Portfolio

Several signs indicate the current bear market rally is nearing its end, and the next imminent sell-off of equities could finally break investors' spirit, according to Barron's columnist Michael Kahn.

Investors liked the idea of absolute return mutual funds, pumping $149.6 million into Putnam Investments' suite of the funds in their inaugural quarter.

The economy isn’t in a recession, it’s in a depression, but that doesn’t mean investors should shy away from the markets. That is the sage advice of David Dreman, chairman of Dreman Value Management, writing in this week’s issue of Forbes.

Private equity may not play a prominent role as it relates to buying up toxic assets, but sponsors are actively seeking the money-making operations of various banking institutions. The latest to dive into the fray was CVC Capital Partners, which acquired the iShares exchange-traded-funds business of Barclays Global Investors.

The first quarter was lackluster for financial services mergers and acquisitions, with only 37 deals, compared with 57 in the first quarter of 2008, Jefferies Putnam Lovell reported.

In a survey of the websites of financial services firms—fund companies not among them—public relations firm Weber Shandwick found that two-thirds, 66%, were not addressing the financial crisis. Only 15% actively sought to alleviate customers’ fears.

Five states are examining the underlying investment offerings in OppenheimerFunds’ 529 plan after two of the funds lost substantial amounts over the past year: the Oppenheimer Champion Income Fund is down 79%, and the Oppenheimer Core Bond Fund is down 41%.

Trading activity is reaching record levels at discount brokerages, as increasing numbers of mutual fund investors give up the ghost on long-term investing, The Wall Street Journal reports. About 20% of online investors, or 7.5 million people, have increased their trading levels, according to TowerGroup.

Exactly 50% of participants in 401(k) plans would like to have the option of rolling their money into a guaranteed income solution, but that does not exist in their plan, MetLife found in a recent survey, its seventh annual Employee Benefits Trends Study. Only 21% of employers said they would consider offering guaranteed income solutions, and only 16% of employers currently offer income annuities in their 401(k) plan.

Barclays Global Investors has hired Stephen Jobe as director of its iShares 529 programs.