A few years ago, Paul, a successful owner of a home-building company, wanted to reinvest his wealth in his business. The real estate market was booming and few other assets provided the kind of return he could achieve with a business that was well...
Since the credit crisis began unfolding, many strange things have occurred in the fixed-income markets. Among the strangest has been the downturn of municipal bonds. High-grade municipals have long been considered reliable investments, but during...
Last month, as Wall Street was melting down and the global stock markets were crashing, I gave my parents some investing advice: I told them to invest in U.S. real estate investment trusts (REITs). Talk about the strength of one's convictions: I...
When E. Stanley O'Neal was promoted to CEO of Merrill Lynch in the summer of 2002, he aimed to change the perception among institutional investors that the firm even though it had 15,000 retail brokers worldwide was solely an expert in selling...
