New money flowing into the eight categories that we follow under the rubric “fund managers” reached $287.4 billion in Q2 2004. Of this amount, about 41% was represented by sales of mutual fund shares. To put this in perspective, all domestic savings entering the market through these institutional channels did not amount to even half […]

The principal flows in asset-backed securities in Q2 2004 were to finance real estate ($255.7 billion, net, in home mortgages and $64.6 billion, net, in commercial mortgages). The principal source of this funding was the issuance of corporate bonds, mainly to foreign investors and life insurance pension funds. In other words, the trade deficit and […]

Flow of funds accounts for the commercial banking sector in Q2 2004 show that the major application of funds were in mortgages ($369.0 billion, net) and miscellaneous assets ($158.6 billion, net). The increase in “miscellaneous assets” is presumed to relate to intangibles and good will, the result of bank merger activity. The principal changes in funding […]