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What does the slim victory of Greece’s pro-bailout party mean for the country that has been at the center of the European debt crisis?

The following was taken from Weston Wellington’s Down to the Wire dated July 11 2012.  Weston is a Vice President of Dimensional Fund Advisors and his Down to the Wire provides timely commentary and insight in response to prominent financial media headlines and topics concerning investors today.

Peter Lynch the legendary manager of Fidelity’s Magellan Fund is famous for advising investors to “invest in what you know.” The Prophet of Omaha Warren Buffett also advocates investing within your “circle of competence.” Maybe JPMorgan Chase traders should have followed this sage advice.

When the House Financial Services Committee recently announced the remainder of its schedule I was relieved to see that the so-called Bachus Bill was not listed and will have to wait until next session to be debated.

When Edvard Munch’s “The Scream” recently sold at auction for $119.2 million I wondered about how investments in the art world have been performing over the last few volatile years. “You Can’t Buy Taste” by David Serchuk provides some interesting answers.

Every year the Employee Benefits Research Institute (EBRI) delivers an insightful glimpse into how Americans are preparing for retirement – and how they feel about their future prospects. This year American’s confidence in their ability to retire comfortably sits at a historically low level.

In a recent I passed on a statistic I read in an article by Sherree DeCovny in CFA Magazine that one out of every ten Wall Street employees is clinically psychopathic. A friend later referred me to another article “Untrue: One out of every Ten Wall Street Employees is a Psychopath” by John M. Grohol.

Plenty of investors motivated by greed and the media’s general hoopla got caught up in the Facebook IPO frenzy. The result? Another big win for Wall Street. Days before the IPO Facebook increased the number of shares it would offer to the public by 25 percent.

If you want your golden years to be well golden the Financial Services Institute Inc. recommends these three steps: Start saving in your 20s save regularly and use an investment advisor to help you to set goals and guide you. Obviously due to the power of compounded interest getting an early jump on saving for retirement is beneficial.

A recent study from the industry research firm Cerulli Associates evaluated advisors across all business channels and compared how they title themselves with how they actually do business.