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Non-Tech : Invest / LTD -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Broken_Clock who wrote (175)	5/7/1998 11:56:00 PM
From: Teddy	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 14427

Look at all the money flowing into the stock market: May 7, 1998 Stock-Fund Inflows Climbed To a High for Year in April By RICHARD C. TEN WOLDE Dow Jones Newswires Equity funds appear to have had their biggest month of the year -- and third biggest in the last 12 months. Stock funds had net cash inflows of $24.5 billion in April, the Investment Company Institute, an industry trade group, estimated on Thursday. That is 5.6% more than they pulled in during March. Mutual-fund firms said the trend is continuing this month. Investors, in large part, are holding on to their fund shares amid the volatility that has gripped the stock market at times lately, and they are continuing their long-running pattern of buying each time that prices dip. "Investors' resistance to the market volatility continues to impress us," said Brian Mattes, a spokesman at the Vanguard Group of Malvern, Pa. "They have disregarded the daily noise in the markets." But while stock funds are drawing in funds, investors' attraction to bond funds and hybrid funds -- which invest in both bonds and stocks -- eased. Bond funds netted $3 billion in April, the smallest take since October, while hybrid funds took in $1.5 billion. Those inflows represent declines of more than 53% and nearly 24%, respectively, from the March levels. Though some money managers report healthy bond fund sales in the first few days of May, others say they've seen only mild interest and the focus remains on equities. Bond fund sales at Vanguard eased back to normal in April. After clearing a billion dollars in sales in each month of the first quarter, the funds took in $550 million, just above the firm's average. That pace seems to be holding in May. But investors continue to race into Vanguard's equity offerings. After pushing the firm to a record $6 billion in total sales -- which included $3.7 billion in stock funds -- during March, investors snapped up $4.2 billion worth of equity funds in April. That confident pace has continued in May, according to Vanguard's Mr. Mattes. What happens if a sizable bump in the road should lead to a significant downturn in stock prices? Mr. Mattes predicted investors probably will hold their course. "They may go through some analysis, but we think they will stay put." At Boston's John Hancock Funds, fund sales in May retained most of their record-setting pace seen last month. Daily-sales averages are down about 6% from the prior month, which was the best ever for the firm. In April, the announced bank mergers sent a gush of money into the John Hancock Financial Industries Fund, said Keith Hartstein, a vice president at the firm. But, in general, flows appeared to be driven by a confidence in the U.S. economy, not by specific events, Mr. Hartstein said. When the stock market dropped at the end of April, investors didn't yank money from Hancock's coffers. They made those days some of the firm's most lucrative, Mr. Hartstein said. "People saw the little sell-off and were in buying. And they were buying equity funds. We see that same trend here in May." Fixed-income products weren't completely ignored, though. John Hancock High-Yield Bond Fund and John Hancock Strategic Income Fund have been among the main attractions. International funds, however, were knocked about, losing money throughout the group. International funds at Baltimore's T. Rowe Price Associates also got socked, showing redemptions in April and May, but the T. Rowe Price European Stock Fund continued to draw customers. Special note to PK: no disrespect intended, but i heard that the One who owns all the gold has recently been selling.