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The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority issued an alert to investors to look carefully into the potential risks of nonrecourse stock-based loan programs before participating in them.

State Street's Investor Confidence Index rose to its highest level since December, a sign that more investors are willing to move off the sidelines to capitalize on the market's recent strength.

The State Street Investor Confidence Index rose 6.8 point in May to 104.1, its highest reading since December. The increase was led by North American investors, among whom confidence rose 7.7 points to 106.3 from 98.6 in April. European investor confidence rose 5.2 points to 79.0 from 73.8. However, Asian investor confidence fell 2.7 points to 96.7 from 99.4.

John Hancock Funds has launched the John Hancock Hedged Equity & Income Fund, a closed-end fund that had its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday. This is Hancock’s tenth closed-end fund. Wellington Management is the subadvisor.

Gene Gohlke has retired as associate director for examinations in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations after more than 35 years of public service at the SEC.

The District of Columbia’s budget vote last Wednesday jolted local municipal bond investors who could see their taxes jump on Oct. 1 as a result of a provision to tax the interest earnings from munis issued outside the district.

The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority, the first toll road agency of its kind in Texas, is looking for yield-hungry investors willing to take a risk on $374 million of revenue bonds at or below investment grade next week.

ING Direct's customers now have one more hoop to jump through to use a personal financial management site. ING isn't apologizing for the inconvenience, and perhaps counterintuitively, PFM providers see no reason ING should.

In the wake of the economic tsunami, banks are reassessing their business models to see what fits and what doesn't in this new era.

Barclays expects Greece will be propped up for another year. Raymond James' Jeffrey Saut likes technology stocks. Vanguard is still bullish on money markets. S&P looks for funds holding consumer staples stocks that might do better in a U.S. stock market downturn.

Although the unemployment rate in the U.S. is 9%, three-quarters of broker-dealers and registered investment advisors plan to hire in the next 12 months, and they plan to boost their staff by an average of 30%, Fidelity Investments found in a survey.

Workers who participate in 401(k) plans would be greatly served if a bill that has just been reintroduced in the Senate's Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pension is passed.

Craig M. Lewis has been named chief economist and director of the Division of Risk, Strategy, and Financial Innovation at the Securities and Exchange Commission.

FINRA has ordered Credit Suisse and Merrill Lynch to pay up after providing faulty data and supervision of residential subprime mortgage securitizations.

Bank of America Corp. will pay $20 million and Morgan Stanley $2.35 million for improperly foreclosing on members of the military — some of whom were on active duty in Iraq and Afghanistan — under a settlement with the Justice Department.

Chuck Gariboldi has joined U.S. Bancorp Fund Services as vice president and fund operations manager, in charge of daily operations in the fund accounting division. Gariboldi will also work with other divisions of the company to ensure accounting operations and policies meet evolving client and industry trends.

Bank of America Corp. will pay $20 million and Morgan Stanley $2.35 million for improperly foreclosing on members of the military — some of whom were on active duty in Iraq and Afghanistan — under a settlement with the Justice Department.

FDIC's Sheila Bair spent one of her last congressional hearings trying to convince skeptical Republicans that "too big to fail" has finally been eliminated.

The median annual cost of care in a private nursing home rose 3.4% over the past year to $77,745—far surpassing the $49,777 median annual household income for Americans, according to Genworth’s “2011 Cost of Care Survey.” And the cost of an assisted living facility rose 2.4% over the past year to $39,135.

The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index rose to -48.2 in the week ended May 22, up from a nine-month low of -49.4 the previous week. Readings of -40 or less are associated with recessions and their aftermaths, Bloomberg said.