November 21, 2001(PLANSPONSOR.com) - Initial
unemployment benefit claims continued their downward trend in
the week ending November 17, according to the weekly figures
released by the Department of Labor.
The number of those lining up for first-time
unemployment benefits was down for the fourth consecutive
week, falling by 15,000 to settle at 427,000.
The more stable four-week moving average of initial
claims, viewed as a better indicator of unemployment as it
smoothes out weekly volatility, fell to 454,250, its lowest
level in two months.
Nevertheless, the unemployment picture remains bleak ?
the four-week moving average of those claiming another
round of benefits increased to 3.73 million, its highest
level since 1983, for the work week ending November 10, the
latest week for which data are available.
Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, the data was released a
day earlier than usual.
November 20, 2001 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - After three
months of net withdrawals, equity mutual fund sales finally
outweighed redemptions - with investors pouring $1.6 billion
into equity funds in October as the equity markets recovered,
according to estimates from Lipper.
In comparison, data from September show that investors
withdrew some $32 billion from stock mutual funds. In
addition, stock funds experienced net outflows in February
and March, before turning positive in the April-June period
and then resuming negative flows from July until
September.
According to industry members, demand remains strong
into November, with heavyweights Vanguard, T Rowe Price and
Fidelity all reporting buoyant sales.
In October:
the Vanguard Group saw inflows of $2.0 billion into
stock funds in October, primarily index and value
oriented products, while bond funds took in $2.2
billion,
Fidelity had net flows of $600 million into its stock
funds, $1.2 billion into bond funds and $1.6 billion into
money funds
though not mentioning figures, T Rowe Price reported
strong inflows into both equity and fixed income
funds
According to Lipper, the average diversified stock fund
gained 3.81% over the month. In comparison,
the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 2.6% in the
month,
while the Nasdaq increased by 12.8%
Fixed Income and Money
Market
October was also a bumper month for bond funds, which
saw inflows of $12.5 billion, the second highest in 2001,
after August’s $15.4 billion. On a year-to-date basis,
fixed income inflows, at $73.5 billion, are triple the
amount of equity funds, which are estimated at $21.4
billion, according to Lipper.
Money market funds attracted $73.5 billion in October,
higher than the same period in the last four years and 2001
second-highest intake since January’s $99 billion.
In terms of market cap, investors gravitated towards
small cap fund while in terms of investment style they
shied away from aggressive strategies, betting on value
buys instead.