Broker Fraud

As United States Oil Fund Plunges 30%, Retail ETF Investors Should Worry About Losses

Published on: April 24, 2020 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

ETF Investors Of United States Oil Fund May Not Have Known Full Extent Of Risks

Our investment fraud lawyers are offering free case consultations to investors who’ve lost money in the United States Oil Fund (USO) after it dropped 30%. The exchange-traded security continues to make changes to its structure in an attempt to stave off more losses. Part of this now involves giving itself the leeway to get into long-term contracts. The USO exchange-traded fund (ETF), which keeps track of oil prices, is popular among retail investors.

Unfortunately, many of these investors think they are betting on oil prices’ long-term rise and do not fully comprehend how the futures market operates or that these types of funds hold primarily short-dated oil futures contracts and should never be held long-term.

Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas Investigating Claims From LPL Financial Customers Who Invested in Nontraded REITS and Publicly Traded Property Interval Funds

Published on: April 20, 2020 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

LPL Blocks Sales of Nontraded Real Estate Investment Trusts and Publicly Traded Property Interval Funds

This week, LPL Financial (LPLA) announced that it had suspended its sales of several nontraded REITs, as well as a number of publicly traded property interval funds. This is because the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) was placing these investments at a higher risk of losses.

In an email to InvestmentNews, LPL EVP of Products and Platforms, Rob Pettman, wouldn’t offer the names of the funds but did note that the broker-dealer hoped to offer them to investors again once the markets had calmed.

Unsuitable Broker Recommendations of Structured Notes, Including Callable Yield Notes and Autocallable Securities May Be Causing Investors’ Losses During COVID-19

Published on: April 15, 2020 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Structured Notes See Steep Decline During Coronavirus Market Crisis

Just weeks into the finansial crisis wrought by the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), many investors are struggling to deal with the volatile impact of this pandemic not just on the markets but also on their portfolios.

But what many of them don’t know is that some of these losses might not have been as severe if only their brokers had refrained from making investment recommendations that were unsuitable for them or, at the very least, had properly apprised them of the risks involved.

The Top Types of Securities Fraud All Investors Must Know

Published on: April 14, 2020 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Broker Fraud Along With The Coronavirus May Be Causing Investment Losses

Becoming the victim of securities fraud is a serious matter. With stocks plummeting and the markets fluctuating all over the place in the wake of COVID-19, investors may not realize that it’s not just the economic reverberations of the coronavirus that’s plaguing their portfolio.

They also may be losing money because their stockbrokers or investment advisor were fraudulent or negligent when handling their investments and placed them in an even more precarious financial situation with more losses than they would now be sustaining otherwise.

Market Volatility Caused by COVID-19 Negatively Impacts Leveraged ETNs & Inverse ETPs

Published on: April 13, 2020 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Inverse and Leveraged ETNs and ETFs Are Shuttering

As the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to adversely affect the markets and cause crude oil prices to drop, the number of inverse and leveraged exchange-traded notes (ETNs), exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and exchange-traded products (ETPs) involving crude oil that have been forced to close, delist, or automatically accelerate continues to grow and this has caused more losses for investors.

Right now, our broker fraud lawyers at Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas (SSEK Law Firm) are working with leveraged and inverse ETF and ETP investors throughout the US to help them explore their legal options.

Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas Investigates Customer Claims Involving Former LPL Financial Broker Mark Lamkin

Published on: April 8, 2020 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Former LPL Financial Broker Borrowed $1.3M From Customer Without Notifying Firm

Mark Lamkin, an ex-LPL Financial representative, has been suspended by the FINRA for three months. Lamkin, who is now a Calton & Associates broker, is accused of borrowing $1.3M in total from an LPL Financial Services customer between 2011 and 2017 without getting written approval from or notifying the broker-dealer. This is not the first time he is accused of broker misconduct.

Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas (SSEK Law Firm) is investigating claims involving Mark Lamkin, who has been a registered representative for 28 years. Contact our stockbroker fraud attorneys today.

Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas Investigates Investor Losses Involving VelocityShares 3x Long Crude Oil ETN (UWT)

Published on: April 2, 2020 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Energy Exchange Traded Products Including VelocityShare 3x Long Crude Oil ETN Tank

As market volatility continues to wreak havoc on different investments in the wake of COVID-19, our securities fraud lawyers at Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas (SSEK Law Firm) are fighting for investors needing to recover their losses.

Last month, a huge market-sell off caused Leveraged Energy Traded Products (ETPs), including the VelocityShares 3x Long Crude Oil ETN (UWT), to plunge in value.

What To Know About Suing Your Broker or Investment Adviser For Fraud In FINRA Arbitration During COVID-19

Published on: March 31, 2020 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Investment Losses During the Coronavirus Has Investors Scrambling for Answers

If you are like many Americans with investments, you may be struggling to grapple with the massive losses affecting your portfolio as the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to wreak havoc on the economy, the markets, the job industry, and people’s lives.

What you may not realize is that your investment losses may also be a result of broker fraud or negligence on your stockbroker or investment adviser’s part, which is where our investor attorneys at Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas (SSEK Law Firm) can help you.

Harvest Volatility Management’s CYES Investments Prove Too Risky For Many Investors During COVID-19

Published on: March 30, 2020 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Risks Tied To CYES Strategy Investments Cause More Losses During The Coronavirus

For the past year, our CYES Strategy fraud lawyers at Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas (SSEK Law Firm) have been working with investors who suffered losses from Collateral Yield Enhancement Strategy (CYES) Investments that were issued by Harvest Volatility Management but were sold by brokers from Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, Fidelity, Charles Schwab, and other broker-dealers.

Now, with all the market turbulence causing investments to drop in the wake of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), this Yield Enhancement Strategy is experiencing even more losses.

Ex-Kestra Financial Broker Involved in Investor Fraud Claims and Accused of Unauthorized Trading

Published on: March 25, 2020 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Barred Kestra Investment Services Stockbroker Accused of Unauthorized Trading

Our investor fraud lawyers at Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas (SSEK Law Firm) are currently speaking with former customers of ex-Kestra Investment Services broker, James Blake Daughtry. He was recently barred by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).

The self-regulatory organization (SRO) issued the ban after Daughtry refused to testify during its investigation into allegations that he may have engaged in transactions that were potentially “fraudulent and unauthorized” in a number of customers’ accounts. Also, in the wake of FINRA’s order, Kestra fired him this month.