Many private equity-style real estate funds sold to institutional investors are charging too much, according to consultant Towers Watson.

With the U.S. dollar staging a surprising rally, some market watchers say that investors who have piled into foreign stock and bond funds may get burned.

The government is manipulating the Consumer Price Index in an attempt to keep inflation low and save money, and that has major implications for retirees and some investors, several statisticians who analyze government data say.

The dismal recent performance by the endowment funds of several Ivy League universities has dimmed the luster of the funds' managers. But the performance of those managers — who in recent years have attained rock star status in the investment world — may be even worse than the numbers indicate.

The three-decade overall bull market in bonds is dead — and though there are opportunities in some corporate and emerging-markets bonds, the easy money has been made.

A decade-long rise in commodities prices — the so-called supercycle — is about to resume, market bulls say, driven by rising industrial demand, a weaker dollar and production constraints.