Portfolio

Consumer Reports’ Consumer Sentiment Index rose slightly from 46.2 in June to 48.5 in July but remained in negative territory, as the stagnant job market is making consumers cautious about spending.

Gold prices rallied in U.S. dollars and hit an all-time high in Euros -- a response to Moody’s downgrade of Portuguese government debt to junk last week -- amid concern that troubles in Italy and Greece will drive Euro down.

After seeing assets flow out of ETFs in May -- the first time flows have reversed direction since August 2010 -- the ETF Industry saw a 1.4%, or $8 billion, decline in overall assets in June, according to State Street Global Advisors, which just released its latest Snapshot report tracking ETF funds.

Morningstar has added sophisticated asset allocation and forecasting functionality to Morningstar Direct, its investment analysis platform for institutional investors.

American Beacon Advisors has launched the American Beacon Flexible Bond Fund, which seeks to deliver positive returns no matter what the market direction by investing in a broad range of fixed income instruments.

After a period of booming sales in first quarter of 2011, annuity sales through banks have fallen off significantly, according to a new report by Kehrer-LIMRA, the banking industry research unit of LIMRA.

BlackRock reviews its accuracy for the year so far. Barclays advises on building a muni porfolio. Raymond James sees reasons to buy.

American Beacon Advisors has launched the American Beacon Flexible Bond Fund, which seeks to deliver positive returns no matter what the market direction by investing in a broad range of fixed income instruments.

The Conference Board Employment Trends Index gained 0.50 percentage points in June, rising from 99.5 to 100.00—an increase of 5.4% from June 2010.

So whatever happened to that Armageddon in the $475-billion municipal bond fund market?