Video game sales fall for eighth month

LOS ANGELES » U.S. retail sales of new video game hardware, software and accessories fell for the eighth straight month in July as the industry continued to look ahead toward the release of new equipment to cure its woes.

Overall sales fell 20 percent to $548.4 million, according to research firm NPD Group.

Sales of consoles and portable software — the video games themselves — fell 23 percent from a year earlier to $278 million.

Sales of hardware fell 32 percent to $151 million. Accessories sales bucked the trend, rising 8 percent to $137 million.

Total recall

About 4 million Bumbo Baby Seats are being recalled after nearly two dozen reports of infant skull fractures. The Bumbo floor seats were sold at Babies R Us, Target, Walmart and other retailers nationwide from August 2003 through August 2012.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission says babies can wiggle out of the floor seats. About 1 million of the molded foam seats were recalled in October 2007 for additional warning labels against placing the Bumbo seats on raised surfaces, such as tables or kitchen counters.

Since the first recall, CPSC and Bumbo International of South Africa have learned of at least 50 incidents in which babies fell from Bumbo seats while they were being used on raised surfaces. Consumers are asked to stop using the seats and contact Bumbo for a free repair kit that includes a restraint belt and instructions on how to safely use the seat.

The repair kit can be ordered by visiting www.recall. Bumbo­USA.com or calling 866-898-4999.

Investors pick U.S. bank deposits over bond funds, research firm says

Investors put $356 billion into U.S. checking and savings accounts in the first six months of this year, almost double the $188 billion they deposited into bond mutual funds and exchange-traded funds, according to TrimTabs Investment Research.

Equity mutual funds and ETFs attracted $6 billion in net deposits, Sausalito, Calif.-based TrimTabs said. Retail money-market funds lost $21.3 billion to withdrawals in the first half, according to the firm.

“People are risk-averse in a risky world and don’t trust the powers that be to manage the economy and the markets,” Charles Biderman, chief executive officer of TrimTabs, said. “When that happens, you hunker down and put money away for better times.”

Investors are largely avoiding equities even as stock markets have rallied this year.

Savers will return to investing in stocks when workers who have been unemployed long term get rehired and income and the housing market improve, Biderman said.

Net deposits for mutual funds were based on data from the Investment Company Institute, and TrimTabs provided the money attracted by ETFs,

Biderman said. Net deposits into bank accounts were based on data from the Federal Reserve.

European fiscal fiasco hurts Ford

DETROIT >> Ford Motor Co.’s problems in Europe are worsening thanks to the region’s faltering economy.

The Dearborn, Mich., company said recently that auto industry sales in the region through July were the lowest in 17 years as automakers battled for sales in a declining market.

Ford sold 83,100 vehicles last month in 19 European countries, down 12.3 percent from a year earlier. For the first seven months of the year, sales were down 10.6 percent. Total industry sales fell 7.1 percent through July, the lowest level since 1995, Ford said in a statement.

Most automakers are losing sales in Europe as buyers shy away from making big purchases while the region’s economy continues to slow.