MORNING YAPS

Investor appetite increases for equity funds worldwide
Investors are continuing to pull money from money-market funds and pouring it back into equity funds, according to data from EPFR Global. The firm said investor appetite increased for exposure to developed markets rather than emerging markets, according to inflows for the week that ended Wednesday. About $8 billion of the $9.56 billion in equity-fund inflows went to those that invest in developed markets. AsianInvestor.net (10 Aug.)

*Obama and Helicopter Ben saved the world
Stimulus headed off second Great Depression, Krugman says
The world managed to avoid a second Great Depression through aggressive stimulus spending, but economic recovery will probably be "disappointing," said Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman. A full global recovery, likely to take two years or possibly longer, will not be anything like the "Phoenix-like" rebound that Asian economies experienced after their financial crisis in 1997 and 1998, he said. Forbes/The Associated Press (10 Aug.)

Analysts: Rising energy costs threaten economic recovery
With the price of crude oil reaching $76 a barrel, experts are worried about the possible impact of energy costs on a still-fragile world economy. "Although the financial crisis had been addressed, the commodity crisis has not," Goldman Sachs said. Financial Times (tiered subscription model) (09 Aug.)

*that's because they know things aren't as good as they seem
Bank of England's quantitative easing worries some economists
The Bank of England surprised markets last week when it announced that it will pour an additional £50 billion into the economy, a decision that has some economists concerned for the U.K.'s financial stability. "This is a 'shoot first and ask questions later' type of policy," said Nick Kounis, a U.K. economist at Fortis Bank. "I can't for the life of me see why, with the economy picking up, they haven't gone for a 'wait and see' approach to see how the data is coming in." Reuters (07 Aug.)

Asian markets advance on better-than-expected U.S. jobs data
A report on U.S. employment lifted Wall Street on Friday and then gave markets across the Asian-Pacific region a boost Monday. Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 1.1%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 inched up 0.1% and Indonesian shares climbed 1.5%. China's Shanghai Composite gave up 0.3%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index advanced 2.7% and shares in the Philippines rose 2.4%. Thailand's SET Index added 0.6%, and markets in Singapore were closed for a holiday. The Wall Street Journal (10 Aug.)