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Wells Fargo has hired a four-member Morgan Stanley Smith Barney team operating as RDM/Dillion Group in Melville, N.Y.

National Financial, Fidelity Investment’s clearing and custody company, announced a new myStreetscape portal for investors working with brokers who use the Streetscape platform.

The Dow Jones Industrial average moved up 46 points to close at 12,196.37 Wednesday while the S&P 500 added 2.54 points to finish at 1,261.01.

Long-term mutual funds were hit with $9.24 billion in redemptions in the week ended Nov. 30, the Investment Company Institute said.

The Principal has launched the Dreamcatcher mobile application for iPhones, a companion to the Dreamcatcher web tool. This is part of Principal’s “Dream Again with The Principal” financial educational campaign aimed at helping people envision their financial goals—and putting them into clear focus.

Walmart, the world’s largest private employer, and Merrill Lynch, without admitting to wrongdoing, have agreed to pay $13.5 million in a class-action lawsuit accusing them of breaching their fiduciary duty to two million past and present Walmart workers. The suit was settled in Kansas City federal court.

Shrinking margins in the independent broker-dealer space have prompted another independent broker-dealer, Seattle-based Pacific West Financial Group, to close its doors.

The latest "safe haven" for investors appears to be, once again, gold. But this time, the avenue they’re taking to get the bullion into their portfolios is the exchange-traded fund.

The coming year will pose new questions about how to handle debt internationally and shape up as a new test for the U.S., in what will likely lead to a low-growth environment for investors.

Forty-six percent of Americans surveyed by Fidelity Investments cite saving more as their No. 1 financial resolution for 2012, and among this group, the median savings target is $2,400, up from $1,200 last year.