"We want to see if market timing and late trading have enriched mutual fund companies, penalized investors who weren't involved and if so how and whether it can be quantified, " says Peter Harvey, the New Jersey attorney general.

FORBES: States To Move Against Mutual Funds

Spirits often last for years upon years, Mr. Bacardi says, so you shouldn't worry about hanging on to a bottle, even if it has been opened.

WSJ: The Home Bar, Only Better

If investors twig that European companies aren't such bad investments after all, he says, it will not be so easy for America to finance its current-account deficit with European savings and that points only one way for the dollar.

ECONOMIST: Bouncing back?