Your Money

By Daniel Eisenberg

CAR COSTS HIT THE BRAKES

Americans buying cars are in the driver's seat, with vehicles more affordable than at any time in 18 years, according to a new study by Comerica Bank. Last week Ford said prices on its 1999 models would drop an average of 0.3%, the first such slide in 30 years. Prices at Chrysler and Nissan will also stay largely the same, with more options thrown in.

MUTUAL FUNDS GET PERSONAL

Wonder how your fund manager invests his money? Under a proposed Securities and Exchange Commission regulation, it may get easier to find out in prospectuses what he's allowed to do. Even that may not be enough to satisfy critics (like the former Putnam fund counsel who complained to the SEC last week) who say lax codes let managers profit at your expense via personal trades. Vanguard and Fidelity restrict managers' trading of stocks just before or after their fund makes a trade; Janus prohibits all trading in individual stocks.

REAL ESTATE BOOMS

Stocks may be faltering, but you still have a roof over your head, and that's worth a lot. The median resale price of homes rose 6% in the past year, up to $330,000 in San Francisco and $121,000 in Charleston, S.C. A new appraisal may enable you to stop paying mortgage insurance or secure a home-equity loan to shrink credit-card debt.

--By Daniel Eisenberg