Portfolio

Steadfast Networks said Monday it acquired Radius IT, in a bid to create a network for financial trading.

The outlook for the U.S. economy in 2011 appears to be ... slow and unsteady as she goes.

Employers are clearly more optimistic about the economy, for another 40% that had suspended 401(k) contributions will resume them by mid-2011, doubling the 40% that already have resumed suspended or reduced matches, the Profit Sharing/401(k) Council of America announced.

On the ninth day before Christmas, money invested in U.S.-listed exchange traded funds and exchange-traded products crossed $1 trillion for the first time. The total actually was $1.027 trillion, with $887.2 billion in ETFs and $115.5 billion in ETPs, as tabulated by BlackRock's Global ETF Research and Implementation Strategy Team.

2010 was a year of many challenges. The May 6 Flash Crash and the fallout of the December 2009 arrest of Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff kept investors away from stock funds. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act was passed. Mutual funds and their sales intermediaries were charged with more accurately calculating the cost-basis of original investments in securities, and funds prepared for the Jan. 1, 2011 XBRL deadline.

As part of this transaction, U.S. Bancorp, FAF Advisors’ parent, received a 9.5% stake in Nuveen Investments and other cash considerations for FAF’s long term fund family.

Commodities have been on a tear as investors have sought alternatives to the volatile equity market, but several market experts believe that now is still a great time to buy, even though prices are high.

A dire diagnosis will drive many people into an advisor's office, whether to free up cash for treatment, finally confront the need for an estate plan or update an existing one.

Experts gaze into their crystal balls, and surprisingly, agree on most predictions for this year.

Behavioral finance has been kicking around the halls of academia for several decades, but now some financial companies are finding ways to apply these concepts in the real world.