Last May I attended a talk by Yale economist Robert Shiller in which he indicated that his company, MacroMarkets, was seeking SEC approval for a derivative product tied to home prices. Finally, this week the new “housing ETFs” are available. What are they about, and who should buy them? Read the full article

I noted last week that the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has warned brokers that inverse and leveraged ETFs are inappropriate for many retail investors. Having discussed the workings and problems of inverse ETFs, I’d like to continue by taking a look at leveraged exchange-traded funds. Read the full article

The Financial Times reported yesterday on a United Kingdom Financial Services Authority ruling that will eliminate commissions paid by fund managers and life insurance companies to financial advisors. Read the full article

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) recently notified brokers who sell complex Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) that “inverse and leveraged ETFs typically are not suitable for retail investors who plan to hold them for more than one trading session.” The warning is long overdue, as leveraged ETFs were first introduced in 2006 after three years of SEC review. Read the full article

Scott McCartney, who writes a travel column for the Wall Street Journal, noted yesterday that there are signs that airlines appear to be replacing their summer sales with fare increases. His travel blog, The Middle Seat, discusses some of the indications that fares are on their way up and includes several helpful videos with air travel tips. Read the full article

Although early summer in the Boston area has been unseasonably cool, it probably won’t stay that way. Coupled with some of the highest electrical rates in the nation, warm weather provides plenty of motivation for energy conservation. Here are some suggestions for cutting your electric bill during the summer. Read the full article

Yesterday I noted that the Treasury Department has posted the Obama administration's proposals for financial regulatory reform. In the midst of all the information that's there, I missed an important detail. The administration's white paper, Financial Regulatory Reform: A New Foundation, calls for the fiduciary standard to be applied to broker-dealers. This would be a landmark change from current practice. Read the full article

Yesterday the Brookings Institution released a report evaluating the effect of the Great Recession on employment and other economic indicators in the nation’s 100 largest cities. Even with a below-average showing for housing prices, Boston's economy doesn't look so bad in comparison to many other cities. Read the full article

At the height of the credit market crisis last year, there were loud calls for dramatic changes in the regulation of financial institutions. Now that the sturm und drang has ceased, the reforms that will be realized will be much tamer. Read the full article

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released its report today on changes in New England region prices for May 2009. Read the full article

The IRS announced last week that its interpretation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 is that new car buyers in states without a sales tax deserve a break this year. Read the full article

The Federal Reserve Bank’s “Beige Book,” issued eight times a year, was released this week. The outlook for New England is uncertain, with few bright spots. Read the full article

Today I’m going to tell you something to cross off your list of criteria when trying to choose a financial planner, physician, or lawyer: inclusion in one of the Consumer’s Research Council of America's so-called guides. Read the full article

Here’s the test of whether you're a true contrarian: would you buy a Chrysler today? Read the full article

The Credit Card Accountability and Disclosure Act of 2009 Act, signed last month, was supposed to drastically improve protections for consumers. While the new law eliminates some problems, banks are good at finding loopholes. Read the full article

Running out of budget-cutting ideas? Here’s one: cut your cable bill to zero. Read the full article

With the economy still in the doldrums, doing a home renovation could be an excellent idea. It’s a bit counter-intuitive, but hear me out. Read the full article

Each year the trustees of the Social Security/Medicare trusts are required to report on the status of the trust funds. Last month, having included the effects of the recession in their projections, they released a new report. The news is not good. Read the full article

My final post in recognition of Disability Insurance Awareness Month discusses key factors that can affect the cost of disability insurance. I’ll also touch on the question of how much disability coverage a person needs and discuss the things that you should consider in determining how much disability insurance to buy. Read the full article

A couple of items at the Calculated Risk blog caught my eye today; both suggest that mortgage rates might well be headed higher. Read the full article

If you’re shopping for your own disability coverage (rather than receiving disability insurance as an employer benefit), you'll encounter a myriad of policy differences. You need to understand one of the most critical elements in any disability insurance policy: the definition of what a “disability” is. Read the full article

My first post discussed why you might need disability insurance; today I’d like to explain a few of the important variations in disability coverage. Read the full article

Earlier this month I offered a list of financial planning suggestions for recent college graduates. Since It's often the case that there's a delay period between graduation and the start of a new job, I’d like to expand on one of the items in the list: finding health insurance after graduation. Read the full article

Yesterday I attended the spring New England Economic Partnership (NEEP) conference, held semiannually by the nonprofit economic research group that studies the region's economy. They were optimistically cautious. Read the full article

May is Disability Insurance Awareness Month. You won’t be getting any “Happy Disability Insurance Awareness Month” cards, though, because Hallmark™ hasn't caught up to this yet. Read the full article

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