Even Money Market Funds Are Risky

Investors are not sold on financial recovery, it seems

(NEWSER) - Americans love the stock market—that is, they used to love the stock market. But shaken by the financial crisis, investors withdrew $33.12 billion dollars from domestic stock market mutual funds in the first seven months of this year, finds the New York Times . Instead, they're putting their money in options deemed safer, like bonds. “This is very unusual,” one economist says. More»

(NEWSER) - President Obama wants to put the so-called dark markets under control, the New York Times reports, seeking congressional approval to regulate the byzantine world of derivatives trading—which played a large role in the current financial mess. In a letter to lawmakers, Treasury chief Timothy Geithner calls for an oversight system to be run either by the Securities and Exchange Commission or the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. More»

Fraud is final straw after terrible performance, analysts say

(NEWSER) - With Bernard Madoff’s long, fraudulent story drawing to a close, stock-market analysts look to the larger effect the $50 billion Ponzi scheme will have on equities, Kate Gibson writes for MarketWatch. Combined with the dismal performance in stocks over the last year, experts say Madoff’s deception has probably hurt the overall appeal of stocks for the 50+ crowd that embraced them for retirement. More»

Market prognosticators don't know what they're talking about

(NEWSER) - When the Dow plunged 300 points Monday, one money manager called it “the best buying opportunity we’ve seen in years.” Joe Queenan isn’t so sure. “The best buying opportunity in years is now 14 months old,” he writes in the Los Angeles Times. As the Dow’s tumbled past 7,000, analysts have warned investors over and over not to panic. Queenan has a better plan: Panic. More»

But repeating the feat this year could prove tricky for Forester

(NEWSER) - Of the 8,200 stock mutual funds in the United States, only one—Forester Value—managed to turn a profit in 2008. With a gain of just 0.4%, Thomas Forester has become a minor celebrity in the financial world, and brokers are suddenly eager to sell his tiny fund to investors. It's a welcome turnaround for Forester, who nearly shuttered the fund last year, reports the Wall Street Journal. More»