Precious-Metals Funds Outperform
Kevin Baker
12/02/08 - 02:11 PM EST
While the major market averages languished in November, precious metals soared. The trend is evident in the list of the month's best-performing open-end stock mutual funds.
Nine of the 10 top-performing open-end stock mutual funds -- as calculated by TheStreet.com Ratings from Oct. 31 to Nov. 28 -- focused on precious metals investments.
In November, the spot price of silver rose 4.6% to $10.30 an ounce, platinum climbed 7.1% to $881.50, and gold gained 12.9% to $818.05. And as the Philadelphia Gold & Silver Index climbed 25.58% that month, the 150% leveraged
ProFunds Precious Metals UltraSector ProFund (PMPIX Quote) made the most of the bounce in prices.
Index member standouts in the period were
Agnico-Eagle Mines (AEM Quote), up 36.20%;
Barrick Gold (ABX Quote), up 30.49%; and
Goldcorp (GG Quote); up 44.65%.
However, one non-metals fund topped the other nine metals funds. The
Monteagle Informed Investor Growth Fund (MIIFX Quote) is a new fund with $6.96 billion in assets. The funds's 36.73% rise helped it to regain back much of its losses since its April 4 inception.
Four of Monteagle's five largest holdings are inverse, or short, exchange-traded funds that are 200% leveraged. They include
ProShares UltraShort Oil & Gas (DUG Quote),
ProShares UltraShort Russell2000 (TWN Quote),
ProShares UltraShort QQQ (QID Quote) and
ProShares UltraShort S&P500 (SDS Quote).
On the bullish side of Monteagle's equation is a 40.6% allocation to biotechnology stocks, led by
Myriad Genetics (MYGN Quote),
Genentech (DNA Quote) and
Amgen (AMGN Quote).
Best-Performing Stock Mutual Funds in November |
| Fund (Ticker), Rating |
Objective |
Total Return November |
| Monteagle Informed Investor Growth Fund (MIIFX), U |
Growth |
36.73% |
| ProFunds Precious Metals UltraSector ProFund (PMPIX), E- |
Precious Metals Sector |
30.55% |
| OCM Mutual Fund - OCM Gold Fund (OCMGX), E |
Precious Metals Sector |
27.32% |
| Evergreen Precious Metals Fund (EKWAX), D |
Precious Metals Sector |
24.56% |
| DWS Gold & Precious Metals Fund (SCGDX), E- |
Precious Metals Sector |
24.18% |
| Van Eck International Investors Gold Fund (INIVX), E+ |
Precious Metals Sector |
24.16% |
| American Century Global Gold Fund (BGEIX), E- |
Precious Metals Sector |
24.08% |
| Fidelity Select Gold Portfolio (FSAGX), C- |
Precious Metals Sector |
23.98% |
| Fidelity Advisor Gold Fund (FGDAX), E |
Precious Metals Sector |
23.98% |
| USAA Precious Metals and Minerals Fund (USAGX), C- |
Precious Metals Sector |
23.49% |
Source: TheStreet.com Ratings & Bloomberg |
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