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Even though the government reached an agreement to raise the debt ceiling, 54% of Americans surveyed said the debate over the debt ceiling has made them feel less confident in the economy, the RBC Consumer Outlook Index for August found.

DST Systems Reviews Strategic OptionsAugust 5, 2011Chris KentourisAfter insisting it wants to stay independent, DST Systems on Friday came close to confirming it was on the block.Like what you see? Click here to sign up for Securities Technology Monitor's weekly newsletter to get the latest news and analysis that matters to the effective operation of capital markets.Last month, DST said it was not entertaining discussions with any party regarding a sale of the company and didn’t think its stock price was representative of its long-term intrinsic value. Therefore, it couldn’t entertain a takeover.But on Friday, the Kansas City, Mo. based firm which provides recordkeeping and other services to mutual funds and broker-dealers, said that it hired Bank of America Merrill Lynch and law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP to advise its board. Stinson Morrison Hecker LLP is providing legal advice.“The board of directors of DST Systems, Inc continuing its long standing practice of engaging in an ongoing review of the Company’s business plan, assets and investment portfolio,” said DST in a statement on Friday.In that same statement, DST also confirmed that it rejected a bid from Russell Glass, the founder of RDG Capital LLC, that he and two other people be added to its board. Glass said in June he made a bid to buy DST.DST’s stock dropped $2.92 a share or six percent to $45.91a share on Thursday giving the firm a market value of $2.1 billion.DST’s news on Friday followed a dismal second quarter earnings report; second quarter earnings fell 41 percent to $55.2 million from the year earlier period due to a large payment the firm received when a customer dropped its contract last year.The 2010 figure included a $58 percent termination payment. Eliminating the payment from earnings, DST’s earnings declined 14 percent to $49.4 million from $57.6 million the year earlier in large part due to a decline in the number of registered accounts it handles. Revenues declined 9 percent in the 2011 second quarter to $424.1 million.After insisting it wants to stay independent, DST Systems on Friday came close to confirming it was on the block.

Seeking U.S. backing, the Hedge Fund Standards Board in London amended its best practice guidelines to accommodate international standards. The changes strengthen disclosure and risk management practices for alternative investment funds.

Keating Capital, a pre-IPO fund, concluded its public offering, raising $86.8 million. Next, the fund plans to list its stock on Nasdaq by the end of the year.

Barack Obama has missed his chance to see a director of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau take office within his first term as president.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has petitioned to intervene in the proposed $8.5 billion Bank of America Corp. private label mortgage settlement.

Charlie Mak has assumed the role of president of Morgan Stanley International Wealth Management, following his role as head of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney in Asia.

Exchange-traded-fund assets are on the rise, and price appreciation has little to do with it, according to an analysis by Standard & Poor’s.

International Funds Set to Outpace Domestic Counterparts: S&PBy Dave LindorffAugust 4, 20112011 has not been a great year for international equity mutual funds, especially compared to domestic U.S. fund counterparts. But this situation could very well change and investors in the near future, according to analysts at Standard & Poor's Equity Research.Like what you see? Click here to sign up for Financial Planning's daily newsletter to get the latest on advisor market trends, investment management, retirement planning, practice management, technology, compliance and new product development.First the numbers.After having two great years, in the first half of 2011 through the end of June, the average gain for international equity funds was a paltry 1.7%. This compared to an average gain of 3.4% for funds invested exclusively in U.S. domestic stocks.But Alec Young, an S&P international equity strategist, and colleague Todd Rosenbluth, an S&P mutual fund analyst, said that a slowing U.S. economy going forward could make it hard for domestic-invested funds to continue outperforming international funds -- especially if the dollar continues its slide against the Euro and other currencies (it’s down 7% so far this year).As Young explains, international funds that invest in companies that denominate their overseas returns in local currencies see their returns rise when those overseas earnings in foreign currencies get converted to dollars.Even so, he said that for international stocks and international mutual funds to really take off in the second half would require a convergence of a number of factors, not all of which are looking particularly likely.These factors, he said, would include an easing of sovereign debt “stress,” greater momentum in international manufacturing, commodity price stabilization, and a more robust U.S. recovery. With both the U.S. and global economies looking weaker, Young told On Wall Street that there were “still two things that could happen that would help international equities funds: a QE3 program by the Federal Reserve, or an expansion of the European Economic Stability Fund.” The Fed at the end of June ended its latest quantitative easing program, called QE2, of buying Treasuries and, at that time, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said he did not anticipate having the Fed engage in a third such program.But some economists and Fed watchers think that the dramatic change in the outlook of the U.S. economy evident in recent days may make him rethink that view. Also, there are many experts in Europe who think that the economic stability fund established to prop up the economies of Greece, Portugal and other weaker Euro Zone states is too small and may need to augmented. Looking at the universe of international funds available to investors, S&P’s analysts are recommending three which they say are both top performers and which are invested in companies with strong credit profiles and/or a history of earnings and dividend stability. They include:-- Lazard International Equity Portfolio fund (LZIOX), a relatively small fund with only $38 million in assets that has returned 5.8% so far in 2011 with below average volatility.-- Templeton Foreign Fund (TEMFX), up 5.3% this year, and a fund with relatively low turnover.-- MFS Research International Fund (MRSAX), up 5.1% this year, and a fund that has outperformed its peers for the past five calendar years.

