Portfolio

A bad day for financial engineers in Chicago continued Wednesday, when the Securities and Exchange Commission said the assets of a quantitative trading firm were frozen.

Over the next five business days through Sept. 6, the Dow Jones Golden Crossover Large-Cap Total Stock Market Index will decrease its equity allocation from 100% to 25%, moving that 75% allocation into the cash equivalent of short-term U.S. Treasury bills.

Fears of another recession could prompt corporate Treasurers and lenders to withhold financing, which in and of itself could raise the probability of less liquidity and further economic weakening.

BNY Mellon Asset Management tapped Christopher Sheldon as its new chief investment officer of The Dreyfus Corporation, the New York-based asset management and distribution firm overseeing more than $400 billion in mutual funds and separately managed accounts.

A closely watched index established by Dow Jones Indexes back in November 2010 began flashing red on Tuesday, a development that now has investors and their advisors reviewing the back-tested index’s history for signs of what’s to come and what investment strategies they should pursue next.

A trio of finance professors are blasting the big three rating agencies, Moody’s in particular, claiming in a new report that they've unearthed evidence that asset classes that provide the agencies with most of their revenue benefit from better credit ratings while classes that provide less revenue receive harsher treatment.

It was not long ago that the term alternative investments prompted images of exotic venture capital, private equity and hedge fund investment strategies frequented almost exclusively by very wealthy households and institutional investors.

The assets held in mutual funds fell $219.2 billion in July -- before the announcement that Standard & Poor’s had cut its rating of U.S. debt for the first time ever.

Despite all the doomsday prognostications, 2011 will likely have fewer muni fund defaults than either 2009 or 2010. So why are advisors and investors still so gun-shy?