An employee who often fought with departed Value Line Chief Jean Bernhard Buttner has been told to retire. For 63 years, Samuel Eisenstadt was probably Value Line Inc.’s most valued employee. The statistician created an investment strategy that proved successful for decades and was endorsed by none other than Warren Buffett.

The stock market rally has gone too far too fast, and on too little real economic recovery, claims Tom Samuels, manager of the Palantir Fund (PALIX), a global long/short fund from Palantir Capital Management Ltd. “After almost 10 months, this rally seems like it might be due for a break, even if this were a healthy market,” he said. For much of the past few months Mr.

The number of defendants agreeing to settlements with the Securities and Exchange Commission dropped for the second straight time in fiscal 2009, declining nearly 8% to 626 defendants from 673 in fiscal 2008, according to a report released today by NERA Economic Consulting. While the number of defendants dropped, the average settlement more than doubled to $10.7 million, from $4.7 million in fiscal 2008 said NERA, which tracks securities litigation. That rise in average settlement value was due to three large settlements: a $200 million settlement with UBS AG for allegedly helping customers evade U.S.

Pacific Investment Management Co. today announced it has hired the former administrator of the Treasury Department’s $700 billion bank rescue program and two portfolio managers from the Mutual Series Group, a unit of Franklin Templeton Investments.

A federal judge has warned investors that a fund manager accused of cheating investors of about $150 million is expected to resolve his case with a plea this week. Judge Richard Sullivan in Manhattan notified investors who may have been harmed by the alleged actions of 43-year-old James Nicholson that he will enter a plea on Friday. Sullivan wrote in an order that he was issuing the notification because federal crime victims have a right to be heard at any proceeding involving release, plea, sentencing or a parole hearing.

The SEC has charged yet another sponsor of high-commission private placements with fraud, alleging that an oil-and-gas firm sold $57 million of phony debentures through a nationwide network of broker-dealers. The Securities and Exchange Commission last Thursday filed its complaint against Striker Petroleum LLC, its president and owner, Mark S. Roberts, and vice president, Christopher Pippin, in federal court in Dallas

Discount brokers lost a vote of confidence from equity analysts at Goldman Sachs Group on Monday. In a report, Goldman cut its recommendation on TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. (AMTD) to neutral from buy, and lowered its price target to $21 from $24