Special Program Root Tag

Certain securities salespeople are giving the brokerage industry a bad name by putting clients into manifestly unsuitable securities, namely leveraged and inversed ETFs, which are attracting wary and watchful eyes among U.S. regulators.

ETFs continue to attract a broad base of global investors as investors seek efficient, tailored access to varied investment exposures and look for diversified buy-and-hold investment products.

Rising Treasury yields and the biggest equity market rally in 16 years are leading one measure of stock valuations to the most bearish level since 2011.

Municipal bonds remain attractive even after their divergence from Treasuries this past week, industry watchers say, suggesting the recent signs of strength in the market may carry into the new year.

Treasuries rallied and Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures rose after U.S. payrolls climbed less than forecast in December, easing concerns that stimulus cuts would accelerate. Commodities rebounded from an eight-month low as China’s imports grew.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said the probe that led to his settlement with BlackRock Inc. over analyst surveys is looking at brokerage firms and individuals who provided nonpublic information that could have been used to trade.

U.S. stocks fluctuated as investors scrutinized data showing a slowdown in jobs growth for clues on the pace of Federal Reserve stimulus cuts.

Emerging-market stocks rose for the first time this year after the International Monetary Fund said it will raise its forecast for world growth.

China’s stocks rose, led by energy companies after Offshore Oil Engineering Co. reported a jump in profit. A gauge of small-company shares headed for a record.

Pacific Investment Management Co.’s Bill Gross said investors should focus on shorter-maturity debt as the slow pace of U.S. inflation signals the Federal Reserve’s benchmark rate will remain at almost zero until at least 2016.

State Street Corp., the second- biggest provider of exchange-traded funds, plans to introduce its first actively managed stock ETFs in partnership with MFS Investment Management.

It has been quite the ride for gold: from under $500 an ounce decade ago, to above $1,900 in 2011, gold gained more than 400%.

Treasuries fell for the first time in three days before the U.S. sells $21 billion of 10-year notes and as signs the economic recovery is gathering pace spurred bets the Federal Reserve will keep reducing debt purchases.

The Public Investment Corp., the largest shareholder in Adcock Ingram Holdings Ltd., said it increased its stake to 22% in the hope that new management rather than a proposed change of ownership will increase the value of the South African drugmaker.

Investors prizing Princeton University bonds have fueled gains relative to top-graded municipal debt.

Valuations in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index increased by the most since the financial crisis last year as 460 stocks rose, more than any year since at least 1990.

William Kohli, the world’s top global bond fund manager, has made daring moves during his career from an early age.

Investors poured a record $191 billion into U.S.-registered exchange-traded products last year, topping the previous peak of $187.2 billion set in 2012.

Prosecutors in the insider-trading trial of a former SAC Capital Advisors LP fund manager can tell jurors that he was greedy, not that he fainted in front of FBI agents or was fired from his job, a judge ruled.

With computers increasingly doing the bulk of the trading on Wall Street, correlation between asset classes have become more pronounced, says Lance Roberts, CEO of STA Wealth Management