Consumer confidence improved slightly over the last month, but is still near its lowest levels in decades, according to the Reuters/University of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment report, released this morning.
Even the normally upbeat Section 529 college savings plan industry is in the dumps as it grapples with the financial crisis, according to a survey released this morning by the College Savings Foundation at its annual conference in Miami Beach, Fla.
Registered investment advisers who custody client assets with Charles Schwab have made a strong push into cash, the company’s chief executive, Walt Bettinger, said in a conference call with analysts today.
T. Rowe Price Group Inc. posted an 87% fourth-quarter profit drop today, as the money manager was hammered by impairment charges, fund outflows and a steep drop in assets under management.
President Obama is formulating and finalizing his tax proposals as part of an overall economic recovery stimulus package and your clients have been asking how the new plan will affect them.
The push to require investment advisory firms to use independent custodians gained momentum today after members of the Senate Banking Committee and officials of the SEC endorsed the action at a hearing on the giant Ponzi scheme allegedly perpetrated by Bernard L. Madoff.
The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index fell 0.9 points from 38.6 in December to 37.7 in January — its lowest level since the board began keeping records in 1967.
Those with an average income of nearly $200,000 spent 6.4% less on luxury goods such as fashion accessories, electronics and upscale home furnishings in the fourth quarter of 2008 than they did in the third quarter, according to a study.
Waddell & Reed Financial reported a fourth-quarter loss of $730 million, or 1 cent per share, compared with a profit of $35.1 million, or 42 cents per share, a year earlier, due to a severe decline in assets under management.
Lincoln National Corp. has announced that it will lay off 5% of its employees, or approximately 540 positions, according to published reports.
While incoming contributions to the Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund dropped 43% last year, its grant making to non-profit organizations increased.
Who would be better at running an independent broker-dealer than an independent rep?
The severe market downturn is wreaking havoc on an independent-broker-dealer industry, putting all sources of income under siege and flattening already thin profit margins.
Disenchanted brokers are migrating slowly to independent channels, adding to the coffers of major custodians like Charles Schwab & Co. and Fidelity Investments.
The brokerage industry may have to pony up as much as $1 billion to replenish the Securities Investor Protection Corp. fund, should SIPC's liquidation of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC of New York deplete its reserves.
The latest attack on short selling could come in the form of a reinstatement of the so-called uptick rule, which requires that a stock moves upward in price before it can be sold short.
Standard and Poor’s Ratings Services today cut its credit ratings on AFLAC Inc., placing the Columbus, Ga., health carrier on CreditWatch with negative implications.
Tracking the value of a wine cellar full of “investments” will get a little easier starting Monday when the London International Vintners Exchange launches the Liv-ex Claret Chip Index, the first fine-wine weekly price index.
A bipartisan group of seven House members today sent a letter to Treasury secretary-designate Timothy Geithner, asking him to set up an office of insurance information if he is confirmed.
England officially entered into a recession in its fourth quarter, ended Dec. 31, according to data released today.
