Mutual Funds Inflows/Outflows

Recent Fund Flow Estimates
Date	Net Inflows/Outflows($ Millions)
3 biz days ended Jan. 11	13249
2 biz days ended Jan. 8	-8441
2 biz days ended Jan. 4	21223
2 biz days ended Jan. 2	-15900
2 biz days ended Dec. 28	6109
2 biz days ended Dec. 26	9792
3 biz days ended Dec. 21	566
2 biz days ended Dec. 18	-800
3 biz days ended Dec. 14	-228
2 biz days ended Dec. 11	7930
3 biz days ended Dec. 7	-225
Source: TrimTabs.com

Related Metrics

Assets in Money Market Funds Cash as a Percentage of Mutual Fund Portfolios Mutual Fund Inflows/Outflows

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Mutual fund investors poured more than $13.2 billion into equity funds for the three business days ended Jan. 11, estimates TrimTabs.com, a firm that tracks mutual fund inflows and outflows.

Despite the heavy inflows in the recent period, investors continue to show a lack of consistency. Over the past five reporting periods there has not been two straight periods in which there were successive inflows or outflows. This inconsistency mirrors the stock market, which has been up and down over the past few weeks. (See last Wednesday's commentary on fund flows to see what is going on.)

For the three business days ended Jan. 11, the Nasdaq was up 10.2%, the S&P 500 climbed 2.4% and the Dow was flat.

Why This Metric Matters Mutual funds are the biggest source of liquidity in the market, according to TrimTabs.com. When fund inflows slow or actually turn negative (outflows), then stock prices will likely turn downward as well. The stocks most heavily influenced by inflow changes are those that are most widely held by mutual funds, such as Microsoft (MSFT) and Cisco (CSCO) recently. TrimTabs.com computes its estimate of overall mutual fund inflows and outflows by tracking 534 equity funds. A definitive tally comes from the Investment Company Institute, the mutual fund trade group, which tracks more than 4000 equity funds. ICI only reports its data once a month, about thirty days after the end of the last month it's considering. Because of the lag in the ICI data, TrimTabs.com's twice-weekly estimate is closely followed by the market.

How Often Updated on TSC Twice weekly, Monday and Wednesday

Historical Info The highest inflows recorded in the year 2000 came during the week ending Feb. 3, when inflows totaled $18.4 billion. Those inflows helped the market register big gains for the week, with the Nasdaq rallying almost 9% and the Dow rising about 3%. The largest outflow recorded for the year, $12.1 billion, was for the week ending Oct. 12. That week the Dow fell nearly 6.5% and the Nasdaq almost 9%.

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