Key reason for last week's collapse...

Record $65 bln pulled out of mutual funds - FT
FT reports US investors pulled a record $65 bln out of mutual funds in the week to last Friday, as their losses mounted from failing stock and bond markets. Two-thirds of the money was drawn from equity funds, which saw outflows of close to $9 bln on Friday alone. Equity funds have had outflows of $56 bln during October so far -- the largest monthly drop since records began almost 20 years ago, according to TrimTabs, which tracks fund flows. Hedge funds also saw big redemptions during September. Figures are still being compiled, but the final tally is likely to reach tens of billions of dollars in outflows for the month, according to two data providers. Charles Biderman, the chief executive of TrimTabs, said a significant difference between this and previous fund sell-offs was that investors were pulling out of both bond funds and equity funds, as well as from hedge funds, money market funds and bank savings accounts.