Archive for the ‘The Kueser Law Firm’ Category:
Robert Powell of Marketwatch.com recently posted an article entitled “Inflation hits hard when you can least afford it: Four ways older Americans can deal with higher inflation rates.”
The article offers four tips for retirees and those approaching retirement. Most importantly, the article states that retirees should (1) live within their means, and (2) calculate retirement expenses. This is good advice because retirees are as guilty as many Americans for failing to properly budget and plan. In addition, many retirees are told that the only way they can support their retirement is to invest more aggressively. This is not true and, in fact, can be devastating when the stock market experiences broad declines, as has happened over the last 18 months (the S&P 500 has declined from approximately 1,540 to a low of 666.79).
If you are retired, or are approaching retirement, and your financial advisor tells you that the only way you can “afford” to retire is by investing more of your money in stocks or stock-based mutual funds, get a second opinion. Although stocks have provided the greatest historical returns over the long-term, retirees and those approaching retirement need to focus on the short-term. As reported on mybudget360.com, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has suffered one-year losses of 18.94% or more in 11 years (see chart).
These one year declines can prove disastrous for retirees. This is why it is important to manage portfolio risk and why the “solution” to affording retirement is not to invest more money in stocks, but rather, to manage retirement expenses. Mr. Powell has also written an article discussing 10 major retirement risks. In this article, he offers tips on how to manage these risks, including stock market risk.
Darren Barbee of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram has written a good article that outlines various ways investors can reduce the risk of being defrauded by a financial or investment adviser.
This is a “must read” article that anyone who is dealing with an investment adviser. In addition, The Kueser Law Firm’s website contains an Investor Resource Center that provides helpful links to several sources that investors can utilize to do a background check on their financial or investment adviser (Investment Adviser Public Disclosure) and stock broker (BrokerCheck), as well as insurance agents that are registered to sell variable insurance products (BrokerCheck). In these uncertain times, it is imperative that investors know everything they can about the professionals they entrust with their future.
As reported in the New York Times, California’s Attorney General filed a lawsuit today against three Wells Fargo companies, including Wells Fargo Investments. The suit stems from Wells Fargo’s “false and deceptive advice” to its customers that Auction Rate Securities were safe and liquid as cash.
As has been reported significantly, a number of firms have faced class actions, individual lawsuits, arbitration claims, and regulatory action as a result of marketing Auction Rate Securities as “cash equivalents.” In fact, Auction Rate Securities are long-term investments that had interest rates that reset periodically at auctions. Prior to February 14, 2008, the largest investment banks and broker-dealers supported the auction markets. However, when these firms ran into liquidity problems, they became unable to continue their support. As a result, there was not enough money in the auctions to keep them running. This caused the auctions to fail and resulted in owners owning billions of long-term bonds and perpetual preferred securities that generally paid interest rates equivalent to rates paid on short-term investments.
While the majority of the prospectuses for Auction Rate Securities disclosed potential risks related to auction failures, most customers never received a copy of the prospectus at the time of sale. In fact, many investors were not provided a prospectus until after the auctions failed. Unfortunately, by that time, it was too late as the risks had become self-evident.
If you own Auction Rate Securities that have not been redeemed, you may want to contact an attorney to discuss your rights. The Kueser Law Firm is a boutique legal practice that focuses its practice on protecting the rights of investors and recovering investment losses for companies and individuals. You may contact us by completing the form to the right, or by visiting our website.
On April 9, 2009, Stifel Nicolaus & Co. announced that they had planned to repurchase their clients’ auction rate securities (ARS). Unfortunately, for their customers, the repurchase will not be completed for more than three years. Furthermore, the settlement does not require Stifel to repurchase any ARS for more than 14 months. The terms of the settlement, if accepted, provides that Stifel will repurchase its customers’ ARS on the following schedule:
- The greater of 10% or $25,000 to be completed by June 30, 2010;
- The greater of 10% or $25,000 to be completed by June 30, 2011;
- The balance of outstanding ARS to be repurchased by June 30, 2012.
Stifel Nicolaus is a defendant in a class action lawsuit related to its sale of ARS to customers. In addition, the Missouri Secretary of State and Attorney General filed a civil action against Stifel for its sale of ARS to customers.
If you were sold ARS by Stifel Nicolaus, you should contact an attorney to discuss how this settlement, and the pending lawsuits impact your rights. The Kueser Law Firm represents investors who have been defrauded by financial advisors, stockbrokers, banks, and other investment professionals.
Because of the significant impact this settlement may have on your financial situation, if you do not contact The Kueser Law Firm, you should contact an attorney to discuss your rights.
Thank you for visitng the InvestmentFraudBlog. This blog is maintained by the Kueser Law Firm, a boutique law practice in Lee’s Summit, Missouri. The firm focuses its practice on representing individuals, groups, and companies whose investments have been mismanaged. The firm also represents financial advisors, stockbrokers, and other financial professionals in employment related disputes and regulatory investigations.
This blog will serve to provide commentary and links to current issues related to investments, and, as the title of the blog suggests, investment fraud. The firm’s website also contains an Investor Resource Center that has links to a variety of useful sources for investors and financial professionals.
If you need to speak to an attorney about your investments, please feel free to contact The Kueser Law Firm. We hope you enjoy the future content of this blog.
