Investors are always on the hunt for a reliable market indicator which signals a market top. In my mind, asset protection is often an underappreciated skill in this business because so few people have been able to repeat the skill time and time again. Every cycle is slightly different so it is certainly a challenge, but I believe it can be done and with huge value added.

The annuity business has grown in popularity as investors, especially those nearing retirement, look for options to protect themselves from stock market volatility and give them a decent income stream in retirement. With over $200 billion in annual sales, the annuity industry is big business with lots of salesmen trying to persuade you to make a purchase.

Today I will dig deep into the best selling indexed annuity for the 4th quarter of 2013. Sales of indexed annuities, a fixed annuity that provides a minimum guaranteed rate of interest combined with an interest rate tied to movement of an index, increased to $39.3 billion in 2013, a 17% gain year over year. This is the biggest percentage increase of any form of annuity.

The US service sector accelerated in March thanks to stronger employment.

The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) reported that its service index rose to 53.1, up from 51.6 in February. This was slightly below analyst expectations of 53.5. This marks the 51st consecutive month of growth. A reading above 50 indicates the sector is expanding.

The guitar has always been abused with distortion units and funny sorts of effects, but when you don't do that and just let the genuine sound come through, there's a whole magic there.
     - Jeff Beck

If you do not have time to read everything that we publish, at least read these 10. "Best" is rarely the same as "popular," but here we let the market decide. According to our readers, these are the best Runnymede blog posts of the first quarter of 2014:

After 9 seasons and 209 episodes, "How I Met Your Mother" comes to a close tonight. We will get the one story that we've all been waiting for: how Ted Mosby met the mother of his children. I myself have been a huge fan and have enjoyed the journey following the misadventures of Ted, Marshall, Lilly, Robin and of course the legen... wait for it... dary Barney Stinson.

Before we say goodbye...

The annuity business has grown in popularity as investors, especially those nearing retirement, look for options to protect themselves from stock market volatility and give them a decent income stream in retirement. With over $200 billion in annual sales, the annuity industry is big business with lots of salesmen trying to persuade you to make a purchase.

Today I will dig deep into an indexed annuity which has been booming in popularity in recent years. Sales of indexed annuities, a fixed annuity that provides a minimum guaranteed rate of interest combined with an interest rate tied to movement of an index, increased to $39.3 billion in 2013, a 17% gain year over year. This is the biggest percentage increase of any form of annuity.

With tax season upon us, taxpayers are not the only ones preparing for tax filing day. The Internal Revenue Service warns consumers that there are sophisticated scams targeting taxpayers throughout the country.

You cannot let your guard down because scammers are staging a multimedia assault using email, phone, fax, websites, and/or mailed notices posing as the IRS.

Back in August, I gave you "3 Reason Not to Fear the Taper" because I didn't feel that the Fed reducing bond purchases would hurt the market. While the taper hasn't been on for long, US stock market indices are trading near all-time highs which confirms my call. Today I wonder aloud, "Is the Fed tapering fast enough?" 

Last week, I attended the Northland Growth Conference in NYC. It was an exciting day spent with some of the fastest growing SaaS (software as a service) companies in America. One of the intriguing meetings was when I sat down with ServiceSource (SREV) International's CEO Mike Smerklo and CFO Ashley Johnson. In the past two years, ServiceSource has unbundled its service offering and essentially built its own startup SaaS company on the fly. It's been no easy task from a business perspective but it was the best decision for its long term growth prospects.