Investors' appetite for international stocks growing

Individual investors added money to U.S. stocks for a seventh straight week last week, but they're continuing to show an even stronger appetite for international stocks.

While U.S. stock mutual funds attracted $1.1 billion during the week ended Feb. 14, international stock funds lured nearly $3.5 billion, according to data from the Investment Company Institute. So far this year, investors have poured almost $21 billion in U.S. stocks and MORE

Mutual funds attract record $81 billion in January

After taking money off the table toward the end of 2012, individual investors came back with a vengeance in January, adding a record $80.6 billion to their mutual fund holdings, according to the Investment Company Institute.

Investors added nearly $38 billion to stock funds during the month, with a little more than half of that flowing into international stocks.

Nearly $33 billion, or 41% of the total monthly inflow, went into MORE

First Solar stock plunges 17% to 3-month low

Shares of First Solar plunged 17% Wednesday to their lowest level in three months after the company delivered disappointing fourth-quarter sales figures and a weak outlook for the first quarter.

First Solar (FSLR) reported revenue of $1.1 billion for the last three months of 2012, falling short of the $1.3 billion that analysts were expecting. For the first quarter, the solar panel maker expects to earn between 70 cents and 90 MORE

Investors' rush into stocks slows

Investors have been adding money to the U.S. stock market since the beginning of the year, but the pace of inflows has slowed considerably.

U.S. stock mutual funds lured in just $509 million during the week ended Feb. 13, according to data from the Investment Company Institute. While that marks the sixth straight week of inflows, it's the smallest of the year. During the first four weeks of 2013, investors MORE

Gold drops to 7-month low, flirts with 'death cross'

Gold prices dropped to a 7-month low Wednesday, and are on the verge of hitting a technical level that could signal more bearishness ahead.

Gold, which has tumbled more than $200, or 12%, since early October is close to forming a so-called death cross, the term for when the 50-day moving average breaks below the 200-day moving average.

The last time gold prices entered into death cross territory was in April MORE

Herbalife rises despite FTC probe report

Shares of Herbalife (HLF) bounce back from a sharp drop Monday morning after the New York Post reported that the company is the subject of a federal investigation. Herbalife's stock fell nearly 13% shortly after the open but finished the day up more than 1%.

The investigation was revealed after the Federal Trade Commission disclosed a list of 192 complaints against Herbalife from the past seven years in response to a Freedom of Information Law request MORE

Investors still buying stocks, but enthusiasm waning

Individual investors continue dip back into U.S. stocks as the Dow and S&P 500 get closer to new record highs, but the pace has slowed.

U.S. stock mutual funds raked in $3.5 billion during the week ended Jan. 23, according to data from the Investment Company Institute, making it the third consecutive week that investors added money to U.S. stocks. Altogether, investors have plowed more than $16 billion into the market during MORE

Facebook investors react ... on Twitter

Facebook beat fourth-quarter earnings and revenue estimates, and improved mobile ad sales, but investors weren't all that impressed.

Facebook (FB) stock tanked 10% within minutes in after-hours trading following the earnings release. But the stock nearly fully recovered before edging lower again as CEO Mark Zuckerberg, CFO David Ebersman and COO Sheryl Sandberg answered questions from analysts on a conference call. Shares were down 4% at the conclusion of the call, MORE

Hedge fund manager: Aerospace taking off

The Dreamliners may be temporarily grounded, but one hedge fund manager is betting that aircraft makers are about to take off.

"The aerospace industry was essentially put on hold during the few years since the financial crisis, but now there is a real need for modern planes," said Dinakar Singh, founder and CEO of New York-based hedge fund TPG-Axon Capital Management, adding that he expects the industry will enjoy strong and MORE

Investors pour record $8 billion into U.S. stocks

After yanking more than $150 billion from U.S. stock mutual funds last year, investors began to put their money back into the market at the start of 2013. A lot of it.

U.S. stock mutual funds gained $8 billion in the week ended Jan. 9, according to the Investment Company Institute. That's the highest amount since the ICI began keeping records in 2007.

The big flood of money came as the MORE