There's good news for small business employees

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Moms and Pops

Changes are coming to small business retirement plans (Reuters)

Reuters reports approximately half of US states are "working to create government-sponsored automatic individual retirement account (IRA) plans that would enroll workers without access to employer-sponsored retirement plans." According to Reuters, California and Illinois are among the states that have taken the lead on this initiative and are hoping to begin enrollment in 2017. It has yet to be determined if the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) will provide regulatory protection for the retirement accounts. The Federal Reserve Board's triennial Survey of Consumer Finances released in September 2014 the percentage of US households with any type of retirement account has fallen from 48% in 2007 to 40% in 2014.

The Atlanta Fed lowered its Q3 GDP forecast (Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta)

The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta lowered its third quarter GDP forecast to up 0.7% from its previous estimate of up 0.9%. The Federal Reserve Bank attributes the downward revision to inventory investment, which shaved off 2.2 percentage points. This more than offset the upward revision to consumer spending.

S&P putting Berkshire Hathaway on 'negative watch' is impacting muni bonds (Bloomberg)

On Tuesday, S&P placed Berkshire Hathaway on "negative watch," meaning its AA+ rating has a 50% chance of being downgraded in the next three months. The move by S&P has sent ripples across the muni bond market as data compiled by Bloomberg shows the rating agency has shifted its focus towards the 966 securities backed by Berkshire for possible downgrades. According to Bloomberg, Berkshire's AA+ rating is the highest among bond insurers rated by S&P.

A brokerage firm was trading against its clients (Business Insider)

Electronic brokerage firm ITG has admitted to trading against its clients. The SEC said the firm set up a secret trading desk called "Project Omega," which "misused highly confidential customer order and trading information for its own benefit." The trading desk was launched in 2010 and brought in about $2.1 million in revenue before being shut down in July 2011.

Edward Jones settles muni fraud charges with SEC (Wealth Management)

Edward Jones has agreed to pay $20 million to the US Securities and Exchange Commission to settle charges the firm overcharged customers for new municipal bond issues. According to Wealth Management, "the former head of Edward Jones' municipal underwriting desk, Stina R. Wishman, improperly procured new bonds for the firm's inventory and then offered them to customers at inflated rates" from 2009-2013. The SEC says clients bought 156 separate bonds at a price of at least $4.6 million over face value. Edward Jones neither admitted nor denied the allegations as part of the settlement.