So you bought a few mutual funds for retirement to fund a child's education and to build some wealth. Or maybe you see the S&P 500 more than a third off its highs and you want to take a chance on a rebound by putting some money to work in a new mutual fund. Big mutual fund companies like T. Rowe Price (TROW) and Franklin Resources (BEN) have huge research departments and trading operations not to mention large teams of money managers with impeccable educational backgrounds and credentials. But even that can't change the reality that most mutual funds ...

So you bought a few mutual funds for retirement to fund a child's education and to build some wealth. Or maybe you see the S&P 500 more than a third off its highs and you want to take a chance on a rebound by putting some money to work in a new mutual fund. Big mutual fund companies like T. Rowe Price (TROW) and Franklin Resources (BEN) have huge research departments and trading operations not to mention large teams of money managers with impeccable educational backgrounds and credentials. But even that can't change the reality that most mutual funds ...

As a teenager I hated those conversations with my father that began with him saying “So let me get this straight…” during which my adolescent logic would be picked apart thought by thought until even I saw how clearly stupid I'd been. Bread crumb bread crumb bread crumb -- bear trap. This morning as I saw Goldman Sachs' (GS) cup-runneth-over earnings and the headlines regarding CIT Group (CIT)  I couldn’t help but hear my father’s voice once again. Only this time he'd be saying: “So let me get this straight. Last year the government agrees to make Goldman Sachs a bank holding company. They move ...

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Shares of U.S. financial stocks dipped on Monday as bank stocks retreated ahead of expected comments from regulators about capital raising plans and repayment guidelines for banks paying back government investments.