Power Financial posts first loss in 15 years on Putnam

By Ganaxi Small Cap Movers:Boston-based Putnam Investments, with $125 billion in assets under management, including $33 billion in 13-F assets, is one of the oldest mutual fund complexes in the U.S., offering 79 individual mutual funds. The firm was founded in 1937 by George Putnam, who established one of the first balance mutual funds, and has offices today worldwide including in London, Tokyo, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Sydney, and Singapore.

MONTREAL — When former Quebec finance minister Raymond Bachand declared hardware retailer Rona Inc. “a major strategic asset for Canada” this past summer and vowed to keep it out of the hands of U.S. suitor Lowe’s Cos., Bay Street erupted in howls of laughter and bewilderment.

By The Dividend Guy:I have sent out a couple of emails about investing strategies through my mailing list lately and it has generated some interesting discussion about certain stocks. Two of them were brought to my attention as they are somewhat similar: IGM Financial (IGIFF.PK) and Power Corporation.

Hedge funds sell themselves as investments for elites and justify their extraordinary expenses mainly by appealing to elites egos. Well, hedge funds by and large do poorly. This is largely due to huge expenses. Add to that the incentives managers have to take huge risks: the managers often get 20% of extraordinary gains and if they lose, well you lose your money. These incentives to take huge risks do mean a few hedge funds do spectacularly well each year (of course more usually do spectacularly poorly over time).

With a new administration only a few days away from taking over the very troubled Troubled Asset Relief Program (time to call it TTARP?), perhaps it's time to pause and reflect on just how we ended up here, $350 billion poorer with nary a solution to the credit crisis in sight.

The question of whether investors would buy mutual funds if they knew the true cost — and at what point the cost is too much — is moving to the forefront of a raging debate. Canadian regulators are in the midst of two large-scale reviews, one focused on fund fees, the other on the possibility of imposing higher standards on advisors who deal with retail investors.

Dear Dr. Don, What's the best way to start a retirement fund in your 50s? I realize that it's a late start, but my husband was laid off and just began working again in June. We do not have a lot of money for a retirement fund, and we don't know where to begin.