Today we are featuring top-performing "European" equity mutual funds, which primarily invest in equity securities of companies based in Europe.

Investors can find such funds by checking out the entire list of Zacks #1 Rank European Equity Funds.

3 Solid Samples

ING European Real Estate Fund A (IAERX) seeks to provide investors with high total return, consisting of capital appreciation and current income. It was incepted in November 2007.

The fund normally invests at least 80% of net assets in a portfolio of equity securities of real estate companies located in Europe. The fund may invest in convertible securities, initial public offering and depositary receipts.

The fund has an expense ratio of 1.75%. As of July 2009, it has a portfolio turnover of 166%.

Steven D. Burton has been lead manager of the fund since November 2007. Burton is a managing director at ING and has 24 years investment experience.

T. Rowe Price European Stock

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The yen rose today as uncertainty about the global economic outlook and forthcoming U.S. corporate earnings increased the safe-haven appeal of the Japanese currency.

Sterling fell as weak industrial output data reinforced doubts about a UK recovery. The euro dipped against the dollar, but losses were capped by a surprise increase in German factory orders that initially pushed it to a session high above $1.40.

When risk aversion rises, investors often cut holdings of stocks and higher-yield currencies and buy back the yen and dollars that were used to finance the trades.

“We’ve been getting very mixed signals, with some positive data and some very poor data, so it’s extremely difficult to pinpoint direction,” said Fabian Eliasson, vice president of currency sales at Mizuho Corporate Bank in New York.

“As a result, people are backing out of high-yield assets and into the yen and dollar. Now, the focus will turn to corporate earnings as

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World trade experiencing a “huge drop”, according to the World Trade Organization.  Rather than the gloomy 9% predicted earlier this year, volume will likely contract by 10%.

WTO Director General Pascal Lamy, told Reuters Television:

That’s the situation and I’m afraid I can’t read any good news in my trade numbers.

This news doesn’t bode well for any type of recovery. “Jobs picture turns gloomier” say the headlines. The U.S. unemployment rate officially popped up to 9.5% as nonfarm payrolls shed 467,000 jobs in June. The market is tanking today on this “brown shoot”… But the real story is far worse. And as reality seeps into the empty head of Joe Investor it could spell the end for the post-2008 wipe-out sucker’s rally…

As James Davidson points out in Crisis Strategy Alert, the BLS numbers have been massaged, manipulated, and contorted into giving only half the story. He says,

To get a real

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Today we are featuring top-performing "Asset Allocation" balanced mutual funds, which primarily seek total return and uses an optimization model to choose the best way to distribute assets among various classes.

Investors can find such funds by checking out the entire list of the Zacks #1 Rank Asset Allocation Balanced Funds.3 Well-balanced Picks

Columbia LifeGoal Income A (NLFAX) was incepted in September 2003. The investment seeks current income, consistent with relative stability of principal.

The fund actively allocates its assets among fixed income and income-oriented equities, convertibles and REITs by investing in Columbia Funds and individual securities. It is designed to be part of a fixed-income portfolio to enhance returns in all interest rate environments.

Anwiti Bahuguna has been lead manager at the fund since February 2009. The fund has an expense ratio of 0.67%.

Hartford Income Allocation A (

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* Ryder System (NYSE:R) expects first quarter earnings of 22 cents to 24 cents a share ex-items, missing Street estimates of 46 cents and the firm's earlier projection of 40 cents to 50 cents per share

* Juniper Networks (NASDAQ:JNPR) said its first quarter results will meet projections, although warned revenues are likely to miss, coming in at $760 million to $765 million

* Genentech (NYSE:DNA) plans to withdraw its psoriasis drug, Raptiva, from the US market due to the risk of PML

* Moody's Investor Services (NYSE:MCO) downgraded Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.A) to AA2, following last month's downgrade from Fitch

* ING (NYSE:ING) announced plans to focus banking activity on European operations, with divestitures of up to $10.6 billion to lower its risk profile

