Our panel of experts answers your mutual fund questions. But some analysts say those with long-range goals best stay put. As small investors thread their way through the rubble of the US stock market, signs of rebirth and reconstruction are starting to appear. A rush to refinance mortgages at lower interest rates is freeing up additional cash for consumer purchases or investments, he notes. And enough to start a market upswing.
Some analysts differ.
A report last week from the respected Anderson School at the University of California, Los Angeles, cited a 90 percent likelihood of recession this year, although it expects it would be short-lived. Most investors, battered by recent market volatility, will happily accept any glimmers of good news at this juncture. How to protect existing financial assets, especially those linked to the stock market. How to ensure that assets are well-positioned to take advantage of the eventual shoring up within the market. As the accompanying tables show, virtually all major mutual-fund sectors took a nasty drubbing.