Articles Posted in Investment

The news has been full of stories of investment losses. First, it was cryptocurrencies and related investments on a roller coaster ride of valuation. Then, in the last week, the major stock market indices followed… Dow Jones, S&P 500, Nasdaq… What is a Main Street investor to do? As a securities attorney representing investors in…

Ten Red Flags of Investment Fraud We’ve updated our list of ten red flags that  investors should be aware of: danger signs that point to potential mismanagement of an account or investment fraud by a financial advisor. These red flags are useful as you evaluate your own investments, review the investments of an elderly relative,…

This past Thursday, the same day I posted about a recent FINRA Investor Alert regarding cryptocurrency, there was a new press release from the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) with further guidance on the same topic. NASAA’s analysis and warning amounts to this:  Initial Coin Offerings (“ICOs”), and all other investment products related to…

The Investigation of Klamath Falls Financial Advisor George Merhoff Jr. and Cetera Investments, Pacific West Securities, Inc. Continues Customer Concerns Grow About Energy Stock Concentration and George Merhoff Our office continues to investigate Cetera Investments and its representative George Merhoff Jr. Since our last reporting, even more investors have called us to report that they…

It’s a new year and you’re looking to hire a broker or investment advisor to help you with your financial planning and investment decisions. What questions should you ask at that first meeting? FINRA recently released an Investor Education top 5 questions to ask: 1. What experience do you have working with people like me?…

The North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) announced Wednesday a settlement with brokerage firm LPL Financial. The settlement is the result of a multi-state investigation led by the Nevada Secretary of State Securities Division into LPL’s failure to implement adequate supervisory systems and failure to enforce its own written procedures regarding sales of non-traded REIT…

Investor Defender attorney Darlene Pasieczny was recognized recently at the 2013 Annual Meeting of the Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association (PIABA), in Orlando, Florida. Pasieczny was commended for her work on PIABA’s SRO Committee, which monitors FINRA and SEC arbitration rule-making proposals that are of significant interest to the PIABA membership and investing public. With…

Every year we receive dozens of calls from investors who have lost money in scams that involve unregistered products and brokers. Your options for recovery are minimal when a product or an adviser isn’t registered. This video posted in May warns investors of some such products.

As a broad category, Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) may be losing attractiveness as an investment, according to market analysts who suggest they’ve been “fully valued at least” and “in the late innings”. REITs tend to be sensitive to interest rates, are less appealing than the available alternatives in an improving market, and are pressured…

(May 17) The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has announced new regulations on derivatives trading. The failure of the derivatives market was a key cause of the 2008 economic crisis and many investor advocates have called for new oversight and transparency in this $700 trillion (yes, $700 trillion) market, 90% of it controlled by only five…