An Indiana-based money manager allegedly cheated an Amish community out of $3.9 million

Advertisement

amish horse buggy pennsylvania

REUTERS/Mark Makela

An Amish horse and buggy travels on a road in Bart Township, Pennsylvania December 1, 2013.

FA Insights is a daily newsletter from Business Insider that delivers the top news and commentary for financial advisors.

Advertisement

An Indiana man cheated a local Amish community out of $3.9 million (Financial Advisor Magazine)

An Indiana-based investment manager, Earl D. Miller, reportedly cheated members of his local Amish community out of $3.9 million, and subsequently had his assets frozen.

"Starting in 2008, Miller sought investments for his private investment vehicles, 5 Star Commercial LLC and 5 Star Capital Fund LLC, to invest in 'green products' and real estate," reports Karen Demasters. "Miller falsely told investors he would receive no compensation for managing the fund when, in reality, he used more than $1 million for his expenses and to repay a personal loan."

Gundlach gave a semi-warning about the possible December rate hike (Wealth Management)

Advertisement

At Schwab's annual IMPACT conference, DoubleLine Capital CEO Jeffrey "Gundlach suggested ... the economy is too fragile to support [a rate hike] with the price of oil falling and the value of the dollar shooting skyward," reports David Armstrong.

"Gundlach suggested the current situation is 'weird' and one where the European central bank officials are looking at further quantitative easing with their economies registering 1.5% GDP growth, while the US, at just over 2% GDP growth, seems poised to take away the punch bowl by raising rates," added Armstrong.

"You cannot have quantitative easing and raise interest rates," Gundlach said at the event. "My theory is there is simply not enough global GDP to go around."

The Fed has basically been the markets' "teddy bear" (Charles Schwab)

In the past month the ECB said it would probably expand QE, China reduced rates, and the Fed took out the "concerns over global growth" bit from its latest statement. Following all of that, US indices were up over 8%.

Advertisement

"Many readers either have a child or were a child who had some sort of comforting item they clung to-a teddy bear, a blanket, a pacifier, etc. Perhaps central banks are providing that comfort for markets," write Liz Ann Sonders, Brad Sorensen, and Jeffrey Kleintop.

But "the sharp market gains seen over the last month are unlikely to persist at the same pace, and investors should be prepared for more volatility. Uncertainty about interest rates will persist, but the US economy continues to chug along at a decent, although not robust, pace. Similarly, global growth seems to be perking up, and helping to stymie predictions of an impending global recession," argue Sonders, Sorensen, and Kleintop.

There are still a few nuggets left in the emerging markets (Advisor Perspectives)

"The secret to success [in emerging markets] is being able to identify pockets of strength - even in weak economies - and to catch nascent trends before they become obvious to others," writes AllianceBernstein's Sammy Suzuki.

For example, "while generally shunning commodity-centric countries, we see further growth potential for many of the low-cost manufacturing centers. For example, Mexico, Vietnam, Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic should all continue to gain from China's waning status as a source for low-cost labor," suggests Suzuki.

Advertisement

Raymond James just added another big advisor team (Think Advisor)

"The Asia Pacific Group joins Raymond James' employee channel. The team, which has about $3 million in yearly fees and commissions, serves public funds, endowments, foundations, corporations and high-net-worth investors in the Western Pacific US region," reports Janet Levaux.

"This team marks the first advisors to join Raymond James & Associates in Guam," said Rick Sanchez, West Coast regional director for RJA. "We anticipate growth in Guam through internal development of the team and by attracting new professionals to the Asia Pacific Group, and we look forward to continuing this momentum and growing the firm's presence in the Pacific."

Advertisement

NOW WATCH: This 580-ton monster machine is building bridges across China