MarketWatch writes "Money market funds swell as investors dump gold". It says, "One explanation for gold's nearly 5% dive on Wednesday is that money managers are cashing out of gold and shifting into money-market funds, where yields are zilch and performance is flat, but the chances of getting taken to the cleaners are slim.... Does any of this explanation bear out with asset levels in money market funds? In fact it does. Research firm iMoneyNet counts six straight weeks of gains in total money fund assets, stretching back to Nov 8. In total, these funds have gained $85 billion, adding $14.1 billion in the week ended Dec. 13 and an outsized $31.9 billion in the week ended Nov. 8. Research firm Crane Data, for its part, says money fund assets have increased for five weeks in a row -- and this likely will be week six." The piece quotes Crane Data publisher Peter Crane, "Any inflow is above average these days." It adds, "Crane Data's daily money fund assets have increased $71 billion, or 2.9%, since Oct. 31, though they're still down 4.7% year-to-date."
