Investor's Watchdog.com: Stock, finance and investment protection for investors

In a great article by Susan Antilla on Bloomberg.com, a new broker dealer hiring trend is highlighted.  Through her witty banter, Antilla discusses Wayne Chrebet, formerly of the New York Jets, and now a new hire for Morgan Stanley.  In an 11-page press release, the company touted Chrebet’s NFL accomplishments, his charitable work, his degree in sociology, and his awards. But they failed to mention his ability to handle an investor’s money and his stockbroker licensing requirements.  (more…)

In the wake of the continuing financial disaster another reminder that a big-name is no guarantee of integrity is probably unnecessary.  We have been warning the investing public of that fact for the past year.  But, a recent enforcement action by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (”SEC”), gives us more evidence to support the conclusion.  The SEC has settled insider trading charges against seven individuals, including two who were professionals working for UBS and Morgan Stanley.  Read more about the case here. (more…)

Mara Der Hovanesian has written a story that all baby boomers should read.  In this week’s BusinessWeek, Hovanesian covers the story that Investor’s Watchblog has been following since our launch and that too few reporters cover.  There is a tidal wave of investment fraud breaking over American baby boomers.  Their nest eggs are disappearing not only into the hands of con artists, but also into the hands of overeager and commission-hungry stockbrokers at America’s largest and best known brokerage houses.  (more…)

The SEC has assembled a subprime working group of about 100 enforcement attorneys to look into whether banks and brokerage firms violated the federal securities laws in how they packaged sub-prime loans, how they valued those securities, and how they disclosed (or not) the risks of such securities to retail investors.  Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch have disclosed that are among the brokerage firms that the SEC is investigating. (more…)

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged two former Morgan Stanley DW, Inc. (MSDW) financial advisors, Darryl A. Goldstein and Christopher O’Donnell, with engaging in a fraudulent market timing scheme. “Market timing” refers to the practice of short term buying, selling, and exchanging of mutual fund shares in order to exploit inefficiencies in mutual fund pricing.  According to the SEC, “the conduct occurred from January 2002 until August 2003 and generated approximately $1 million in net commissions or asset-based fees for the defendants.”  According to the SEC, the defendants concealed their illegal activity by opening and trading in multiple brokerage accounts (122 total), using different financial advisor identification numbers (11 total), and trading through variable annuity contracts (64 total). (more…)