News

• Cox: All ARS Dealers Scrutinized

  August 20, 2008

  SEC chairman Christopher Cox said yesterday that regulators made it a priority to investigate major firms' sales of auction-rate securities but their ARS probes include all firms that sold the securities to investors.

• Fidelity Has Misgivings Over Buying Back ARS

  August 20, 2008

  Raymond James, Oppenheimer & Co. & Stifel Nicolaus also balking.

• NY Legislature Meets in Special Session; Revenue Concerns at Issue

  August 20, 2008

  The state has estimated that Wall Street bonuses in the current fiscal year will fall by 20% compared to last year and that capital gains will fall by 24%.

• SEC Offers Interactive System for Financial Filings

  August 20, 2008

  The Securities and Exchange Commission unveiled its next-generation system for online financial filings, IDEA, the successor to its EDGAR database.

• Rumors of Lehman Sale Swirl

  August 19, 2008

  Lehman Brothers may be close to the sale of its investment-management arm, a business that includes Neuberger Berman, in an attempt to generate some much needed cash.

• Big Bank Will Go Down Soon: Harvard Prof

  August 19, 2008

  Kenneth Rogoff, a former economist at the IMF, said a large US bank is likely to collapse in the next few months, and said of the US economy that "the worst is still to come."

• Hedge Fund SageCrest Seeks Bankruptcy Protection

  August 19, 2008

  Greenwich, Conn.-based hedge fund SageCrest Finance has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection amid pressure from lenders and investors.

• Investors, Markets Lift Assets 4% in 2Q Hedge Funds

  August 19, 2008

  Assets held in hedge funds grew 4.41% during the second quarter, to $2.973 trillion.

• Response to RBDA Claim Is Mixed

  August 19, 2008

  The Regional Bond Dealers Association is pushing state and federal regulators to force the major banks and broker-dealers that underwrote auction-rate securities to provide relief to all investors who purchased ARS.

• Fidelity, Schwab Swept Up in N.Y. A.G.'s Auction-Rate Probe

  August 18, 2008

  New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is reportedly investigating Fidelity Investments and Charles Schwab over auction-rate securities .

• A Darwinian Tale in California: Strong Prey on Faltering

  August 18, 2008

  Customers are fleeing weakened banks in favor of those viewed as safe havens, particularly in California.

• Genworth Announces New Wealth Management Division

  August 18, 2008

  The new branch combines two Genworth companies with 4,500 financial advisors and $18 AUM.

• Execs Are Finding Time to Talk to Investors Again

  August 19, 2008

  Analysts who track banking stocks say it has become easier lately to get an audience with senior managers at the companies they cover.

• Brokerage Firms' Loss Is Independent Advisors' Gain

  August 18, 2008

  Over the last six months, an overwhelming majority of independent investment advisors have signed up disaffected former clients of brokerage firms.

• Banc of America Ordered to Pay $2.1 Million for Wrongful Termination

  August 18, 2008

  Two former Banc of America brokers accused the broker-dealer of intentionally damaging their reputations with current and potential clients.

• Wachovia to Buy Back $8.8 Billion of ARS

  August 18, 2008

  Wachovia Securities LLC and Wachovia Capital Markets LLC agreed to buy back at par $8.8 billion of auction-rate securities from retail and other investors.

• Many Americans Unaware They Lack Sufficient Savings

  August 18, 2008

  More than 40% of the American households that are at risk of being financially unprepared for retirement don't even know it.

• CPAs and CFOs See U.S. in Recession

  August 18, 2008

  The U.S. economy is already in a recession, say a majority of CFOs and senior-level executive CPAs.

• Plan Contributions Hold Steady Despite Market Turmoil

  August 18, 2008

  In the first half of 2008, Americans continued to add to their employer-sponsored retirement plans despite the ongoing market turmoil.

• Short-Sale Ban's Impact Charts Muddily in Trading

  August 18, 2008

  The day after the SEC's late-July ban on naked short sales of 19 financial stocks lapsed, the sector took a dive, making it easy to conclude that short selling had roared back.