The crisis in Greece should serve as a warning to all Americans, especially our political and business leaders. Greece undersaved, overspent and over-borrowed, and it used financing gimmicks and accounting tricks to mask its true financial condition. It lived beyond its means, and now the bill must be paid. Investors are no longer willing to buy Greek government bonds to finance the country’s huge budget deficit, as they aren’t convinced that the government will be able to make payments on the bonds. This could happen here.� Investors may soon begin avoiding the general-obligation bonds of states such as California, New Jersey and New York, which face seemingly intractable budget problems, and whose bonds of that type are slipping toward junk. California’s bonds are rated BBB by Fitch Ratings Ltd., one step above junk, while Moody’s Investors Service rates them BAA1 — subject to moderate credit risk. New…

Investors who are seeking yield in a low-return environment are finding pockets of opportunities in the peculiar world of closed-end mutual funds. Despite a narrowing of the discount between the price of closed-end-fund shares and the value of the funds’ underlying investments — which led to considerable gains in the past year — there is still money to be made, according to analysts. “There are solid funds out there trading at discounts,” said Mariana Bush, a closed-end- and exchange-traded-funds analyst with Wachovia Securities LLC. “One has to be a fund picker.” Investors also must understand the nuances of closed-end funds, which issue a fixed number of shares in initial public offerings and trade on exchanges. As a consequence, the price of a closed-end-fund share is determined entirely by market demand, with shares…

To tap into the potential of some of the world’s fastest-growing economies, investors need to look beyond the broad emerging-markets categories and start paying attention to the specific sectors and industries that actually drive performance. The best way to do this is through a surge of new pure-play exchange-traded funds, where everything is becoming more nuanced, while traditional, broad-market exposure is almost old-school. “The older, original emerging-markets ETFs were just designed to provide exposure, but the new indexes coming out now are designed to capitalize on opportunities,” said Christian Magoon, an independent ETF industry consultant. For an example of what is unfolding, consider China, where early and easy exposure to the country’s economic growth was gained through the iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index (FXI), offered by Barclays Global Investors. That ETF was created in 2004 with an emphasis on liquidity…

Regardless of the political or business climate, the next New York attorney general will wield considerable power over bankers and brokers. “Never underestimate the power of the New York attorney general’s office,” said Evan Stavisky, a Democratic political consultant. “It’s probably the most powerful state attorney general’s office in the nation in the area of financial regulation.” There are two reasons for the office’s scope. “It’s the location of the financial markets in New York state, combined with the state the Martin Act to investigate financial fraud. The office has an incredibly long reach,” Mr. Stavisky said. “In the past, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and former Attorney General Eliot Spitzer made a huge reverberation on Wall Street. That makes it clear that the attorney general’s jurisdiction over Wall Street is not going away,” Mr…

When Scott Leonard is sailing the crystal-clear waters of the Caribbean next year on a three-year trip around the world with his family, he plans to have one hand on the tiller of his 50-foot catamaran and the other on his cell phone, talking to clients about their investments and financial plans. “We’ve structured the business so that I’m not always part of the day-to-day operations of the firm,” said Mr. Leonard, whose firm, Trovena LLC, manages $400 million in assets. “My best skill set is to be the entrepreneur and think about big-picture ideas for the business,” he said. “Sometimes, I’m actually more of a distraction when I’m in the office.” Mr. Leonard, 42, is among a small but growing number of investment advisers and financial planners who are finding that they don’t…

It is no coincidence that some of the best debt consolidation companies on the market today like to refer to themselves as debt “specialists”. In many cases, these companies can provide an approach to getting out of debt that is worthy of that distinction. When you are under a mountain of debt, it can feel like the entire financial world is trying to harm you. Credit card bills come in, the credit companies are calling, and you think that there is no option at your disposal. The fact of the matter is that debt is no fun, but you are not completely alone in your fight. Some companies can come to your aid if you will let them. Aurora Lillo Editor of the “Best Debt Consolidation Services” website — http://www.ReputableDebtConsolidationCompanies.com — pointed out;

If you are trying to stay afloat during this economic situation – not being able to make your monthly mortgage payments – Obama has a home loan modification plan to help you out. There are homeowners are having financial problems who may have to leave the home they are living in because they have lost a job, rising prices of living expenses and the regular bills, etc. If you are that homeowner, who might foreclose on your home, you might want to ask yourself the following questions: 1. Did your mortgage get approved before January 1, 2009? 2. Is the total mortgage amount you received and having problems pay below $729,500? 3. Are you currently living on the property you are having problems paying on? 4. Can you get all the paperwork dealing with your income and tax returns available? 5. Can you prove you are truly having financial difficulties? 6. Is the household debt over 55 percent of…