Fund investors yank $40 billion in one week

Rattled investors pulled more than $40 billion from stock and bond funds in a single week this month as fears about the global economy intensified.

The total of $40.3 billion was the biggest amount removed from mutual funds in a week in nearly three years, the Investment Company Institute says.

Stock fund outflows alone were a net $30 billion for the week ended Aug. 10.That was more than the total for the previous three weeks combined as investor concerns snowballed.

Domestic stock funds alone saw a net withdrawal of $23.5 billion during the week.

Investors pulled a net of $4.4 billion from bond funds.

The last time investors took more out of stock and bond mutual funds was at the height of the financial meltdown in mid-October 2008 when the weekly total reached $59.6 billion.