Peter Crane Quotations

We're seeing interest in cash for the first time since 2001, practically, and we expect the interest to only grow as rates continue to rise. Yields are still digesting the Aug. 9 Fed hike and be- ginning to anticipate an almost certain Sept. 20 rise, so we should see yields break through 3 percent and keep going.

Money funds look very good at the moment, but you don't want to move everything into cash and at some point next year, when the rate hikes are over and the Fed starts cutting, find you've missed your chance to lock in higher long-term rates.

We'll almost certainly see large inflows in the coming weeks, as bonuses, bond coupons and the normal flood of January cash arrives.

When it comes to liquidity needs, convenience is the most important factor.

Why shouldn't America, and American children, have the same level of protection that kids do in France and Germany and Poland and Russia and Armenia and Ireland and Norway and a host of other countries?

The saying goes, it's not bulls, not bears, but chickens who put their money in cash; they park it there and wait for better opportunities, ... So those chicken investors, and retirees and income investors, have reason to be thrilled about the rates, because for the first time in a while they're going to be paid decently to sit there.

Normally money market rates just sit there. But because we're in a rare period where the Fed is moving constantly, the rates bear watching. Nobody has to move tomorrow, but you want to monitor the rates and make sure your cash investment is going up. If your cash investment hasn't moved in the last few months, you're in the wrong place.

The old saw is the Fed hikes until something breaks. Cash has been the place to be, and it likely will be the place to be over the turn into 2006, but then the question is: Will the Fed be done raising rates at the end of January? Nobody is really sure what's going to happen.

You really need to know what federal income tax bracket you're in to determine whether tax-free funds offer more of a benefit. As a rule of thumb, anyone who falls in the 36 or 39 percent tax bracket should consider tax-free funds.

They're getting into a range where, with no risk, their returns are competitive with long-term returns of bonds and equities that are higher, but are much more volatile.

It's normal to see outflows at month end and quarter end. (Taxable) money funds are benefiting from renewed attention due to higher rates.

Is the retail investor better off in a money market or an insured account? The jury is still out.

The main attraction of money-market funds is their liquidity and their constant share value. But if they have an investment that goes south on them, there's a chance that they could be valued at 99 cents per share, 98 cents per share.

The mercury can fall below zero, heavy snowstorms can assail the summit, and high winds can hammer the peak. In fact, the highest wind ever recorded on earth, a remarkable 231 miles per hour, was measured on Mount Washington on April 12, 1934.