SEC Seeks Market Clairvoyants
Apr 30, 2009
Today the SEC issued a press release seeking "highly qualified industry professionals to serve as Industry and Markets Fellows in the Office of Risk Assessment." The idea is to create a team of "seasoned" financial pros to help the SEC stay...
Bad Ideas On "Fixing" 401(k) Plans
Bad Ideas On "Fixing" 401(k) Plans
Apr 30, 2009
Last fall Democratic leaders started pitching ideas about removing the tax benefits for 401(k) plans on the grounds that the tax benefits of 401(k)s go "disproportionately" to high-income earners. According to some estimates, the tax breaks "cost"...
The 20 Worst CEOs
The 20 Worst CEOs
Apr 28, 2009
Portfolio magazine may be dead, but its website is still up and running. Here is an interesting story from portfolio.com: The 20 Worst CEOs in history. I think Merrill Lynch's Stan O'Neal should be ranked higher than 18th. After all, he was at the...
The Perils of Bank/Brokerage Synergies
Apr 27, 2009
The one-stop financial shop has always sounded great on paper: Why should a person go to one institution for checking accounts, to another to invest in stocks and bonds and to another to buy insurance? When Merrill Lynch was purchased by Bank of...
Belt Tightening?
Apr 21, 2009
As professional financial advisors, imagine telling a client --- who is suffering a severe drop in income --- to cut his...
Politicians For Sale
Apr 16, 2009
We've been awash in news of Ponzi schemes and greedy bankers. As a result, the "free-marekt-is-bad" argument has been trotted...
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