The size of the exchange traded fund market shrunk by $12.9 billion in February, falling to $557 billion in assets.
CFIG, a privately held European insurer, was downgraded today to A+ from its former AAA rating by Standards and Poor's.
The Greenwich Global Hedge Fund Index rebounded in February, jumping 2.21% after January’s drop of 2.79%.
The Fed announced it would lend $200 billion of Treasury securities to bond dealers, causing a stock market spike.
The U.S. trade deficit inched up in January, according to the Department of Commerce.
Estimated sales of book value annuities totaled $6.9 billion, while sales of indexed annuities totaled $6.3 billion.
Charles Schwab is the most recent mutual fund company to introduce a lineup of funds designed to generate a targeted annual payout for retirees.
The stock market downdraft may soon ignite consolidation among small mutual fund companies.
While mutual fund companies and brokers are enthusiastic about a proposal to simplify fund prospectuses, they object to the idea of filing quarterly performance and holding updates, according to comments filed late last month with the SEC.
Despite a sinking stock market, investment research firm Morningstar Inc. is mapping plans to increase its product lineup in 2008.
