Grave business - my financial world

Question: My wife and I are looking into getting some financial advice. Our bank says they offer free services through their financial adviser. This worries my wife because she thinks that the adviser will push the bank’s agenda. Is it safer to go with an individual adviser, or is going with one with a […]

Morgan Stanley is engaged in high-stakes talks with a big Japanese bank over a multi-billion capital investment in the embattled Wall Street bank, according to an online report Sunday.
Morgan and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group were renegotiating the terms of a proposed $9 billion stock purchase, the New York Times reported, citing sources.
According to […]

Though a financial rescue plan was passed Friday, credit still remained tighter than ever.
The House voted in favor of the Treasury’s $700 billion plan to buy up troubled assets from financial institutions. Those assets, mostly mortgage-related, have caused the credit markets to seize up.
The bill now goes to President Bush to sign into […]

A federal judge has approved a plan to distribute more than $7.2 billion recovered as part of a lawsuit by Enron Corp. shareholders and investors in connection with the company’s collapse.
U.S. District Judge Melinda Harmon also approved $688 million in attorneys fees, the largest ever in a securities fraud case.
About 1.5 million individuals and […]

The U.S. government on Sunday seized control of mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, launching what could be its biggest federal bailout ever, in a bid to support the U.S. housing market and ward off more global financial market turbulence.
Officials were concerned mounting losses at the two companies, which own or guarantee […]

Hurricane Gustav could inflict as much as $10 billion in damage, making it one of the costliest storms in U.S. history.
Risk modeling firm Eqecat Inc. estimated that Gustav, which steadily moved across the Gulf of Mexico before finally making landfall Monday morning in Louisiana, could cost the insurance industry anywhere between $6 billion and […]

Payrolls in the U.S. probably fell in August for an eighth month and manufacturing stalled, signaling growth faltered, economists said before reports this week.
Employers probably cut 75,000 jobs this month, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey ahead of a Labor Department report Sept. 5. A private poll in two […]

As things in the economy have gotten worse, the number of people and businesses heading to bankruptcy court has spiked.
Bankruptcy filings surged 29% in the 12 months that ended June 30, according to government figures released Wednesday.
Total filings rose to 967,831 from 751,056 a year earlier.
Business filings jumped more than 41% to […]

Shares of Qwest Communications International Inc. rose in morning trading Monday after a Citi Investment Research analyst upgraded the stock, saying Qwest could report improved sales and top Wall Street’s expectations.
Michael Rollins raised his rating to "Buy" from "Hold." He said Qwest (Q, Fortune 500) should report improved enterprise sales because it has expanded […]

A federal judge on Tuesday sentenced an investment adviser to 12 years in prison on fraud charges related to the loss of $216 million in a hedge fund at the state agency for injured workers.
Mark Lay, chief executive and founder of the now defunct MDL Capital Management of Pittsburgh, also was ordered to pay […]