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In view of the current volatile markets culminating from the Eurozone debt crisis, investors are concern about the contagion effect on the domestic and global economies. Amid the recent volatility, some believe there are opportunities arising from bond investments that will offer consistent and regular income to investors. Hence, OSK-UOB now offer investors an enhanced bond fund that has the potential to provide higher regular income ^  during the tenure of the Fund and capital appreciation at its maturity date from a concentrated portfolio of global debt instruments / bonds and from an option structure to provide the potentially higher income. The OSK-UOB Focus Bond Fund – Enhanced (“the Fund”) is a 3-year close-ended, income fund  which aims to provide regular income during the tenure of the Fund and capital appreciation at its maturity date primarily from a concentrated portfolio of global debt instruments / bonds. Generally, the Fund aims to achiev...

Whether its laundering money for drug cartels, manipulating benchmarks or trading insider information, we have already seen a fair share of scandals and frauds this year. Our economic condition has made it crucial to provide increased transparency, due diligence and regulations to increase investor trust and to begin repairing the finance industry’s damaged reputation. So what measures are being taken to spot and prevent such acts of fraud from occurring again? The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, signed into federal law by President Obama in 2010, has a section specifically dedicated to the “Whistleblower Program”. This program’s goal is to encourage employees and corporate insiders to report any fraud or wrongdoing they come across in their companies. However, this law is nothing new- Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002 also had a “False Claims Act”, which provided employees financial incentives to report fraud to the SEC. However, the newer version has increas...

Since the start of my semester in London I’ve been experiencing something across the Atlantic that’s been difficult to deal with.  It's something I heard about before traveling to the UK, but something I had never experienced first hand.  No, it's not the adjustment I’ve had to make to the differences in culture, how classes are taught differently, or even how apparent it is, at least to me, how badly the United States & Americans in general are made fun of outside of the States.  Nope, it’s how expensive the UK's sterling pound is compared to its American counterpart, the dollar and subsequently the euro.   Last week, the sterling pound posted its best numbers against the dollar since June.  This occurred due to a variety of reasons, but simply, the world has pretty much lost faith in the ECB and the Fed.  With respect to the ECB, it has recently revealed a plan to lower borrowing costs to peripheral euro zone countries....

Come to our kickoff event this upcoming Thursday to learn more about what Finance Society can offer you. We will discuss our goals for the semester, the events we have planned, as well as our membership requirements and benefits. At the end of the meeting, we will introduce our E-board and give you an opportunity to mingle with them and other members.

It is not as if some folks aren't winning.  Politicians are winning.  They are well paid, have juicy retirement benefits and if, perchance, they lose an election, there are more than enough PACs around who will hire them as consultants to live out life in luxury.  Look at Newt Gingrich for example.  He made himself millions of dollars after 'retiring' from public office by consulting, not only for PACs, but for beta noires like FNMA. Who else is winning?  Academics with tenure are winning.  They have protected jobs with high income and rich benefits.  Public employees and teachers, who haven't lost their jobs.  They are winning.  Upper income folks collecting social security and medicare.  They are winning.  Middle income Americans on food stamps -- they are winning.  Rich folks.  They are winning.  They know that the coming tax increases won't effect them, because they don't have to show income.  Warren Buffett,...

Given the persistent headwinds from the external sector and general election overhang on the home front, we are of  the view that the market will likely be stuck in a range-bound trading pattern in the 4Q. Consequently, we believe  investors would still need to accumulate fundamentally-robust stocks on weakness in order to outperform the  market, while staying defensive on the core holdings will provide greater stability to the portfolio performance. In  addition, as the search for yield will likely remain a key driver for both retail and institutional investors in the 4Q, high  divided-yielding stocks will also continue to outperform the market, in our view. A list of our top picks is reflected in t able below, which includes “buy on weakness” tactical stocks. Which Sector to look at? Sector-wise, our key overweights are telecommunications and banking , although we also have an overweight stance on the consumer, utilities, gaming and rubber gloves unde...

The ECB's bond buying program is essentially equivalent to printing Euros and buying bonds of countries whose finances are failing.  This shifts the burden of debt toward France and Germany, all but engulfing them into the same cauldron as Greece, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Ireland.  That all of these countries continue to run large fiscal deficits seems not to concern anyone.  Nothing has changed in regard to the dramatic debt buildup that continues to run apace throughout the Eurozone. Now to add to their other woes, all of the Eurozone countries are now headed into recession.  Germany had been an exception, but no longer.   Greece and Spain live with daily street riots and unemployment in excess of 25 percent.  It is hard not to see France and Germany headed that way. Monetary expansion will not solve Europe's problems.  It actually make them worse, because it weakens each country's resolve to get their fiscal house in order.  Rising yield...