Mutual Funds Earn, Learn

• Email
• Share
• Print

It's a week of iconic quarterly earnings reports as the quacking AFLAC (NYSE: AFL) duck and the party people at Anheuser-Busch (NYSE: BUD) will let us know "Whassup!" McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) shareholders will find out if they're still "lovin' it" in what should be a somber conference call given last week's passing of CEO Jim Cantalupo.

Will fundamentals come to the defense of Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT)? Will Procter & Gamble's (NYSE: PG) results remind us of Gain or of Downy? These next few days will reveal plenty as to how all of these companies fared during the first three months of the calendar year, but there are also a few other companies stepping up to the plate that have significant implications for the investing community.

Both T. Rowe Price (Nasdaq: TROW) and Janus Capital Group (NYSE: JNS) will be reporting their March quarter results. They are both no-load mutual fund companies, but the similarities may end there as Janus has been rocked by trading scandals over the past few months. Fittingly, Janus expects meager earnings growth, while, earlier this month, Price revealed that it is looking to grow its bottom line by a whopping 80%.

With the market buoyant since last year's lows, mutual funds have regained their popularity. However, as Price soars and Janus copes with redemptions and a share price in the teens, it's clear that not all of the industry's players are built the same. Our new Motley Fool Champion Funds newsletter was created to single out the market-stomping funds.

Another scandal-pocked mutual fund company, Alliance Capital (NYSE: AC), will also be reporting this week. While Alliance and Janus have done their part in owning up to their mistakes and shuffling their upper ranks, perceptions of impropriety aren't as easy to shake. Investors may grow to forgive, but it's not as easy to forget.

Were you impacted by the mutual fund scandals? Have you given Motley Fool Champion Funds a peek? Can it make sense to invest in both mutual funds and individual stocks? All this and more -- in the Mutual Funds discussion board. Only on Fool.com.

Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz has no problems with mixing no-load mutual funds into his stock portfolio. However, he does not own shares in any company mentioned in this story.