"Time To Cash Out Of Money-market Funds" says columnist Chuck Jaffe on MarketWatch. He says, "[I]f you are an investor in money-market funds, heading for the exits with the masses is probably a smart idea right now, because investing in money funds is the Stupid Investment of the Week." But he says, "Clearly, money funds can serve a purpose beyond simple yield. Some investors use check-writing and debit-card features that typically make their money-fund a better-yielding alternative to an interest-bearing checking account. And many money funds are linked to equity accounts, allowing movement into the stock market on a moment's notice; an investor who pulls cash from a money fund to put in an online savings account faces an opportunity cost, in the form of the few days needed to access their cash and get it into the market." He quotes Peter Crane of Crane Data, which publishes the Money Fund Intelligence newsletter, "If you are parking money waiting for the right opportunity, money funds have you ready to go. If you move the cash to an EverBank account [for example], you will get a better return while it's there, but it will also take a few days to get it out and move it to the market if things get to that point where you feel it's right to invest more. So you have to decide what is most important to you, whether it is the return you get or the ease of moving the money or the convenience of not having to get new checks and debit cards." See also, "State's sale of short-term debt faces hurdles".
