Fund performance

Despite investor concerns about a global economic recovery, BlackRock's Bob Doll and Deutsche Bank's Ben Pace are optimistic.

Twelve percent more fund managers surveyed this month by Bank of America Merrill Lynch forecast that the global economy will deteriorate in the next 12 months, than said the economy would grow. Last month, the net result of the survey was that, on balance, 24% more fund managers predicted the global economy would pick up steam, than lose it.

The sovereign debt crisis coupled with persistently high unemployment rates in the United States and continued fears over the 2008 financial meltdown has rocked investor confidence, so much so that investor mood has completely turned around in the past month.

BlackRock has reduced the fee on its iShares Comex Gold Trust exchange-traded fund by more than a third, to 25 basis points. The firm apparently is tossing its hat into the ETF fee wars started by Schwab, Fidelity and Vanguard.

Fear is the new name of the investing game. It's what drove investors to take $527 billion off the table in May, and it's what continues to rattle the market, with the Dow's 268-point drop on Tuesday and second 115-point decline at deadline two perfect examples.

NEW YORK-After getting burned by the financial crisis in 2008, many investors have decided to sit on the sidelines instead of jumping back into equities. But Putnam Investments said at its mid-year equity markets briefing Tuesday at the St. Regis Hotel it sees the uncertainty in the financial markets as an opportunity.

CHICAGO — Yields on floating-rate municipal prepaid gas bonds with ties to BP have spiked to nearly 9% from less than 0.5% as credit analysts continue to cut their ratings on the oil giant.

Think way back — well, a few months ago — to all the hype about how private-equity firms were poised to swoop in and buy struggling banks left and right.

See Advisor TV video here: http://www.financial-planning.com/video/morningstar-dolan-advisortv2667536-1.html

NYSE Technologies on Thursday will introduce a service that displays up-to-the-minute statistics on how fast it delivers details on orders and transactions to customers.

Investor-adviser relations are considerably improving, Fidelity Investments and National Financial found in a survey of 350 investors and 218 brokers and advisers.

Chief executives are feeling optimistic about the U.S. economy over the next 12 months for the first time since the second quarter of 2007, with CEOs of private companies with international operations being slightly more optimistic than those that are only domestic.

https://news.fidelity.com/news/article.jhtml?guid=/FidelityNewsPage/pages/fidelity-muni-bonds-taxes&topic=investing-bonds-cds

As Loomis, Sayles Vice Chairman Dan Fuss told MME last month: “When interest rates eventually rise, it will become our entire focus. I’ve prepared for this well in advance “(see “Fuss: Interest Rate Policy Will Shape Recovery,” MME 5/3/2010).

U.S. corporations have hearty cash flows. Consumers are inclined to keep spending. And European banks have the means to weather a sovereign debt default, according MFS Investment Management.

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BB&T Corp.'s mutual fund family has had a dramatic gain in assets over the past year, and the bank's asset management arm is laying the groundwork for more expansion.

The combined assets of U.S. exchange-traded funds rose 64% from the same time last year, posting an increase of more than $300 billion to reach $830.86 billion for the month ending in April, according to the Investment Company Institute.

Financial advisors have lost their springtime swagger.

With the SEC money market fund rules taking effect this Friday and the Libor up sharply, fund managers are reportedly beginning to see lending to European banks as too much of a risk. The bigger worry is this pullback has the potential to lead to another credit crunch like the one that nearly crippled the capital markets in 2008.