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Mutual Fund Madness 共同基金太疯狂

课文朗读

课文讲解

繁體中文譯本  

Around 95 million Americans have money invested in mutual funds. Here, some of the world’s best money managers grow investors’ money through the deft buying and selling of stocks and bonds. Or so these investors thought.

大约有九千五百万美国人把钱投资在共同基金里。在这一行里，有全球第一流的理财专家替投资者运筹帷幄、买卖股票和债券。至少这些投资者是这么认为。

Since September 2003, mutual fund managers at some of the biggest and most reputable funds have been found guilty of illegal enriching themselves and wealthy clients at the expense of average investors. Arthur Levitt, former Chairman of the SEC, declared it “the worse scandal we’ve seen in 50 years.”

自从2003年9月以来，有些全球最大而且著名的共同基金经理利用一般投资人的钱非法自肥并图利有钱的客户，因而判罪。美国证管会【注】前主席阿瑟利瓦伊特宣称这是「五十年来我们所见到最大的丑闻」。

Although Congress passed a bill demanding more transparency in the industry, many analysts claim the bill is too watered-down to have any real impact. Nevertheless, investor confidence seems to have been restored. Or maybe people just don’t know where else to put their money.

虽然国会通过了一项法案强制要求业界做法更透明，但很多分析家宣称这项法案掺水太多，并不能发挥真正效用。不过，投资者的信心似乎已经恢复，又或者大家就是不知该把钱投资在哪里。

What alternatives are there for people who don’t want to dedicate their lives to the market? The cheapest and easiest alternative is an index fund. Index funds are special mutual funds that automatically follow the performance of some specific market, such as the S&P 500. Because they are not managed by high-paid specialists, index funds return more money to their investors. What’s more, most index funds have actually outperformed their actively managed cousins.

一般人若不想花自己的时间在股市上，那还有什么其他选择吗？最便宜也最简单的选择之一就是指数型基金。指数型基金是种特别的共同基金，自动连结到某些特别的金融市场表现，譬如标准普尔指数500【注】。因为它们不是由高薪经理人来掌理，指数型基金可以替投资人滋生更多获利。更何况，大多数指数型基金确实比它那些操作更为主动的股票近亲表现更佳。

And that makes lots of cents.

那样可以赚不少钱。

【注】：美国证管会 Securities and Exchange Commission

【注】：标准普尔500的指数型基金在90年代年平均报酬率是17.3%，而同时期其他共同基金的年平均报酬率是13.9%。

Vocabulary

单词发音

deft [dɛft] adj. 灵巧的，熟练的，机敏的

bond [bɑnd] n. 债券；公债

reputable [ˋrɛpjətəb!] adj. 声誉好的，可尊敬的

transparency [trænsˋpɛrənsɪ] n. 透明；透明度

watered-down [ˋwɔtɚdˋdaʊn] adj.〔声明﹑计划等比原先〕减弱了的﹐打了折扣的

Sentence of the Day

A fool and his money are soon parted.

傻瓜花钱不够深思熟虑，不花光也被骗光。

课文讲解

Nick and Theresa are hitting balls at the driving range:  尼克和泰瑞莎在高尔夫球练习场上击球：

N: I can’t believe people aren’t getting more upset about this mutual fund scandal!

我真难以置信别人不为这共同基金的丑闻而生气！

T: I know the scandal is about fund manager scams. But what exactly happened?

我知道这丑闻是有关基金经理人的骗局，不过究竟发生了什么事？

N: The biggest scam is probably “late trading.” Here’s how it works: mutual funds set their price at 4:00 each afternoon. But sometimes there’s news after the market closes that will obviously impact stock prices.

最大的丑闻大概就是「过时交易了」。事情是这样：共同基金价格的收盘时间是每天下午四点钟。不过有时候基金价收盘以后，仍然有必定会影响盘价的消息传进来。

T: Like if some enormous company comes out at 5:30 and says it earned twice as much as everybody expected. So the next day its share price will jump from, say, $50 to $100.

譬如说若有大公司在五点三十分放出消息说它的获益是大众所预期的两倍，那么第二天它的股价格就会往上跳，譬如说从五十元跳到一百元。

N: Exactly. Now, the fund manager who’s got wads of enormous company stock sells some shares of the fund to his buddies at the closing price of $50.

正是。那么如果基金经理人握有那一家大公司的股票，他以收盘价的五十元出脱一些基金持股给他的朋友。

T: And, ergo, his buddy is guaranteed a profit. But how’s that going to hurt other investors?

因此他朋友就能从中捞一票。不过这样行为如何伤害到其他的投资人？

N: Well, the stocks he effectively sold for $50 apiece can’t be purchases until the next day ….

他实际上卖掉五十元一股的那部份，要到明天才能购买回补…

T: When they’ll cost $100. And the original fund holders have to cover the difference.

届时它的价格已经变成一百元了，而原先的基金持有人必须共同来负担这些差额。

N: Right. Later, the fund manager gets a nice fat kickback. And there’s no telling how many other tricks there are.

是的。然后，基金经理人拿到大笔回扣，而且还不知道那背后究竟有多少其他可能的把戏呢。

T: Sounds like we should be hanging out with more fund managers.

听来似乎我们应该多和一些基金经理人交往交往。

－by Charles Yonts

Vocabulary

单词发音

driving range【高尔夫】练习场

scam [ˋskæm] n.【俚】骗局﹐诡计﹐欺诈

come out (指消息、真相等)周知, 传出, 透露 to be issued or brought out

wad [wɑd] n.【美】【口】大量（尤指金钱）

ergo [ˋɝgo] adv.【拉】因此

effectively [ɪˋfɛktɪvlɪ] adv. 实际上

apiece [əˋpis] adv. 各个，每个

kickback [ˋkɪk͵bæk] n. 佣金；回扣

hang out【非正式】闲荡; 厮混  spend time socially

Sentence of the Day

There’s too much back-scratching in mutual funds.

共同基金有很多暗盘交易。

back-scratching [ˋbæk͵skrætʃɪŋ] n.【口】为共同利益而互相利用