Oil Prices Are Expected To Trend Upwards In 2015 (US Funds)
Oil prices have dropped by 35% since June, but they shouldn't stay down there, according to Frank Holmes.
He writes that oil is down by 1.2 standard deviations for a 10-year period - something that rarely happens, and suggests that a bounce back in prices is in sight.
"The theme going into 2015 is mean reversion," says Brian Hicks, portfolio manager at US Global Investors. "Oil prices are below where they should be, and hopefully they'll start gravitating back to the equilibrium price of between $80 and $85 a barrel."
An Ex-Advisor Stole $1 Million In A Pseudo-Ponzi Scheme To Buy Fancy Cars (Financial Planning)
Levi Lindemann was charged by the SEC for defrauding six elderly clients and taking $1 million from them over the course of four years. He was able to get away with it for so long by using "fake statements, signatures, and gains," according to Andrew Welsch.
The SEC alleges that from 2009 to 2013, he took the money from investors and transferred the funds into his own accounts, instead of investing the money as promised. Reportedly, he used the money to buy himself cars worth approximately $100,000 and to pay off his taxes.
He made "'Ponzi-like' payments to investors to continue his businesses, court documents show," reports Welsch.
Goldman Sachs Is Offering Clients The Chance To Invest In Uber (The Wall Street Journal)
Goldman Sachs, one of Uber's institutional investors, is offering some high-net-worth wealth management clients the chance to invest in the company, according to Justin Baer and Douglas Macmillan.
Back in 2011, Goldman did something similar with Facebook. The only difference is that back then, clients were allowed to purchase equity, while with Uber they are being offered the chance to invest in convertible debt.
The clients of Goldman's wealth management group must have a net worth of over $10 million to invest, according to the report.
The Schorsch Empire Feud Finally Ends With A $60 Million Settlement (Investment News)
Since November, RCAP and ARCP - two companies under the Schorsch empire - have been explosively feuding. After ARCP disclosed that the company made $23 accounting error, RCAP announced that they were planning on ending a major deal.
But now it looks things are calming down: the companies "have resolved their disputes as part of a $60 million settlement," reports Mason Braswell.
"We believe the negotiation of a fixed-cost settlement clearly outweighs the potential expense and distraction of a drawn-out litigation process," Michael Weil, the CEO of RCAP said about the matter.
SEC Pushes To Test Effectiveness Of Investor Disclosures (Think Advisor)
SEC Commissioner Kara Stein stated on Thursday that the Commission's Division of Corporation Finance is "spearheading a very important project examining the effectiveness of disclosures," reports Melanie Waddell.
"We should formulate a plan to incorporate thorough investor testing into as many of our projects as possible," Stein said, and added that the agency "should be smart about requiring disclosures that are genuinely meaningful and useful for different types of investors."
This comes at a time when everyone's anxiously awaiting SEC chairwoman Mary Jo White's opinion on the proposed uniform fiduciary rule for brokers and advisors.