Portfolio

Total money market mutual fund assets have increased $21.79 billion to reach $3.608 trillion for the week ending Nov. 5, according to the Investment Company Institute.

Exchange-traded funds continued attracting new investors in October, though most of the month’s $7.3 billion in net inflows came from three big names, according to the National Stock Exchange.

Goldman Sachs Asset Management LP plans to launch a new municipal closed-end fund as part of its existing lineup of tax-exempt mutual funds, according to an Oct. 24 registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The addition, which is to be called the Goldman Sachs Municipal Opportunity Fund, will bring the firm's number of tax-free mutual funds to six.

Indicating that it is only the first of at least two immediate job cut waves, Fidelity Investments announced Thursday it will eliminate 2.9% of its 44,400 workforce, or 1,300 positions, by the end of the month. A second layoff, the size of which has yet to be determined, will occur in the first quarter of next year, Fidelity said.

Even as U.S. corporations continue to announce layoffs, investors are beginning to regain faith in the stock markets, according to a poll of 500 investors by MoneyShow.com. Fifty-one percent are bullish on economic conditions, up from 43% in August. In kind, 29% characterize themselves as bearish, down from a steady 39% from July through September.

Man Group’s assets as of the end of the third quarter stood at $67.6 billion a 9% decline since the end of March. Its pretax profit declined 24% to $622 million, as a result of lower fees.

The London interbank offer rates for three-month dollar funds reached a five month low of 2.70625% on Tuesday, but banks still failed to loan money and commercial paper issuance also lags.

The price-to-earnings of stocks and other fundamentals have “improved radically,” John Bogle, founder of Vanguard, told Reuters. “It seems to me that people have lost sight of the fact that the fundamentals have improved radically.”

With the volatility of the stock market seemingly ever on the rise, perhaps now is a perfect time for the launch of 300% leveraged exchange-traded funds from Direxion, both on the long and the short side.

Seeking safety, investors have flocked to Treasury bonds, but now investors are beginning to develop renewed respect for municipal bonds, which are not only tax-free but delivering higher yields, The Wall Street Journal reports.