Money Flows

The 1990s was the decade of the amateurinvestor. Buoyed by a stock marketthat seemed on a 1-way street going up,novice investors plunged billions of dollarsinto equity mutual funds. The marketresponded to those massive infusions ofcash by continuing to head up, whichprompted investors to put in moremoney. When the bubble burst, theinflows turned into outflows, droppingfrom a high of more than $300 billion in2000 to a negative $25 billion in 2002.Investors now seem to be stepping backup to the plate and equity mutual fundinflows are making a comeback. Moneyhas been pouring into equity fundsrecently, hitting $21 billion in July, thehighest monthly total since March 2002.