Portfolio

Farrah Fawcett, dying from cancer, floated in and out of consciousness and needed a full-time nurse when Ryan O’Neal interceded to appease NBC and make sure a documentary about Fawcett’s struggle with cancer aired in time for the May sweeps period. At least, that’s the picture painted in a recent New York Times article.

The 1976 film “All the President’s Men” made famous the line "follow the money" and inspired an entire generation of muckraking journalists. Now some analysts at Standard & Poor's are saying their research shows this philosophy could also serve as a good starting point for identifying strong-performing mutual funds.

IndexIQ has launched the IQ US Real Estate Small Cap ETF (ticker: ROOF), which it says is the first ETF focused on small-cap U.S. real estate.

The fund will be sub-advised by four global advisory firms.

Positive yet cautious hiring intentions are expected to persist throughout the summer, according to the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey. The Net Employment Outlook for the third quarter is +8%, up from +6% in the third quarter of 2010.

IndexIQ this week launched a new exchange-traded fund (ETF) for investors looking for exposure to small-cap real estate stocks and real estate investment trusts (REITs).

John Hancock Mutual Funds has launched three new fundamental equity funds, the John Hancock Fundamental Large Cap Core Fund, John Hancock Fundamental Large Cap Value Fund and John Hancock Fundamental All Cap Core Fund.

Former Philadelphia 76ers President Pat Croce and his wife Diane have scored more than $2 million in an arbitration award tied to principal protected notes originally issued by Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.

Consumer sentiment, as measured by the Consumer Reports Trouble Tracker Index, remains in negative territory in May for the second consecutive month, with consumers worried about slow job growth and news of the economic recovery stalling.

With Fitch Rating's admonishment last week it would put U.S. debt on watch for a downgrade in early August, all three of the major rating agencies now have issued unprecedented warnings about the U.S. debt crisis, putting the country’s AAA credit rating in danger. But so far, Treasury investors have reacted with a collective yawn.