Mutual funds on the rise
Natural resources stocks have continued their winning streak throughout the second quarter. As such, mutual funds that invest in them have been pushed to double-digit gains.
It is a good sign that most mutual fund classes actually showed gains for the quarter. While this was a great quarter, it did end on a down note. This is because the last third of the quarter was quite flat. Even on the last day of the quarter, there was very little change.
Those funds that showed strong performances in recent quarters continued to do so in the second quarter as well. This was also true of both Chinese and Latin American funds. Most people believe that China will continue its upward momentum but that Latin America will not. This is because there are a lot of things going on in China’s favor. Just this year alone, U.S. funds that invest in and around China increased 25% and jumped 66% in the past 12 months alone.
The areas that are struggling the most are residential real estate and short-bias funds. These funds lost 5.9% on average. However, those investors who did not jump to sell their tech funds probably did well in the end. More than likely returns from companies such as Amazon.com propelled these tech funds though. This is because their stock rose 84% in the second quarter after a flat first quarter.
July 25th, 2007 at 3:10 am
Mutual funds are one of many ways for investing money in stock market. With a mutual fund you are actually investing in a lot of companies while only putting your money in to one thing. It is best referred to as a money pool.
February 22nd, 2008 at 6:37 am
There is really big potential in grow of Middle Europe Mutual Funds. Like Visegrad Mutual Fund. After new year, I think, they hit the bottom and now they are ready to grow.