Staying on top of mutual fund news is important for investors. Below, we look at the most important mutual funds news from the past week.

Catalyst Funds announced that it has launched two new funds: the Catalyst Time Value Trading Fund (TVTAX) and Catalyst/Princeton Hedged Income Fund (HIFAX).

The Catalyst Time Value Trading Fund (TVTAX) fund writes short-term call and put options on S&P 500 Index futures, and invests in cash and cash equivalents.

The Catalyst/Princeton Hedged Income Fund (HIFAX) fund focuses on fixed income securities, with products including: floating rate bank loans, agency and non-agency mortgage backed securities, asset backed securities, corporate bonds, debt securities of the U.S. and foreign governments and their agencies, certificates of deposit, and other money market instruments.

To see the full press release, click here.

According to an article posted on Investors Business Daily, mid-cap mutual funds have outperformed the S&P and other types of mutual funds. The chart below illustrates what a 1999 $10,000 investment is worth today.

Mid-cap value funds saw the most upside since 1999. These funds followed different investment strategies, but have all managed to provide substantial upside for investors.

Smead Capital Management recently wrote a letter to investors discussing the impact of the decline of gasoline prices on the U.S. economy and consumer spending. According to the letter, the firm is more optimistic about its impact than the consensus.

The firm estimates that 20% of the average American’s income goes to purchasing gas. The letter indicated that there should be a strong recovery in consumer spending as well as consumer goods stocks. With these factors, the firm predicts that this will have a positive effect on the U.S. economy. To read the full letter, click here.