Portfolio

The opening morning of focus11, LPL Financial's national conference, got off to a rocky start Monday as the market took an immediate downturn with news of the Standard and Poor’s downgrade. LPL’s regular research morning call was scheduled onsite, which was perfect, as the advisors got to hear firsthand what LPL’s take was.

With its eye on the small and midsized defined contribution markets, BlackRock, Inc., has broadened its lineup of index mutual funds for defined contribution plans.

BlackRock has added 10 index funds to its retirement platform, nine of them the target-date BlackRock LifePath Index Portfolios and the 10ths the All Country World Index ex-U.S. Fund. The new LifePath Index Portfolios extend the investment horizon out by 44 years, with the funds having target dates of 2020, 2025, 2030, 2035, 2040, 2045, 2050 and 2055.

The Conference Board Employment Trends Index declined slightly in July to 100.6, down 0.3 percentage points from June’s 100.9. However, from a year ago, the July index is up 4%.

S&P Downgrades DTCC SubsidiariesPrinter Friendly Email Reprints Reader Comments Share | August 8, 2011Chris Kentouris Just hours after it said that Standard & Poor's downgrade on the triple A rating of U.S. government debt would not impact its valuations on collateral, Depository Trust & Clearing Corp was hit with its own downgrade.Like what you see? Click here to sign up for Securities Technology Monitor's weekly newsletter to get the latest news and analysis that matters to the effective operation of capital markets.S&P downgraded its triple-A rating on DTCC's subsidiaries Depository Trust Company, Fixed Income Clearing Corp and National Securities Clearing Corp to double A+, the same as U.S. government debt.The three organizations are critical to the U.S. financial market: DTC is the U.S. central depository system which settles U.S. equity and fixed income transactions while FICC and NSCC clear those transactions. In 2010 alone, DTC settled nearly $1.66 quadrillion worth of trades.S&P's decision to downgrade DTCC and its subsidiaries was pretty much expected based on the rating agency's announcement on Friday evening. S&P made it clear that its move to downgrade U.S. government debt could affect insurers, mortgage agencies and securities clearinghouses. At the time S&P characterized the target organizations as "entities with direct links to, or reliance on, the federal government."In a statement issued on Monday morning DTCC downplayed the impact of S&P's downgrade. "We do not anticipate any changes in our operations as a result of this revision of our credit rating," said DTCC. The market-owned utility also cited comments made by S&P that the ratings downgrade of its depository and clearinghouses did not reflect a change in S&P's view of the "fundamental soundness" of DTC or the clearinghouses but incorporate "potential incremental shifts in the macroeconomic and long term stability of the U.S. capital markets as a consequence of the decline in the creditworthiness of the federal government."Prior to the downgrade today, DTC and NSCC had received S&P's Triple A rating for nine consecutive years and FICC for siJust hours after it said that Standard & Poor's downgrade on the triple A rating of U.S. government debt would not impact its valuations on collateral, Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. was hit with its own downgrade.S&P downgraded its triple-A rating on DTCC's subsidiaries Depository Trust Company, Fixed Income Clearing Corp. and National Securities Clearing Corp. to double A+, the same as U.S. government debt.

Securian Retirement has added 12 investment choices to its retirement platform, including funds from AllianceBernstein, Nuveen, Manning & Napier and Pax World. With these additions, the platform how offers an array of 120 investments for participants and plan sponsors.

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.

Making estate planning decisions can sometimes bring up uncomfortable topics for clients, but Holly Thomas, the founder of Holly P. Thomas, LLC, in Tampa, Fla., said it's a vital part of any financial plan.

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 majority, 63%, of middle-class Americans thinks that the U.S. is in a doubledip recession, the First Command Financial Behaviors Index shows, up from 50% who thought the U.S. had reverted back into recession last summer.