MAVERICK'S OPPORTUNITY:

Investors in Stock Funds Show Calm (DAISY MAXEY, 9/22/08, Wall Street Journal)

Investors have been pulling money from stock-based mutual funds since mid-June but have been relatively calm in the face of the extreme volatility of recent weeks.

"There has not been during this period a huge exodus from equity mutual funds," said Robert Adler, president of AMG Data Services Inc., an Arcata, Calif., company that tracks mutual-fund flows. "On balance, mutual-fund investors have been relatively stable."

Investors sold a net $3.9 billion of stock-focused mutual funds in the week through Wednesday, the largest one-week outflow since July 23, according to AMG. The funds have experienced steady outflows since the week of June 11, but those outflows are relatively small, considering that the equity mutual funds reporting to AMG weekly hold some $2 trillion in assets, he said.

The experts were likewise surprised when consumers didn't bail after the '87 "crash," but the calm of the average investor is why the GOP shouldn't back pedal on SS Reform. People get it.

Posted by Orrin Judd at September 22, 2008 8:37 AM