Special Program Root Tag

The debt ceiling debate, the nation’s credit rating downgrade, market declines and unemployment are taking a serious toll on investors, causing the Country Financial Security Index to fall 1.3 points in August to 62.4, a record low.

The inability of stock analysts and others to say, “Oops, I was wrong” may help cause even more serious damage in the stock market over time.

The last two weeks have been a heart-stopping roller coaster ride for investors. But don’t assume that the ride is necessarily over, said Michael Ryan, chief investment strategist at UBS.

Middle-income Baby Boomers, those earning between $30,000 and $74,000 are vastly underserved in terms of preparing for retirement, according to a new report from the Insured Retirement Institute, “Middle-Income Boomers and Retirement: Tapping the Significant and Underserved Middle-Income Market.”

The persistently weak economy and new regulations are preventing investment management firms from growing, according to a survey of 100 executives by KPMG.

The securities industry added 4,000 jobs across the United States in the second quarter, according to the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association.

Broadridge has named Stefanie Shelley, a longtime financial services marketing veteran, chief marketing officer. Shelley had been a marketing consultant for the firm since August 2010.

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%.

A former managing director of the Nasdaq Stock Market was sentenced today to 42 months in prison by a federal judge in Virginia.

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.

Five years from now, the median account balance of a defined contribution plan assets will reach $150,000, up from $100,000 today.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has upheld an administrative judge's ruling that a mutual fund trader must pay more than $200,000 in penalties for accepting gifts from broker-dealers to steer trades their way. The regulator didn't buy the trader's excuse that the mutual funds weren't harmed.

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.

Effective Sept. 30,Michael Kiley will become chief executive officer of Security Benefit Corp. He replaces Howard Fricke, who has been serving as interim president and CEO since February 2010 and was previously president and CEO of the firm from 1988 to 2000 and chairman from 1996 to 2006.

Redemptions. Mutual fund companies experience them all the time. Typically, every day.

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

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.

Investors are taking money out of U.S. bond and stock mutual funds because of the increase in economic uncertainty in July, according to research released on Friday by Strategic Insight.

Mutual fund asset growth worldwide is expected to rise by a moderate 10% this year, according to Financial Research Corp. By comparison, the industry’s assets rose 16% in 2010.