Eighty-seven percent of stock mutual funds were in the red in the third quarter, with the average diversified stock fund falling 10% in the quarter and the average stock mutual fund declining 11% in September alone, according to
Three of the biggest casualties were natural resources funds, down 32.7%; gold funds, down 30.7% in the quarter; and international core funds, down 20.9%.
Knowing that chasing last years best-performing sectors hardly ever pays off for investors, financial planners continue to advise that investors diversify, including money market funds. Moving into a banks certificate of deposit, while insured up to $250,000, is not a good move, advisers say, because the average bank CD pays 2%.
