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In 2008, the subprime mortgage market crashed and led to a severe global recession. History may be repeating itself. The $1.3 trillion leveraged loan market appears ready to threaten the U.S. financial system and investor portfolios. Leveraged loans are made by lending syndicates to speculative companies with junk grade credit. The […]
Once again, Wall Street’s alchemists have concocted an investment product that was sold as safe and secure only to have it blow up in investors’ faces. Certain investment banks, including UBS and Credit Suisse, have cooked up something called a “Yield Enhancement Strategy,” or YES, which is extremely complex […]
‘Twas the night before Christmas and rather than St. Nick and sugar plumbs, we got Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and lumps of coal. The Dow dropped a whopping 3 % on Christmas Eve. It hasn’t done that since – ahem – 1918! Following the bruising stock selloff, which erased more than […]
Aside from the tensions surrounding the U.S. – China trade war and the recent arrest of a top executive of Huawei Technologies, investors may have a far more ominous issue to contend with in investing in Chinese businesses. U.S. regulators are increasingly worried about getting their hands on the books […]
No doubt that retail investors’ stomachs are churning from the stock market’s recent gyrations. Now, Mom and Pop investors may also be overcome with indigestion from the flagging corporate bonds in their portfolios. Moody’s Investors Service recently warned that an unprecedented number of corporate credit ratings could be thrown into […]
The stock market’s volatility continues to roil and slam retail investors’ portfolios. After last month’s ups and downs, the Dow continued its downward trajectory this week by dropping another 700 points. While many focus on such dramatic plunges, there is a more obscure, almost hidden problem in the financial system: […]
Variable annuities have long been a retirement investment product which Wall Street pushed on Main Street customers to generate fees and commissions, commonly 6% of the amount invested. That means if a client buys a variable annuity from a broker for $100,000, the broker is paid a whopping commission of […]
As an investor, you expect to deal with market fluctuations, and you understand that your portfolio will experience ups and downs over time. But, one thing you do not expect is to lose your life’s savings to broker or investment advisor fraud. Unfortunately, in today’s world this is a legitimate […]
As the stock market skids downward and sees increased volatility, investors should take a close look at their secured loan portfolios. All across Wall Street, securities-based lending is red hot, as The Motley Fool noted. And guess who the target is? You guessed it, Mom and Pop. Nearly a decade […]
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is one of various authorities tasked with promoting transparency and investor safety within the retail investment industry. Specifically, among other roles, FINRA maintains a broker registration system under which all individual brokers and brokerage firms must register before offering their services to individual investors. […]