Portfolio

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index rose 0.5% in November to 118.0 (2004 = 100), following a 0.9% rise in October and a 0.1% bump in September.

Don’t rule out emerging market and high-end retail customers in 2012, according to a forward-looking analysis by Fidelity Investments’ Sector Portfolio managers.

Don’t rule out emerging market and high-end retail customers in 2012, according to a forward-looking analysis by Fidelity Investments’ Sector Portfolio managers. In coordinated press conferences this month, the managers pointed to numerous areas of growth they expect in the coming year.

State and local governments will be able to issue a total of $32.821 billion of private-activity bonds under a national volume cap next year — 1.2% or $379.96 million more than in 2011.

With approval from the U.S. Justice Department in hand and approval from the European Commission still to be achieved, NYSE Euronext is looking for a period of relative quiet through the end of the year on its quest to merge with Deutsche Boerse.

Financial advisers will remember 2011 as “The Year of Volatility” or “The Year of Uncertainty,” according to a survey of 200 financial advisers polled by the SEI Advisor Network, an asset management and back-office administration service provider to financial advisers.

Investors opted to view the glass as half full Friday, pushing stocks higher despite conflicting economic reports on personal income and home sales.

Retail sales are likely to rise this holiday season over last year — and that could mean a boost for some retail-oriented mutual funds.

The merger of NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Boerse has been cleared on the New York side of the Atlantic Ocean.

Every new year, many financial planners prompt clients to revisit and update their estate plans and wills. In so doing, they should begin teaching clients about a new – but critical – area of estate planning: attending to their digital legacies.