By: Matthew Arndt, CFA, CPA, CFP | November 27, 2009 | Bad Products & Services, Wall Street Ethics

Wells Fargo is ready to pay $1.4 Billion for its involvement in an Auction-Rate Securities scam. In an settlement that includes an arrangement with California Attorney General Jerry Brown, the San Francisco-based banker has agreed to repurchase billions in illiquid auction rate securities… “Wells Fargo convinced thousands of investors to purchase auction-rate securities with promises [...]

By: Jack WaymirecloseAuthor: Jack Waymire Name: Jack Waymire
Email: jack@paladinregistry.com
Site: http://paladinregistry.com
About: Jack writes for the InvestorWatchdog website and Worth magazine. He worked in the financial services industry from 1976 to 2004. For twenty of those years he was the president of a Registered Investment Advisory firm and a Broker/Dealer. Jack is the author of Who's Watching Your Money? The 17 Paladin Principles for Selecting a Financial Advisor and is a co-founder of PaladinRegistry.com.See Authors Posts (87) | November 20, 2009 | Conflicts of Interest, The Politicians

The Department of Labor recently withdrew a new rule that would have allowed financial advisors, who acknowledge they are fiduciaries and work for fees, to give advice to 401k participants.
As Jason Roberts, an attorney at Reish and Reicher, said, “It seems like someone in Congress gave the DOL an order to stand down.” In my opinion, Wall Street [...]

By: Daniel ChencloseAuthor: Daniel Chen Name: Daniel Chen
Member: Member Paladin
Quality Rating:
Email: dcstrategies@yahoo.com
Site: http://paladinregistry.com/external/beaninformedinvestor/advisor_profile.php?advisor_id=1893
About: Dan's specialty is delivered by his Wealth Management Practice with a core competency in Fianancial Planning. The ability to deliver services for a fee eliminates the potential conflicts of interest created by the commission only type of aproach. He maintaines his office in Ocean N.J. however serves a clientel base from coast to coast. Dan believes that the basis for a great life is planning for it. Dan offers a no obligation meeting to decide if his services are appropriate for your needs.See Authors Posts (12) | November 18, 2009 | Investor Information

There continues to be growing evidence that as the recession continues, more fraudulant activity will become increasingly evident. Scam and schemes will not be sustainable as the economic infrastructure continues to feel pressure. The following link to the most recent article is only one of many to come. http://bit.ly/Q3iE8
My advice to all individual investors continue [...]

By: Jack WaymirecloseAuthor: Jack Waymire Name: Jack Waymire
Email: jack@paladinregistry.com
Site: http://paladinregistry.com
About: Jack writes for the InvestorWatchdog website and Worth magazine. He worked in the financial services industry from 1976 to 2004. For twenty of those years he was the president of a Registered Investment Advisory firm and a Broker/Dealer. Jack is the author of Who's Watching Your Money? The 17 Paladin Principles for Selecting a Financial Advisor and is a co-founder of PaladinRegistry.com.See Authors Posts (87) | November 17, 2009 | Deceptive Sales Practices, Illegal Schemes & Scams

The SEC charged two companies, including a financial planning firm, with conning senior citizens out of their retirement money when they made extraordinary claims about investing in a biotech startup.
According to the SEC complaint, advisory firm Speed of Wealth convinced more than 300 investors, many of them seniors, to liquidate their pension plans and invest [...]

By: Matthew Arndt, CFA, CPA, CFP | November 12, 2009 | The Politicians, The Regulators, Wall Street Ethics

Ten years ago President Clinton signed the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act which repealed the Glass-Steagall Act giving rise to financial conglomerates that apparently are considered too big to fail, and therefore turn to taxpayer handouts when they find themselves in financial trouble. This latest round of bailouts is already putting trillions of dollars of taxpayer funds at [...]

By: Jack WaymirecloseAuthor: Jack Waymire Name: Jack Waymire
Email: jack@paladinregistry.com
Site: http://paladinregistry.com
About: Jack writes for the InvestorWatchdog website and Worth magazine. He worked in the financial services industry from 1976 to 2004. For twenty of those years he was the president of a Registered Investment Advisory firm and a Broker/Dealer. Jack is the author of Who's Watching Your Money? The 17 Paladin Principles for Selecting a Financial Advisor and is a co-founder of PaladinRegistry.com.See Authors Posts (87) | November 9, 2009 | Bad Products & Services, Deceptive Sales Practices

How can investments be rated AAA one day and junk the next? When investment bankers pay substantial fees to rating agencies to obtain high quality ratings for garbage products. Moody’s, one of the biggest rating agencies in the U.S., has been accused of providing AAA ratings for subprime mortgage pools that were assembled and marketed by Goldman Sachs and [...]