2011 has not been a great year for international equity mutual funds, especially compared to domestic U.S. fund counterparts. But this situation could very well change and investors in the near future, according to analysts at Standard & Poor's Equity Research.

Keating Capital, a pre-IPO fund, concluded its public offering, raising $86.8 million. Next, the fund plans to list its stock on Nasdaq by the end of the year.

UBS Wealth Management Americas has hired four Bank of America Merrill Lynch financial advisors previously handling $800 million in client assets.

I’d like to share with you some personal observations about what’s happening in China based on my recent visit to Beijing, Xi’an, Shanghai and Hong Kong. While there as a tourist, I made a point of talking to the locals and keeping my eyes and ears open for anything that would help me figure out whether this Chinese growth story will save the world economy or whether it’s a bubble ready to burst.

PIMCO's Gates: Even After Debt Deal, Bigger Issues Still Haunt U.S. EconomyBy Dave LindorffAugust 3, 2011Don’t count Bill Gross, managing director of the giant investment management firm PIMCO, among those expressing relief at the government’s recent debt ceiling compromise or any subsequent package of budget cuts that may materialize over the next 10 years.Like what you see? Click here to sign up for Financial Planning's daily newsletter to get the latest on advisor market trends, investment management, retirement planning, practice management, technology, compliance and new product development.Gross, whose company manages more than $1 trillion in assets, said the deal -- which he characterized as a display of “dysfunctional government -- scarcely touches the current year’s $1.5 trillion deficit.Worse yet, he said that even if the scheme to have 12 members of a “super committee” of six House and Senate Republicans and six House and Senate Democrats does manage to come up by with another $1.5 trillion worth of budget cuts over the next decade, it would only reduce future deficits “at most by 0.5%”The cuts made in the debt deal are predicted by the Congressional Office of Management and Budget to bring down the country’s “official” total debt/GDP ratio from a current level of 100% to around 90%, with the deficits in 2012 and 2013 averaging 7% to 8% of GDP each year.But that drop in the debt/GDP ratio, Gross warns, is premised on an assumption that the U.S. economy will grow in 2012 and 2013 at a rate in excess of 3% per year.But as Gross said, “Recent trends give pause to these estimates, as does PIMCO’s New Normal, which believes 2%, not 3%, is closer to reality.”The bad news: If growth is closer to 2% per year instead of 3%, “deficits move right back up to near double-digit percentages of GDP.”And there’s another catch.The rosier scenario for the debt/GDP ratio assumes interest rates hold at current 2% levels. If rates were to rise, either because of inflation or to defend a falling dollar, for example, Gross said every 100 basis point increase “raises the deficit by 1% and erases any hoped for gains.”The government’s action on the deficit this week pales almost to insignificance, Gross warns, when one looks at the net present cost of future liabilities in the Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid programs, which he puts at a staggering $66 trillion.These enormous future debts can be addressed, he said, but not without taking steps to improve the efficiency of our healthcare system, reduce benefits, raise retirement ages, and, yes, increase tax rates, “or a combination of all of the above.” Gross said the government also has the option of depreciating the currency and/or maintaining artificially low or even negative real interest rates.Not a pretty picture to be sure.Gross’s advice to investors: favor countries with higher real interest rates like Canada, Mexico, Brazil and Germany. Diversify equity and fixed income investments out of the dollar and into developing nations “with stronger growth prospects. He also advocates investors buy commodity-based real assets “before reserve surplus nations do,” and “above all, don’t be lulled to sleep by congressional law makers that promise a change in Washington.” Don’t count Bill Gross, managing director of the giant investment management firm PIMCO, among those expressing relief at the government’s recent debt ceiling compromise or any subsequent package of budget cuts that may materialize over the next 10 years.

CBOE Holdings said its net income jumped 32 percent, even as trading in futures and options declined 16 percent in the secnd quarter.

Long-term mutual funds were hit with -$10.381 billion in redemptions the week ended July 27, the Investment Company Institute said. This came on the heels of -$4.58 billion in redemptions the previous week.

The problem of "too big to fail" is continuing to bedevil the U.S. economy despite claims by some regulators that the Dodd-Frank Act effectively ended it.

Global financial firms are in danger of drowning in the ocean of uncertainty that floats between the rhetoric of the G-20 and the reality of international regulation.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has filled two slots on its Board of Governors with Bank of America President of Global Wealth & Investment Management Sallie Krawcheck and Tritaurian Capital Inc. Chief Operating Officer Ken Norensberg.

Companies that pay dividends, and in many cases are raising them, are attracting strong attention amid an otherwise unappetizing market. But a healthy dividend doesn’t necessarily mean the company issuing it is in the best shape, says Standard & Poor’s equity analyst Todd Rosenbluth.