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The merger of NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Boerse has been cleared on the New York side of the Atlantic Ocean.

Investors were encouraged Thursday by a surprising drop in weekly jobless claims – down to their lowest level in three and half years – and economic data showing rising consumer confidence as the Dow Jones Industrial average rallied up 62 points to finish at 12,169.65.

This week, IRA expert Ed Slott fields questions from investors about transferring IRAs to beneficiaries, converting traditional IRAs to Roth IRAs and required minimum distributions from inherited accounts.

Financial advisors will remember 2011 as “The Year of Volatility” or “The Year of Uncertainty,” according to a survey of 200 financial advisors polled this month by the SEI Advisor Network, an asset management and back-office administration service provider to financial advisors.

The population may be aging, but that hasn’t gotten a lot of Americans to plan for retirement. About 71% of Americans lack a formal investment plan to help them reach their retirement goals, according to one study.

About 65% of respondents to an industry survey identified the cost of benefits most often as having the biggest impact on compensation decisions over the past year. The findings could present opportunities for financial planners and advisors who work with retirement plan sponsors.

Stock mutual funds lost $5.49 billion for the week ended Wednesday, Dec. 14, according to the latest statistics from the Investment Company Institute.

Total retirement assets fell to $17 trillion by the end of the third quarter, down 7.5% from the record high of $18.4 trillion that investors socked away in the prior quarter. The decline corresponded with a 13.9% drop in the S&P 500 during the third quarter.

A FINRA arbitration panel slapped a former Bank of America Merrill Lynch financial advisor – now with U.S. Bancorp Investments – with an injunction that will prohibit him from soliciting his former clients until October 2012.

New York investment firm Aegis Capital has hired Peter Hirsh from Janney Montgomery Scott to serve as managing director of investments in its latest bid to expand its wealth management force.

Disappointing earnings from Oracle and lackluster new homes sales were enough to keep investors off balance Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial average eked out a slight gain – up 4 points to 12,107.74 – but tech stocks were roughed up.

UBS Wealth Management Americas has lured seven financial advisors to its firm who previously had $1.175 billion in assets under management.

The nation’s estimated 17,600 bank advisors are as diverse as the U.S. itself. Here are 12 who were profiled in our magazine this year, each with different investment philosophies, market niches, and business development approaches. Their interests, too, are just as varied, making each producer stand out on many levels.

After a decade marked by two severe bear markets, 401(k) investors have adopted a more balanced approach to their portfolios, according to a report from the Investment Company Institute and the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

Total retirement assets were $17.0 trillion as of Sept. 30, down 7.5% from a record high of $18.4 trillion as of June 30, the Investment Company Institute said Wednesday, attributing most of the decline to the 13.9% decline in the S&P 500 Index in the third quarter. Assets might have declined even further were it not for automatic contributions to 401(k)s, the ICI said.

After a decade marked by two severe bear markets, 401(k) investors have adopted a more balanced approach to their portfolios, according to a report released Wednesday by the Investment Company Institute and the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

The Financial Services Institute has appointed the CEO of a large broker-dealer holding company to its 2012 Board of Directors.

The funds might include both domestic and U.S.-listed foreign companies, a feature that allows for a more global representation.

Deutsche Boerse and NYSE Euronext have offered to cap fees on trading in their European derivatives contracts for three years in their last-ditch effort to get their $9 billion merger cleared by the European Union.

inShareWells Fargo & Co. has signed a deal to acquire investment boutique EverKey Global Partners.