Former Fed Governor Sees Peril In Trump-Era Deregulation

President Trump is running for re-election on the strength of the economy, and why not? The unemployment rate is lower than it’ s been in five decades. Insecurity is the broad challenge that all 2020 presidential candidates must address— and it helps explain why Democrats are tripping over one another to present bold plans for universal health care, public…

May 20– May 20– The NCAA announced earlier in May that it was going to look into the possibility of college athletes having the ability to profit off of their likeness. It’s one of the most controversial current rules of NCAA athletics that student-athletes’ name can’t be of value to them in any way. When asked about the NCAA possibly making this change, Auburn head…

•Anti-money-laundering specialists at Deutsche Bank proposed filing“ suspicious activity reports” about transactions connected to President Trump and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner. But executives at the bank, which has lent billions of dollars to their companies, rejected their employees’ advice. •Representative Justin Amash of Michigan, an iconoclastic…

The health care debate has Democrats on Capitol Hill and the presidential campaign trail facing renewed pressure to make clear where they stand: Are they for “Medicare for All”? Progressive Democrats argue that the time has come to advance a far more disruptive policy, one that guarantees health care to all Americans. Those dynamics were on full display on…

Brokers looking to show their value can help employers manage benefit costs with these strategies.

WASHINGTON— Federal Reserve officials are increasingly worried that inflation is too low and could leave the central bank with less room to maneuver in an economic downturn. The Fed strives to achieve full employment and stable price increases around 2 percent annually. “The fact that inflation has been running somewhat below our longer-run goal of 2 percent…

For clients with extreme attitudes about risk — taking too much or too little — advisors educate them to rethink their approach.

When the board’s new Code and Standards take effect in October, fee-only advisors will be expected to step up their compliance operations.

Investor Warren Buffett’s company is offering the first details of its roughly $860 million stake in Amazon. Buffett said earlier this month that another investment manager at Berkshire Hathaway had bought Amazon stock, but the company didn’t reveal it held 483,300 Amazon shares until this week when it filed an update with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

May 16– May 16– Georgia Insurance Commissioner Jim Beck shuffled into a federal courtroom Wednesday, shackled at the wrists and ankles. Judge Russell Vineyard imposed restrictions on Beck, an ex-insurance lobbyist and former leader of the Georgia Christian Coalition, while granting him a $25,000 cash bond. The judge said the commissioner can’t travel out of…

Phil Murphy has been an outspoken proponent of the state’ s proposed fiduciary rule, which he called“ some of the strongest investor protections in the nation.” So when a state bill was passed that would eliminate a fiduciary standard for insurance producers, he, naturally, vetoed it. This is just one example of how my administration is standing up for New Jersey…

According to pollsters and political reporters, a dispiriting dynamic has taken hold of the early stages of the Democratic presidential primary: Voters are discounting female candidates as unelectable. As Amber Phillips explained in The Washington Post, Democratic voters say that while they themselves may support Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris and…

If you’re wondering “Am I rich?” you’d better have more than a million bucks.

The president also said that a decision could be made soon on whether to impose the same 25 percent rate on an additional $325 billion of Chinese goods, which, all told, would cover approximately the total amount of goods the U.S. imported from China in 2018.. With the exception of the U.S. Treasury, which collects the tariff payments, few stand to benefit here.

The Obama-era rule that financial advisers must give advice in the best interest of their clients rather steering them toward products that pay kickbacks to the adviser will return — at least in some form. It died in court last year after the Trump administration declined to defend it. But in a congressional hearing last week, Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta said the agency…

Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez announced new legislation Thursday to cap credit card interest rates at 15%, a move that they said will help protect consumers from the “greed” of the credit card and banking industries.

Reverence Capital Partners has signed a deal to buy a 75% stake in independent broker/dealer network Advisor Group. The firm’ s current owners, Lightyear Capital and PSP Investments, will retain 25% of the company. Under the deal, Advisor Group will continue to operate independently, and its management team, including CEO Jamie Price, will remain intact.

Insurers offering individual market plans saw their best financial performance under the ACA in 2018, according to a new study. 

The follows Wall Street’s worst day in two months as markets continued to digest looming tariff hikes on imported Chinese goods to the U.S. Sentiment has remained fragile in Asia, with China’s CSI index heading its close with a intraday losses of over 1.5%. Data out of China showed exports unexpectedly fell in April while imports grew at the fastest pace since…

The second half of that decade was known to be one of his roughest patches financially, but the new numbers— from printouts of I.R.S. transcripts— suggest his losses started earlier and went deeper than previously thought, Russ Buettner and Susanne Craig write. •“In 1985, Mr. Trump reported losses of $46.1 million from his core businesses— largely casinos, hotels and…

Fears of an escalating trade war between the United States and China ricocheted through the American economy on Tuesday, sending stocks down sharply and prompting businesses large and small to brace for fallout. After financial markets closed on Monday, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Robert Lighthizer, the United States trade representative,…

“We see optimism, but a guarded optimism,” says Mike Ryan, Americas chief investment officer at UBS Global Wealth Management.

It’s pretty easy to identify what we don’t want in a Federal Reserve Board member. Last week, President Trump told us that one of his announced-though-never-formally-nominated choices for Fed, Stephen Moore, had withdrawn from consideration. All four easily sailed through Senate confirmation.

The 10- Year U.S. Treasury Yield or interest rate May 3, 2019 was 2.54 and given time has the potential to revisit the July 2016 low of 1.43. U.S. Federal Reserve under the leadership of Chairman Jerome H. Powell after the U.S. Federal Reserves’ latest Federal Open Market Committee meeting on April 30- May 1, 2019, emphasized they remain vigilant, patient, data…

Kate Weissman was 30 when doctors found the tumor. Three years ago, as she began preparing for the treatment at Massachusetts General Hospital she thought would save her life, UnitedHealthcare refused to cover the $95,000 bill. The March lawsuit, filed in federal court in Boston, seeks class-action status.

