Portfolio

Jefferies Group named Thomas Fetzer as the new managing director of its global industrials group where he'll be responsible for coverage of capital goods clients across German and throughout Central Europe.

Hedge funds have been holding their own amid the severe market swings of the past week, with the Dow Jones Credit Suisse Core Hedge Fund Index declining only -3.66% month-to-date through Aug. 14. By comparison, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell -11.58% in that time, and the S&P 500 declined -13.18%.

During the first trading session after Standard & Poor's downgraded its rating of U.S. debt from AAA to AA+, investors got out of stocks and parked their money in ... U.S. Treasury bonds.

It is ironic that Standard & Poor's, one of the three major credit rating agencies at the heart of the financial crisis, would downgrade the United States' credit rating from triple-A to AA+. After all, S&P should have properly assessed the asset-backed housing securities that led to the Great Recession not as investment-grade but what they actually were. Junk.

As the financial markets hit investors with gale-force gyrations last week, most advisers are telling their clients to drop anchor.

It is ironic that Standard & Poor’s, one of the three major credit rating agencies at the heart of the financial crisis, would downgrade the United States’ credit rating from triple-A to AA+. After all, S&P should have properly assessed the asset-backed housing securities that led to the Great Recession not as investment-grade but what they actually were. Junk.

As trading opens on another nervous week on Wall Street, mainstream investors are casting their votes on prospects by racing out of mutual funds that invest in stocks long-term.

There’s more bad news for the economy and the stock market after a report from Thomson Reuters and the University of Michigan found that their Consumer Confidence Index in early August plunged to its lowest point since May of 1980.

After a week that started with a broad-based equities free fall -- only to be interrupted by massive gains and then equally gigantic losses in successive trading days -- ended on an upbeat note with the Dow Jones Industrial average adding 125 points, or 1.1%, to close at 11,269.02.