Critic Calls for More Flexibility for Magellan

For the past five years, Fidelity's Magellan Fund has been scraping the bottom of the performance heap in Fidelity's pool of products, ranking 125 out of 142, MarketWatch charges in a recent commentary. Assigning a small-cap expert, Harry Lange, to take over the fund will not revive it, MarketWatch warns.

Instead, the financial media outlet calls for allowing more flexibility for the giant $52 billion fund. Let Magellan sell short during potential down markets, it suggests, as well as hedge its riskiest positions, use leverage and invest in derivatives. Magellan should also be allowed to invest in foreign stock directly and through ETFs.

"This is the time for Fidelity Magellan to scrap the old fund and begin to build a new one more likely to profit investors," MarketWatch urges.