* News from a Kuwaiti paper advised a consortium offer of $21 per share for Textron (NYSE:TXT)

* Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) expects first quarter operating results at the high end of 72-77

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The unemployment picture took on an even more ominous tone this week as new layoffs emphatically underscored a worsening global economy.  Now, fear is rising that the losses represent a major restructuring in the business world and that some, if not most, of the jobs are gone forever. Monday began with several European companies, including electronics giant Philips (PHG) and insurance and banking conglomerate ING, announcing job cuts of 6,000 and 7,000 employees respectively. The gloomy start to the workweek quickly turned into a bloodbath as more than 75,000 jobs were lost in a single day, when a who’s who of U.S. household names launched a gauntlet of layoffs: Sign up below… and we’ll send you a new investment report for free:...

Controversy surrounding the Romanian economy is nothing new, nor, as a href="http://globaleconomydoesmatter.blogspot.com/2008/11/romania-votes-under-new-electoral.html"Manuel points out in his post on the recent election/a, are Romanian politics strangers to tumult. Nonetheless the intensity of controversy has grown considerably of late, with a wide variety of assessments being offered concerning the likely impact of the intensifying international credit crisis on the short to medium term outlook for the Romanian economy. National Bank of Romania (NBR) governor, Mugur Isarescu, has been consistently arguing that the country should be able to avoid an excessively "hard landing"as the bank attempts to cool its evidently overheated economy and engages of fire-extinguising activities in the banking sector trying to control the impact of set of adverse external circumstances that are largely beyond its control. But most of these comments (or at least the more convincing ones) preceded the meltdown in the international financial markets which followed the Lehman Brothers ...

by Edward Hugh: Barcelonabr /br /Controversy surrounding the Romanian economy is nothing new, nor, as a href="http://globaleconomydoesmatter.blogspot.com/2008/11/romania-votes-under-new-electoral.html"Manuel points out in his post on the recent election/a, are Romanian politics strangers to tumult. Nonetheless the intensity of controversy has grown considerably of late, with a wide variety of assessments being offered concerning the likely impact of the intensifying international credit crisis on the short to medium term outlook for the Romanian economy.National Bank of Romania (NBR) governor, Mugur Isarescu, has been consistently arguing that the country should be able to avoid an excessively "hard landing"as the bank attempts to cool its evidently overheated economy and engages of fire-extinguising activities in the banking sector trying to control the impact of set of adverse external circumstances that are largely beyond its control. But most of these comments (or at least the more convincing ones) preceded the meltdown in the international financial markets which ...

You’ve seen hundreds of subprime lenders bite the dust, with New Century Financial and Countrywide leading the way … You’ve seen giant banks like Washington Mutual and Wachovia suffer a similar fate. You’ve watched in horror as major investment banks like Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers and even the giant Merrill Lynch were bailed out, bought out or simply wiped out. Perhaps most shocking of all, you’ve seen the abject failure of the two biggest, supposedly “safest and soundest” mortgage companies on Earth — Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Each time news broke on these shocking failures, stock markets crashed — not just here in the U.S., but around the world. Investors lost trillions of dollars. Entire countries took another step closer to the edge of the abyss. Strangely, however, the crisis ...

The Independent Tuesday, 1 July 2008 Bankers were thought to be facing tough times after the credit crunch. But in Moscow, where business is booming, Brits are being attracted by soaring salaries. By Jason Corcoran and Nick ClarkIt has been a very good year to be Russian. The national football team sparkled at Euro 2008, it secured the unrivalled musical accolade of winning the Eurovision Song Contest, and while the markets around the world disintegrate, its own economy has continued to boom.Soaring consumer spending, oil past $140 a barrel, record numbers of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and a high growth rate means the financial focus is firmly on Russia in 2008.Investment bankers in the West are charging to Moscow to cash in on the rise of lucrative takeover deals, as London and New York have increasingly become graveyards for the ...