The Congressional Budget Office published a much-awaited paper about the possible design of a single-payer or“ Medicare for all” system in the United States. The budget office most often provides detailed estimates about the cost of legislation. A change to single-payer, which a substantial number of Democratic presidential candidates and members of…

Typically, stocks rise because investors are buying them, increasing prices. But that’s not what’s happening in 2019. What’s new: U.S. equity prices are soaring to record highs, with the S&P 500 up 17% and the Nasdaq up 21% in just 4 months. But not only are investors not buying, they’re selling. The big picture: Stock funds have seen $4 billion of outflows so far in 2019,…

The Fed meeting ended Wednesday as policymakers sought to reverse an unintended 5-basis-point hike of its key interest rate. The Dow Jones edged lower.

Investors are raising their expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut rates at least once this year, ahead of today’s Fed policy meeting. Driving the news: Fed funds futures prices show traders see a 65% chance the Fed cuts rates at least once this year and a greater than 20% chance of 2 rate cuts, according to CME Group’s FedWatch tool. Bets on more than 1 rate hike have…

President Trump’s effort to reshape the Federal Reserve and accelerate economic growth hit a setback Tuesday as multiple Republican senators criticized or outright rejected the president’s plans to nominate political supporter Stephen Moore. A simple majority is needed to confirm Moore to the Fed board, but with Democrats controlling 47 Senate seats, he…

Even if employers’ concerns are exaggerated, fear of fiduciary responsibility keeps them from offering lifetime income products.

With 10 states plus the District of Columbia legalizing cannabis for recreational use and medical marijuana legal in another 23 states, cannabis sales are projected to grow from $10.8 billion today to about $100 billion over the next five years, according to the National Institute for Cannabis Investors. Investors willing to take a property through local…

To shut the border with Mexico. U.S. census data released last week showed that Mexico’s trade with the United States rose to $97.4 billion for the first two months of the year- enabling it to leapfrog ahead of Canada and China. Economists note that a major reason Mexico looked so good was that U.S. trade with China shrunk by more than 10 percent in January and…

The latest reckoning came on Thursday, when Morgan Stanley agreed to pay $150 million to settle claims by the State of California that it misled investors about the risks of mortgage-backed securities sold to two state pension funds for teachers and public employees. The case was the last remaining government lawsuit against the bank over issues related to…

App focuses on healthy habits with insurance coverage increasing with each reported improvement.

“Junk,” by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Ayad Akhtar, had a run on Broadway and earned a Tony nomination in 2018 for best play. It’s now showing at Arena Stage in Washington through May 5. At the center of this story is Robert Merkin, seemingly a stand-in for the infamous Michael Milken.

Facing a difficult math problem of planning for retirement, advocates are exploring a path to lifetime income without traditional annuities.

Unfortunately, physical and cognitive decline are among potential side-effects.

And until recently, on the first of every month, Denise Lettvin received $59.76 directly deposited into her checking account. But last year it stopped, without a single word from the insurance company that managed it, John Hancock. And no more $59.76 monthly deposits.

I have a confession to make: I love the Federal Reserve. And I suspect that, in their heart of hearts, most other economists love the Federal Reserve, too. The White House is in constant turmoil, with extraordinarily high turnover among top staff members.

Frederick McDonald Jr. is accused of failing to disclose key risk factors regarding the complex world of the cannabis manufacturing industry.

Alden Global Capital, a prominent hedge fund that controls more than 100 local newspapers, moved nearly $250 million of employee pension savings into its own accounts in recent years, an unusual move that is triggering federal scrutiny. The hedge fund, the controlling owner of newspapers including the Denver Post and Boston Herald under the brand MediaNews…

The investment platform, which is in the early stages of development, will be part of Marcus, the firm’s consumer bank.

The senator really hates it when corporations that report billions of dollars in profit pay little or no tax to Uncle Sam.

William Wine Jr., 53, stole a combined $941,000 from three clients after they gave him access to their individual retirement accounts, according to court filings. Wine previously lived in California and moved to Cleveland in 2013.. He was charged in federal court in California in 2006 because he stole a large amount of money from Stanton- a film actor who had roles…

The move suggests that the SEC’s proposed Regulation Best Interest isn’t strong enough for some.

Employer clients are embracing HSAs, and forging new trails, to help curb the cost of healthcare.

A short history: During his presidential campaign, Mr. Trump said he would produce a health care plan that provided universal coverage and also promised that he would not cut Medicare or Medicaid.“ Everybody’ s got to be covered,” Mr. Trump told“ 60 Minutes,” a position that he repeated regularly until he took office. On his first day in office, Mr. Trump signed an executive…

Janney, RBC and Edward Jones are three firms that have modified how they deliver coaching and training to advisors.

The major employer-plan group had previously been affiliated with the predecessor of Global Retirement Partners.

Medicare for All could end up costing employers less than the current employer-sponsored health insurance system does, depending on how it’s structured. Yes, but: That certainly doesn’t mean employers are on board, partially because other concerns — like access to health care and the competitive advantage that generous benefits can create — may outweigh cost and…

JPMorgan Chase earnings easily beat Q1 views, lifting JPMorgan stock and other big bank stocks. Wells Fargo earnings are due early Friday too.

President Andy Sieg sees room to add to the firm’s ranks in novel ways.

A smartphone app that measures when you brake and accelerate in your car. The algorithm that analyzes your social media accounts for risky behavior. Last year, the life insurance company John Hancock began to offer its customers the option to wear a fitness tracker— a wearable device that can collect information about how active you are, how many calories you…