The Wall Street Journal writes "Money-Market Inflows $31.88B In Latest Week", saying, "Investors added $31.88 billion to money-market funds in the latest week on steep inflows to taxable funds from institutional investors, according to iMoneyNet. So far this year, the money-market information provider has mostly reported outflows. Though the funds have experienced more inflows in recent weeks, withdrawals were common throughout most of the summer due to concerns about the euro-zone debt crisis and a weak economic outlook in the U.S. For the week ended Tuesday, total assets in money-market funds rose to $2.613 trillion, iMoneyNet said." Crane Data's Money Fund Intelligence Daily shows money fund assets rising by $9.1 billion November 8 and by $24.0 billion in the week through Tuesday. ICI will report its weekly asset series late Thursday afternoon. In other news, the New York Times quotes Reuters BreakingViews on "Tighter Controls on Market Funds". It says, "American money market funds have played a supporting role in the euro zone crisis: they are short-term lenders to European banks. Before that, they lent to the likes of Lehman Brothers. The regulators of the funds, a $2.5 trillion market, want to end the fiction that they are just repackaged savings accounts. The Securities and Exchange Commission is considering requiring money market funds to float their net asset values, as other mutual funds do, rather than having the flexibility to hold them at the traditional $1 a share. That veneer of stability -- broken only rarely, for instance right after Lehman collapsed in 2008 -- is one feature that can make investors complacent. The S.E.C.'s proposed change is a big one, but it worth making because it would force investors to recognize the risks and remove cover for the funds' managers. Mary L. Schapiro, the S.E.C. chairwoman, floated the idea this week of requiring money market funds to hold capital reserves. The logic goes that banks must have a cushion to absorb volatility in their assets. So why not money market funds."
