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Offers investment advice in light of Wall Street scandals. Complaint by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer against Janus mutual fund for potential improper trading practices; Implications of how investors react to such financial scandals; Why there is more reason to be distrustful of financial institutions that give small investors access to the markets; Scandals in 2003; Issue of fund firms giving large clients certain advantages; Topic of late trading; The widening mutual fund investigation; Advice to fund investors; Discussion of the economic rebound. INSET: GREED BEATS FEAR AGAIN.

Comments on financial anxieties. Ways that excessive, or inappropriate, vigilance exacts a price; Contention that people who insulate their portfolios against phantom risks pay a toll; How, in limiting risk, people also limit the opportunity for gain; Focus on Wall Street hedge funds; Reasons why people worry about hedge funds; Topic of risk aversion; Risks in real estate, including adjustable-rate mortgages; Discussion of derivatives; Efforts of Wall Street to market derivatives as a tool for making risk more palatable.

Reports on how two nonprofit organizations are planning to spend money set aside by Wall Street for investor education when the major firms settled conflict-of-interest charges in April 2003. High-profile initiative by Investor Protection Trust, which plans a 13-part television series called "MoneyTrack"; Intent of Executive Director George Daly of newly created Foundation of Investors' Education to help investors make informed decisions about retirement plans.

Focuses on the significance of creating a financial plan in monitoring the cash flows of various firms in New York City. Analysis on the revenue growth of the company; Assessment on the total assets and investments of the firm; Level of competitive advantage.

Manhattan, New York City-based National Financial Partners Corp. (NFP) which offers financial planning and investment consulting to wealthy people and small and midsized businesses, has grown exponentially. Since its founding just five years ago, it has made more than 140 acquisitions, and just last year it posted its first profit. In its IPO prospectus, the company revealed that three of the larger financial consulting firms it owns had stumbled badly shortly before they agreed to be acquired. In the first six months of this year, NFP had per-share earnings of 21 cents, two cents better than a year ago, while revenue grew 31%, to $216 million. The stock market has surged this year, so presumably business is better at the firms NFP is acquiring. NFP says in its prospectus that its many units are rebounding.