Bonds Beat Stocks -- Huh?
For the first time since 1861 -- before the civil war -- the 30-year returns on long-term Treasuries exceed those of stocks, according to a Bloomberg News report.

Long-term government bonds gained 11.5% a year on average over the 30-year period through September, beating the 10.8% in the S&P 500, the report said.

Fixed-income investments had advanced 6.25% through Oct .28, almost triple the S&P 500's 2.18%, according to BofA Merrill Lynch indexes, which also show that debt markets are on target to reach 7.63% this year, the most since 2002.

Economists and investment managers attribute the historic bond rally to Americans paring down debt and increasing savings. Much of this money wound up in fixed-income markets as banks and investors sought high-quality debt.

Is this the start of something? Many experts don't think so.

"The rally in bonds is a once-in-a-millennium event," said Prof. Jeremy Siegel of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

More Retirees Will Depend on Annuities
More than a third (35%) of all retirees receive income from annuities but they provide only 4% of their income, according to the Life Insurance Marketing and Research Association (LIMRA).

But in the years ahead, annuities will be providing a larger percentage of retirement income as fewer Americans will be retiring with pensions and more will be relying on personal savings to fund retirement.

"Annuities will provide a reliable way to convert savings into a guaranteed income stream," said a LIMRA researcher.

Morningstar Now Predicting Performance
Morningstar, the well-known investment-research firm, is now using a new ranking system that predicts which mutual funds will outperform their peers.

The new system -- which uses gold, silver, bronze, neutral or negative rankings -- will supplement, not replace, the company's closely-watched one-to-five star ratings. The number of stars a fund receives is based on its past performance after adjusting for risk and sales charges.

The gold-to-negative ratings will consider this, but also employ other quantitative and qualitative measures including the fund's expense ratio along with an evaluation of a fund's manager, parent company and investment strategy.

Morningstar has already rated 349 funds under the new system. Of these, 155 achieved the highest "gold" rating while only eight received a "negative" rating. Morningstar expects the balance of negative and positive ratings will become more even over time.

Having a high rating in the star system doesn't necessarily suggest a similar rating in the new one.

The Wall Street Journal cited the Wells Fargo Advantage Ultra Short-Term Income fund. It has four stars under the old system, but received one of the negative ratings under the new one.

Conversely, the Clipper Fund has only one star but earned a gold designation.

Public Perception of CFP Rises
A four-year, $36 million marketing campaign to promote the Certifed Financial Planner (CFP) designation launched just six months ago is already paying off.

Awareness of financial planning professionals has risen by 8%, familiarity with the CFP mark by 6% and the number of those who think CFPs are the "best in the field" by 11% -- all since the campaign began last April, according to the CFP Board of Standards.

These notable improvements in the public's perception of the CFP designation and of those who've earned it were found in a study conducted for the CFP Board by Marketing Evolution, Inc.

So far, the campaign has involved a 13-week television advertising buy along with print ads in major publications and online ads.

One of the TV commercials features a pair of eyeballs and a steering wheel driving down the road. Soon, extra "hands" labeled investments, insurance, estate planning, retirement and taxes grab hold of the wheel, making the car swerve.

Your finances can't manage themselves, but that doesn't mean they won't try, says the voiceover, which implores viewers to turn to a CFP to get their financial houses in order.

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