Where stockbrokers with troubles cluster

  This is Paul Janensch with a Treasure Coast Essay about a “hot spot,” where stockbrokers with troubled regulatory records are clustered.  The Wall Street Journal identified this hot spot as the Treasure Coast.  That’s not quite accurate.  This hot spot – one of 16 in the U.S. -- is Palm Beach County and a piece of south Martin County.  Brokers with troubled regulatory records are found in areas populated by seniors with incomes of $100,000.   That certainly describes parts of south Martin County.  Troubled regulatory records can include criminal investigations, bankruptcies and customer complaints of churning and unauthorized trades.  If you are retired and wealthy and live in south Martin County, beware of brokers who employ high-pressure tactics.  They may have regulatory troubles.  That could mean trouble for you.  I’m Paul Janensch.