Hey, SEC, A Modest Proposal: Ban 'Alternative' Investments

When Kurt Cobain was in his prime, there was little doubt what alternative music was. It wasn't just "an alternative to traditional rock music" -- that could have included everything from R&B to polka -- but a distinctive genre with Pacific Northwest roots and a punk sensibility.

Twenty years after Cobain's death, Wall Street is in the midst of its own alternative craze, and almost any asset can be called alternative, as long as it’s not a traditional stock or bond.