Portfolio

Spectrem Group announced Wednesday that its Spectrem Millionaire Investor Confidence Index rose seven points in December to end the year at 7.

A new report from Standard & Poor’s shows that home prices and annual growth rates have declined from earlier this year, pointing to a double-dip.

Despite dire warnings of imminent government collapse, since the middle of 2009, only three municipal issues in the “safe” sectors--general obligation, tax backed and essential services—have defaulted, according to Municipal Market Advisor’s data.

Municipal market groups next year will face an uphill battle trying to get Congress to resurrect the Build America Bond program and other bond-related tax incentives that expire Dec. 31.

2010 was a year of change and transition on Wall Street. UBS turned to Bob McCann to grow its wealth business, branch managers continued to lead the way, and the best and brightest young advisors continued to shine. Check out the magazine's top stories of the year.

A new report from Toronto-based Bullion Management Group urges investors to buffer their investments with bullion.

Over the past couple of years, small and midsize banks have happily positioned their wealth management businesses as alternatives to those of big, wounded banks and brokerage houses.

MFS Investment Management has historically been best known for its bond funds—but it’s the firm’s Municipal High-Income Fund (MMHYX) that stands out as a gem of consistency.

The State Street Investor Confidence Index, which gauges the confidence of institutional investors as measured by their exposure to equities, rose eight points to 104.4 in December, up from 96.4 in November. A reading of 100 is neutral.

In December, adviser confidence in the U.S. economy and stock market reached its highest mark since February 2007, according to the Adviser Confidence Index, a benchmark that gauges adviser views.