As the world financial markets continue to thrash wildly, the amount of money pulled from stock mutual funds in the past week was on the decline, according to a report released Thursday - an indication that individual investors were getting a little less pessimistic. Personal finance news - CNNMoney.com

Are emerging markets a bargain right now? The instinct is right, as developing-country indexes have taken a serious thumping this year. Year-to-date, Argentina’s main index is down 51%. China’s is down 63%. Russia is down 68%. Overall, the MSCI Emerging Markets index is down 52% year-to-date, versus *just* a 34% drop for the S&P 500. [...]