Portfolio

The New Jersey Bureau of Securities has barred three former Merrill Lynch brokers for allegedly enabling Millennium Partners to place more than 25,000 market-timing trades. Further, the three—Christopher Chung, Kevin Brunnock and William Savino— must pay $1.15 million in civil penalties.

Mutual fund prospectus provider NewRiver is suing Morningstar for using Internet espionage to steal information from its patent-protected system.

Charles Schwab Corp. said it plans to cut 500 to 600 jobs this quarter in its effort to contain costs.

Northern Trust Selects Browne as New CIO

With other safe investments paying so little these days, it's hard to ignore the glowing rates that some insurance companies are guaranteeing on long-term fixed deferred annuities.

Remember when markets were rising, profits were strong and fund distribution was all about having a large wholesaling staff, generous compensation programs to incent wholesalers and support staff to track sales and calculate payouts?

The influx of money into Treasuries, combined with record-low interest rates, has driven the yields of Treasury money market funds so low that rather than risk breaking the buck, many funds are now turning away new money, MarketWatch reports.

Calls for greater oversight of the investment advisory profession continued last week, with key congressional leaders pushing the industry to come up with changes designed to prevent future fraud schemes similar to that of the Madoff case.

Investors Sticking With Their 401(k)s

Strong performance and a conservative approach has enabled American Century Investments to outperform some of its competitors, despite market conditions that cost it 31.4% of its assets under management last year.