Securities Fraud Lawyers BlogInvestor Tips: A Year in Review
With a new year upon us, we thought we’d look back at the most popular questions investors have been asking over the past year. Here are the most popular investor tips for 2017:
Articles Posted in Investment
To Buy or To Sell? Why Investors Should Take Stock Ratings with a Grain of Salt
Stock ratings are offered by many investment banking groups as a simple way for investors to judge the value of a stock or security. In addition to rating a value of a security, stock ratings typically provide an answer to the question all investors ask: Is it time to buy or sell?
In the case of the recent Citigroup fiasco, investors got mixed messages from the investment bank.
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) recently slapped Citigroup with $11.5 million in fines for providing investors with erroneous stock ratings. FINRA’s sanctions find that the investment bank’s faulty stock ratings go back four years. In addition to $5.5 million in fines, Citigroup must also pay out at least $6 million to investors as compensation for investment losses.
Saving for College: FAQs About Opening a 529 Account
With another new year just around the corner, you may be thinking about financial planning as a part of your New Year’s resolutions. For those of you with a newborns or young children in the family, you may be thinking about opening a college savings plan.
A 529 account can be a great way for parents and grandparents to start a college savings plan. Here’s some commonly asked questions about opening a 529 account.
Who can use a 529 savings plan?
Investing 101: Wrap Fees Explained
If you’ve looked into hiring an investment adviser or advisory firm to help manage your investments, you may have seen some offer various advisory services bundled together under one comprehensive fee. These types of service fees are called wrap fees and are offered as sponsored packages by many advisory firms.
With wrap fee programs, your advisor or firm serves as the “sponsor” for the program; essentially the liaison between you and your service offerings. Typically, the fee for these types of programs is determined by the overall value of your investment account. While it may seem easy enough on your end to just pay one flat fee for a bundling of advisory services, there are things you need to watch for when considering wrap fee programs.
Understanding Wrap Fees
Coming This December: Federal Rate Hikes… (More in 2018)
There’s been chatter recently among economic experts that federal rate hikes would likely soon be on the way. Since 2016, the Federal Reserve has risen interest rates three times, but they’ve not not made any definitive announcements on the further hikes, leaving it open to speculation when they’d actually be introduced.
It appears that economists and experts have now been able to reach a consensus. In fact, it appears that the recent Senate tax reform bill passed on Friday may have forced the Fed’s hand. In a recent article, Reuters reports that the recent legislation has forced a shift in risk-forecasting; toward a need for higher federal rate hikes and sooner.
According to the article, experts are projecting three rate hikes between now and 2019. This is actually in accordance with the Fed’s own projections, however the reasoning is up for debate.
With Cordray’s Resignation, What’s Next for the CFPB?
This week, Richard Cordray handed in his resignation as head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The early resignation comes at a time of increased criticism over current financial regulations and an uncertain outlook for many regulatory bodies. The CFPB especially, has been subject of intense criticism from the financial industry as overbearing and stifling.
As Director, Cordray was very much the face and voice of the bureau. Under Cordray, the Consumer Bureau held very close to the guiding tenets under which it was created: to protect financial consumers from unethical behavior. His departure leaves senior officials in the bureau and supporting lawmakers scrambling to secure the future of the CFPB against a regulatory overhaul.
What exactly is the CFPB?
Investors Need to Watch Out for Paid-to-Click Fraud
Investors Beware: Paid-to-Click Fraud
There’s a new online scam targeting investors. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued an alert to investors to watch out for Paid-to-Click (PTC) fraud. PTC scams involve fraudsters duping investors out of money for purchasing online advertisements.
With Paid-to-Click fraud, investors are targeted by scammers who promise a share of profits for the upfront purchase of ad bundles and packages. Some scams may promise easy financial returns and online advertising space while others simply promise returns in exchange for an upfront fee alone.
Fed Implores Congress to Preserve Key Financial Regulations
In his remarks to Congress, out-going New York Federal Reserve President William Dudley implored lawmakers to preserve and maintain key financial regulation measures in face of growing support for review of standing requirements.
Dudley recently announced his decision to retire from his position earlier (mid-2018) than his term allots. According to a Reuters article, part of Dudley’s responsibilities as New York Fed President extend to being a “point-person” for Wall Street. The New York branch serves as the Fed’s eyes and ears on Wall Street, providing on-the-ground reports of activity to the central bank.
“Do no harm”
Wells Fargo Offers New Robo-Advising Platform
Banking giant, Wells Fargo, recently rolled out a new robo-advising platform aimed at enticing first-time investors to invest through Wells Fargo-packaged investment offerings. The unveiling of the automated advisory platform marks the latest in a concerted effort by large-scale financial institutions to capitalize on tech-savvy consumers and meet the changing demands of a digital marketplace.
Robo-advising has grown as an increasingly popular platform for investors who seek more autonomy in their investment decisions as well as expedited trading.
What is Robo-advising?
(Capital) Loss Can Be Your Gain: Leverage Your Stock Loss into Tax Deductions!
Nobody wants to lose out on an investment, but did you know that stock loss – also known as capital loss – can actually be leveraged into savings on future investments through tax deductions? While it may sound strange, converting stock loss into savings is actually a widely used strategy for many seasoned investors.
Once you understand how tax laws apply to your capital losses, you will quickly see the benefits of reporting them. You will be able to form strategies that actually take advantage of stock losses ahead of time. Once an investment starts to head south, you’ll be able to make the right decisions to mitigate that loss.