State Regulator Bars Arbitration Clauses In Advisor Contracts

Sep. 18– WASHINGTON– Federal Reserve officials on Wednesday cut interest rates for a second straight time as insurance against a recession, but there was a growing divide among policymakers about the future path of rates. At their meeting this week, a majority of Fed officials projected no more rate reductions in the foreseeable future, signaling that for now the…

WASHINGTON- The recent weakness in U.S. business investment may be largely related to falling oil prices and the grounding of Boeing’s 737 Max 8 jet, JPMorgan Chase finds, challenging claims that the trade dispute with China is undercutting capital spending. Business investment slowed sharply in recent months, prompting some analysts to read it as another…

—The Federal Reserve looks poised to cut interest rates for a second time Wednesday to help extend the economic expansion in the face of global weakness, President Donald Trump’s trade war with China and geopolitical risks such as the attacks on Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities. So has a belief that oil prices will remain elevated, that inflation might finally be…

O’Connell, CEO at Next Level Insurance Agency, gave his insights into turning a successful practice into a balanced personal life during the NAIFA Performance+Purpose convention in Orlando, Fla.

—For a second straight time, the Federal Reserve is set to cut interest rates this week to try to protect the economy from the consequences of a global slowdown and President Donald Trump’s trade war with China. Will Trump achieve at least a truce in his conflict with China and diminish a threat overhanging the U.S. economy? Is U.S. inflation, dormant for years,…

Morgan Stanley, a multinational financial services corporation, issued the following news release:. More than eight in ten U.S. individual investors now express interest in sustainable investing, while half take part in at least one sustainable investing activity, according to a new survey published today by the Morgan Stanley Institute for Sustainable…

No less a figure than former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan has suggested that it’s just a matter of time before negative rates come to the United States. Last week, the European Central Bank deepened its negative rates as part of a package to fend off a recession. Negative rates represent another technique by which central banks, such as the Federal…

U.S. Bancorp executives, at a once-every-three-year meeting with top investors and analysts, said Thursday they can’ t take the company’ s strong performance for granted and are making big changes amid slowing growth. “We talk about this a lot,” Andy Cecere, U.S. Bank’ s chief executive, said in reply.“ One of my objectives is to not be Sears Roebuck. They said they don’ t…

The Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of New York filed an appeal Monday challenging a New York Supreme Court ruling upholding the state’s new regulations governing annuity and life insurance sales.

Once you retire, it’s helpful to keep several tax opportunities and tax consequences in mind.

President Trump on Wednesday continued his attacks on the Federal Reserve, calling the central bank and its chairman, Jerome Powell,“ boneheads” and urging the central bank to cut interest rates to zero or set negative rates. “It is only the naïveté of Jay Powell and the Federal Reserve that doesn’ t allow us to do what other countries are already doing,” he added.“ A…

Estate planning is the process of managing and preserving your assets while you are alive, and conserving and controlling their distribution after your death. There are four key estate planning documents almost everyone should have regardless of age, health, or wealth. DURABLE POWER OF ATTORNEY You must consider what would happen if, for example, you were…

Financial officers from Wilson and Muir Bank, West Point Bank, WesBanco, Fort Knox Federal Credit Union and Citizens Union Bank were on hand at Tuesday’s Radcliff Small Business Alliance luncheon to offer some financial advice. James Watson of WesBanco said small business owners obviously have passion, but all too often, they have passion and no money.

Stocks rose broadly on Wall Street in afternoon trading Wednesday as investors welcomed China’s move to exempt some U.S. products from a recent round of tariffs. The sector is particularly sensitive to the fallout from the trade war between Washington and Beijing because many big tech companies, such as Apple, manufacture products in China.

Income inequality has roiled American society and politics for years, animating the rise of Barack Obama out of the collapse of the financial system in 2008, energizing right-wing populism and the emergence of nationalist leaders like Donald J. Trump, and pushing the Democratic Party leftward. “Poverty is a life-threatening issue for millions of people in…

You likely have heard the saying that the three most important factors in real estate are location, location and location. In wealth management, location is a similarly important factor. Asset location is a best practice for keeping as much of your wealth as possible- after taxes have taken their toll.

LPL reduced their 2019 S&P 500 EPS forecast in August to reflect increased risk to economic growth and corporate profits from the ongoing trade conflict between the United States and China. Although experts continue to expect resolution later this year or in early 2020, the odds of a more prolonged dispute have risen.

You might think your portfolio is safe, but are you absolutely sure? A steep market drop could be an expensive wake-up call.

The best bond funds in August were general U.S. Treasuries funds, which galloped ahead by 6.2%, following the Federal Reserves rate cut.

The U.S. economy added a disappointing 130,000 jobs in August, the Labor Department said Friday, heightening fears that President Trump’s trade war is starting to bite. The jobs report has taken on greater significance as concerns grow that the U.S. economy has entered a rough patch. Trump has pinned his reelection on a strong economy in 2020. White House…

Sep. 5– Words are important but actions matter more. The $5 trillion- plus-in-assets mutual fund giant also issued a separate note, adding, “We continue to promote gender diversity– there is still progress to be made– but our research and experience with corporate boards tell us that gender diversity is not enough. The flagship Vanguard S&P 500 index fund, created by…

Two U.S. senators have called on the main pension fund for federal government employees to reverse a decision that would open billions in investments to fund Chinese companies that they say support China’s military, espionage, and human rights abuses. The letter comes as the escalating U.S.- China trade war threatens to spill over into the financial sector,…

That’ s some of the advice Massachusetts financial advisers are dishing out to anxious clients— many of them late-career baby boomers— who fear the market volatility will deplete the nest eggs they’ ve accumulated to fund their retirement. While there’ s no one-size-fits-all formula, almost everyone needs some hand-holding in tumultuous times.

Byline: Fred Reish and Joan Neri. Under rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission, what standard of conduct applies to this IRA rollover advice? The SEC interpretation affirms and clarifies an investment adviser’s fiduciary duty.

In the early 1950 s, a young economist named Paul Volcker worked as a human calculator in an office deep inside the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The Fed’ s chairman, a former stockbroker named William McChesney Martin, once told a visitor that he kept a small staff of economists in the basement of the Fed’ s Washington headquarters. President Franklin Delano…

The stock market is closed on Labor Day, but investors do not get an early start to the holiday weekend the Friday before Labor Day.

Sixty-two percent of retirement plan sponsors say their employees expect to meet all of their funding needs in retirement, but 45% of sponsors do not think their employees are saving enough to retire, according to Fidelity Investments’ Plan Sponsor Attitudes Study. Ninety percent of sponsors have had employees work past their desired retirement date, and 73%…

Thirty-three percent of Baby Boomers are actively managing interest rate risk in their portfolio, up six percentage points from last quarter. This is according to “StreetWise,” E* TRADE’s quarterly tracking study of experienced investors. “Investors approaching retirement traditionally turn to bonds to provide a steady stream of income for their portfolio,”…