dividends can look a lot more attractive and one S&P analyst found some international funds investors should be watching.

Henry Kaufman, one of the first economists to earn the now overused sobriquet “Dr. Doom” is now warning that the conglomeratization of financial institutions, the continued securitization of non-marketable assets and the extreme leveraging which led to the most recent crash leave the global financial system vulnerable to new and potentially more devastating crises.

Invesco PowerShares Capital Management this week introduced a “suite” of nine new exchange-traded funds (ETFs) which it is calls Fundamental Pure Style ETFs, based upon the Research Affiliates Fundamental Index (RAFI).

A new report from Morningstar looking at May’s fund flows adds further evidence that investors are growing less enchanted with equities in favor of more conservative assets.

The Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) is warning investors that a scammer -- or perhaps a group of scammers -- is preying on people who have already been victimized by previous investment scams, calling them or sending them unsolicited emails in an attempt to steal their money and their most sensitive personal and financial information.

In anticipation of the U.S. dollar's declining value, many investors are busy adjusting their portfolios to get more exposure to other major currencies. But a new research report from Merk Investments suggests that they may not be nearly as diversified as they need to be.

A panel of JPMorgan Chase strategists and portfolio managers this week made it clear that while there are opportunities for equities investors in the U.S., there are better options in both developed international equities markets and in emerging markets.

A report conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit and released this week by SAS, the big business analytics software firm, warns that financial institutions, particularly in the U.S., are “feeling too comfortable” about their risk management systems and suggests they may be unprepared for the next crisis.

Financial advisors and investors may want to heed some cautionary words this week from several economists at the Wharton School who think that the country's current economic recovery will remain a sluggish affair and, whenever it does stabilize, it will likely mark the beginning of a "new normal" that's less robust and prosperous than prior cyclical peaks.

The 1976 film “All the President’s Men” made famous the line "follow the money" and inspired an entire generation of muckraking journalists. Now some analysts at Standard & Poor's are saying their research shows this philosophy could also serve as a good starting point for identifying strong-performing mutual funds.

Wealth management firm Curian Capital this week announced plans to add eight new territories and 16 sales professionals to serve clients in New England, Oregon, Idaho, East Texas, New Jersey, the Middle Atlantic and the northern plains states.

With Fitch Rating's admonishment last week it would put U.S. debt on watch for a downgrade in early August, all three of the major rating agencies now have issued unprecedented warnings about the U.S. debt crisis, putting the country’s AAA credit rating in danger. But so far, Treasury investors have reacted with a collective yawn.