Big is sometimes too big
From The New York Post
Sometimes bigger isn't always better Janus Funds' Blaine Rollins, manager of its Balanced fund, explained to the Post. At the beginning of the year, Janus Balanced was a $1.1 billion fund. Today, it's more than $2.5 billion and climbing. "Even three years ago, I could still buy small caps, but the portfolio has gotten so much bigger and it's been harder to get the positions I want for the fund, especially in the small-cap area, which is looking particularly interesting from an investment standpoint right now," Rollins said.

Morningstar tosses natural resources fund
From TheStreet.com
When Morningstar reshuffled their 401(k) plan last week the decision to get rid of its lone natural resources fund, the T. Rowe Price New Era fund, was a surprise. The rationale behind the move was that commodity stocks in recent years haven't served their purpose as inflation hedges, primarily because they haven't been needed. In the same moment, however, Jim Bianco, head of Bianco Research in Chicago, points out, commodities are turning in some of the best returns of any investment sector this year. Natural resource mutual funds were some of the second quarter's biggest winners, logging a 19.71% return on average although agricultural products have dragged down the Bridge/CRB Index.

Fund managers salaries rise regardless of poor returns
From The Wall Street Journal
In 1998 fewer than one in five managers of U.S. diversified stock funds beat the S&P 500's total return of 28.58%. Yet, this year these managers had their median base salary of $144,500 rise 10% from 1998, according to a survey from headhunter Russell Reynolds Associates and the Association of Investment Management and Research. The median bonus is also expected to rise this year, jumping a hefty 22% to $130,000. This survey indicates that performance is no longer the most important factor in determining pay. Other factors, such as growth of assets under management and a desire to avoid turnover in the management ranks, have gained prominence.

Citigroup and E*Trade report earnings
From The Wall Street Journal--Citigroup earnings
The Wall Steet Journal--E*Trade earnings
Citigroup Inc. beat analysts' expectations as consumer-banking and credit card earnings surged but E*Trade Group Inc., posted a narrower-than-expected quarterly loss trying to turn itself into an all-in-one financial portal site. Citigroup's second-quarter net income rose 9.3% to $2.45 billion from a pro forma $2.24 billion in the year-earlier quarter, before the merger of Travelers and Citibank. E*Trade posted a loss of $24.2 million, or 10 cents a share, for the quarter, compared with net income of $5.1 million, or three cents a diluted share, a year earlier. All online brokers saw much lower transactions from the previous quarter to the just-ended one, reflecting a wider slowdown in online-trading activity among individual investors in recent months, analysts said. 

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