Portfolio

In response to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s charges that it spent more than $600,000 on improper gifts and entertainment for Fidelity Investments traders, Lazard Capital Markets is paying $2.8 million to settle the charges.

Bear market fund investors have struck it rich, with the best-performing such fund, the Rydex Inverse Nasdaq 100 Fund, up 107% over the past 12 months, businessworld.com reports. Year-to-date, the fund is up 88.7%, and in the past month alone, 16.6%.

While asset flows have continued at a steady clip for exchange-traded funds—the funds have taken in $100 billion so far this year—widespread declines in the values of all asset classes have siphoned about 30% of ETF assets, leaving a net of $440 billion in 716 ETFs, Dow Jones reports.

Vanguard has reopened the $1.5 billion Vanguard International Explorer Fund, which closed in 2004, and the $3 billion Vanguard Precious Metals and Mining Fund, which closed in 2004. The minimum required initial investment in the international fund is $25,000, and the minimum initial investment in the metals fund is $10,000.

Adviser confidence in the economy and stock market sank this month for the second consecutive month, according to Rydex AdvisorBenchmarking, a division of Rydex Investments.

Prudential Arm Hires Structured Exec Bonesteel

NEW YORK - The fragmented, free-for-all liquidity in the marketplace is aggravating the extreme volatility in the stock market, and experts say a more organized, specialized system is needed.

With the stock market down 40% in the past year, many investors are reassessing their investments. Many, in fact, are bailing out of equity mutual funds, vowing never to return.

4,000 Could Lose Jobs at Fidelity

LAS VEGAS - As companies pare back their operational budgets and look for ways to trim costs, chief information officers are being challenged to make their IT departments do far more with much less.