Fund Co-Managers Predict Rebound In Resource Stocks

The co-managers of the Eaton Vance Marathon Gold & Natural Resources Fund are predicting a shift in market interest towards natural resource companies.

Although commodities markets have been flat, notes Barclay Tittman, metal inventories on the London Metals Exchange have plunged in the last year. Nickel reserves could be critically low by next year, he said.

Also, fast-growing Asian economies are creating new demand, with Taiwan and Korea among the world’s largest users of copper.

Another hot commodity: fertilizer. Stocks are being depleted by demand from China and India.

Budget workshop offered

The Consumer Credit Counseling of Spokane will offer a workshop Thursday to explain ways of stretching household budgets.

“A Penny Saved” will look at ways to save at the grocery store, on clothing and other necessities, and on entertainment.

Saving time as a way of saving money will also be explored.

The two-hour workshop starts at 6:30 p.m. in the service’s offices at N1912 Division, Suite 100. Cost: $10, with no additional fee for spouses. Pre-registration required. For information, call 327-3777 or 1-800-892-6854 and ask for the Education Department.

Investor group joins Internet

The National Association of Investors Corp. has joined the ranks of investor services that provide information over the Internet.

The association’s new home page can be found at http:/ /www.better.investing.org.

Among the features available are information about NAIC and its services, including regional councils; reprints of articles from “Better Investing” magazine; a list of companies that participate in NAIC’s Low-Cost Investment Plan; and a hotlink to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission EDGAR data base.

Viatical crackdown expands

A Florida company has become the newest target of U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigations into abuses in the buying and selling of insurance policies held by terminally ill patients.

Federal regulators are examining whether Viatical Benefits may have used high-pressure tactics to sell policies to investors.

Viatical companies buy life insurance policies from terminally ill patients at a discount from their face value, giving the patient cash.

The typical payoff to the patient is 60 percent to 80 percent of the death benefit. The holder of the policy keeps the rest.

But Life Partners of Waco, Texas, the nation’s largest viatical firm, and Florida-based United Benefits Group have already been shut down because of alleged abuses.

, DataTimes