What went wrong at MF Global?: I had never heard of MF Global, the derivatives broker that filed for bankruptcy over the past weekend before but here is a very good explanation of what went wrong with risk management at the firm.

Replacing bonds with dividend payers: With bond yields much lower than the dividend yield on many stocks, many investors are wondering whether they should replace bonds with dividend payers. Responding to a reader question, Money magazine’s Walter Updegrave explains why it is dangerous to think dividend payers and bonds are interchangeable.

Great guy but broke: The New York Jets’ backup quarterback Mark Brunell becomes another sportsman who went broke. This news article says that Mr. Brunell invested millions in investments in businesses that later went bankrupt. Just like the rest of us, Mr. Brunell would have been much better off if he had paid some attention to investing sensibly.

New ownership for Canadian MoneySaver: The Globe’s Rob Carrick reported that Canadian MoneySaver has a surprising new owner. In his first column in the magazine, the new owner highlights some of the lessons learned over a 25 year investing career.

Around the blogs

Canadian Couch Potato explains the potential risks leveraged ETFs pose to the stability of financial markets.

The aforementioned Mark Burnell would appreciate Michael James’s suggestion that successful investing involves avoiding serious mistakes, not making brilliant moves.

Money Smarts Blog wonders why more retirees don’t buy annuities.

If you win this week’s LottoMax, you might be interested in The Blunt Bean Counter’s advice on dealing with financial windfalls.

Preet has some fun with the periodic table of asset class returns and demonstrates why diversified portfolios work the best (at least for most of us).