Temma Ehrenfeld

Mindful that many clients are clinging to cash, Barclays Wealth urged investors to expect growth and invest in large companies in developed market stocks.

U.S. investors added $9 billion more to ETFs than they withdrew in January, marking the fifth consecutive month of positive flows for the sector.

The bear market of the last three years has forced many retirees to reevaluate, according to a study by T. Rowe Price.

Raider Nation outperformed market expectations, with the highest “NFL Alpha” for the second year in a row, says Analytic Investors. Barclays sees little threat to oil supplies and strong exports are accelerating growth in Japan and Taiwan. McKinsey says developed nations must get better at boosting productivity.

Future expectations buoyed the RBC Index

Black Rock says that the trouble in Egypt shouldn’t hamper the stock or bond market or cause long-term oil price increase.

Global assets under management in exchange traded funds and exchange traded products should grow 20% to 30% annually over the next three years, BlackRock projects.

Barclays is optimistic about global growth, while contrarian Jeffrey Saut is holding onto cash, Jason Pride sees unrest in Egypt as a buying opportunity, and Mark Pawlawk at KBW warns about stock plunges are an oil price spike.

Morningstar’s ETF expert, Scott Burns, sees a long-term shift to passive investing, but “managed solutions” packaging ETFs will also grow rapidly.

New hedge-fund like vehicle will trade frequently

To calm frightened investors pulling out of muni-bond funds, Vanguard, which manages $115 billion in municipal bonds, has been tweeting excerpts from a new research commentary "California is Not Greece."

Investors are looking for revenue gains, not just cost-cutting

Assets held in domestic exchange-traded funds reached a record $995 billion at the end of last year.

This week we look closely at two important U.S. economic issues: reforming the mortgage securities market and teacher pensions.

The finance and insurance industries reported the strongest plans to hire, followed by industries producing goods.

“High-risk” allocations fell to 15% from 24% in 2006.

The latest report from LoanPerformance, released this week, showed another notable decline in November, with prices down 5% from the recent peak in May.

Forty-one percent of the more than 87 million Americans between the age of 18 and 34 say they plan to "reduce spending and increase savings" this years, compared to 32% of all consumers.

Doll wrote Tuesday that he expects hiring levels to increase soon, as fourth-quarter earnings beat consensus expectations for the eighth consecutive quarter and corporate debt stays low and profits high. New hiring, he says, will also boost consumer confidence.

The issuance of U.S. Treasuries is set to fall by 16% this year, and tax receipts should jump. Demand for bonds will also increase, both among pensions and individuals and overseas buyers, and quality small cap stocks should rise above the pack. Keefe, Bruyette and Woods suggests shorting stocks that will benefit from rising short-term interest rates.