FYI:
.The carnage in equity mutual funds continued these past two weeks, with the flow picture deteriorating considerably. For the last two weeks, outflows from equity funds amounted to $14.3 billion compared to under $6 billion in the prior two weeks.
. Domestic mutual funds were the most hit with more than $8 billion in outflows in the last week alone. On the contrary, funds focused on the rest of the world experienced inflows of $1.7 billion.
.Bond mutual funds continued to be favored by investors, with estimated inflows of $6.5 billion in the past two weeks, up from $2.5 billion in the prior fortnight. Taxable bonds were the main beneficiary of the inflows, while municipal bonds saw an infusion of more than $300 million in the past two weeks.
.The European Central Bank signaled plans to end its Quantitative Easing program by the end of the year and keep interest rates at current record -low levels at least through the summer of 2019.
.The Bank of England kept interest rates steady at 0.75%, but a rosy picture of the economic output may require an intervention soon. The central bank warned of potential negative effects from a no-deal Brexit, although policymakers in the European Union made clear a deal was likely.
.The U.S. labor market has continued to tighten, with the economy adding 201,000 jobs for the month of August. Hourly wages shot up 0.4% month-over-month and 2.9% compared to the same month last year.
Regards,
Ted
http://mutualfunds.com/news/2018/09/18/mutual-funds-scorecard-september-18-edition/?utm_source=MutualFunds.com&utm_campaign=df16763452-Dispatch_Weekend_Engage_9_19_2018&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_83e106a88d-df16763452-290921629&goal=0_83e106a88d-df16763452-290921629
