Your Money: Jul. 26, 1999

ATM FEES More banks are charging customers for using automated teller machines, and the fees are getting higher, according to the Fed. Last year the average surcharge for noncustomers rose 6[cents] at banks, to $1.20; 11[cents] at savings and loans, to $1.15. Customers are also getting charged higher fees by their banks for using ATMs that belong to other institutions. To find machines that don’t add a fee, visit www.surcharge-free-atms.com

RED FLAG The SEC is looking into mutual-fund ads featuring odd one-year periods–ending April 13 or May 3, for example–that allow them to show an amazing performance by capturing high points and leaving out subsequent declines. The review is being driven by the performance of Internet stocks such as Yahoo and America Online, whose gyrations can make some fund managers look like a genius on Monday and stupid by Friday. Don’t wait for the Fed to help. Check out the ads carefully.

WALL STREET CLEANING The National Association of Securities Dealers is getting rid of half its 6,500 over-the-counter securities. They’ll go out the door unless they start reporting financial information regularly. These securities, too small to be listed on NASDAQ, are being reviewed alphabetically by ticker symbol. Noncompliant companies, listed on www.otcbb.com have 30 days to change their status or wind up on the National Quotation Bureau’s pink sheets, available online by August.

–By Julie Rawe