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Investors pushed stocks higher in afternoon trading Wednesday, propelling the Dow Jones Industrial average up 144 points, or 1.3%, to close at 11.320.71. Gold, meanwhile, lost some of its luster, shedding 5.6% of its value to close at $1,757.30, its largest one-day decline in more than three years.

Annuities sold at a brisk pace in the second quarter, setting the stage for a record year of sales, according to the Insured Retirement Institute.

U.S. investors may be overly worried about the fate of the euro, and overly confident in the U.S. dollar, according to Kieran Osborne, co-portfolio manager of Palo Alto, Calif.-based Merk Funds.

Two weeks ago, Apple Computer had its day in the sun, briefly surpassing Exxon Mobil in market capitalization to become the largest corporation in the world. Now it’s gold’s turn.

At focus11, LPL Financial's national conference held earlier this month, it was clear that social media was clearly more than just a casual "focus" for the 5,000-plus attendees. Along with several well attended sessions, LPL had a station on the exhibit floor dedicated to the topic that enjoyed constant advisor traffic.

Moody’s downgrade of Japanese debt Wednesday was bad news for the country, but it could present a stock buying opportunity, according to Adam Patti, CEO of IndexIQ.

On Tuesday, UBS announced plans to cut 3,500 job worldwide, to save $2.5 billion by 2013. Almost simultaneously, the state of Connecticut found that money talks -- if it wants to keep UBS jobs in its state.

Investors have mostly been focused on fast-growing companies that may not be of the highest intrinsic value, but now it’s quality dividend payers’ turn.

The website of the Morningstar firm went down for an undisclosed period Tuesday, the same afternoon an earthquake rattled the East Coast from a site near Mineral, Virginia.

In an effort to expand its annuity business, The Hartford is expanding into the structured settlement annuity market, providing tax-free payouts to people who receive settlements related to a workers’ compensation or personal injury claim.

While broker-dealers are placing increasing importance on home office model portfolios, the recent extreme market volatility has made many financial advisors and brokers skeptical of such asset allocation, a report from kasina finds.

The banking industry earned $28.8 billion in the second quarter thanks once again to lower provisions for loan losses, and a regulatory watch list of troubled banks shrank for the first time in nearly five years.

On the surface, the industry turned a corner last quarter. Loans actually grew, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. returned to black and the official watch list for failure-prone banks shrank for the first time in five years. But a closer look at the FDIC's Quarterly Banking Profile reveals a familiar theme: banks are still tiptoeing to recovery.

A new report just released by Moody’s Capital Markets Research Group says that the recent volatility of equities markets in the U.S. -- along with other dreary economic news -- is having an unmistakably negative impact on the nation’s economy.

Broker-dealers don’t have to track every message sent through social media -- only ones that relate to business purposes. And unscripted interactions? They can be reported after they occur.

Bargain hunters got back into the mix Tuesday, snapping up shares across all sectors as the Dow Jones Industrial average stormed up 322 points, or 3%, for the day.

A new report just released by Moody’s Capital Markets Research Group says that the recent volatility of equities markets in the U.S. -- along with other dreary economic news -- is having an unmistakably negative impact on the nation’s economy.

As the cost of college soars and many state institutions are charging as much as $36,000 a year for out-of-state students and private college costs approaching more than $50,000 a year, the percent of total costs families say they are able to cover themselves has fallen. Yet most advisors aren't recommending 529 college savings plans to their clients.

More than half of fee-based financial advisors plan to sell their businesses prior to retirement, according to Tiburon Strategic Advisors, in Tiburon, Calif. That means there is ample opportunity for other firms to quickly add scale through acquisitions. Here are six critical pieces of information every advisor or firm needs to know before making any deals.

Broker-dealers don’t have to track every message sent through social media -- only ones that relate to business purposes. And unscripted interactions? They can be reported after they occur.