Mutual Funds That Hedge Top Ratings List

For juicing up its returns, when it feels the time right, MATRX allows that it "may also engage in short selling and various hedging techniques."

Similarly, the stated objective of the Reynolds Blue Chip Growth Fund(RBCGX Quote) states, innocently enough, that it "seeks long-term capital appreciation; current income is secondary."

But like MATRX, RBCGX has recently been observing the stock market carnage from the sidelines. With a recent cash position of more than 99%, it is positioned to fully participate in a market recovery, assuming its management knows when to get back in.

The fund invests in common stocks of U.S. "growth" companies. It may invest in companies that have the potential to become "blue chip" companies.

RCBCX can't be criticized for knowing when to be out of the market, so investors have some reason to hope the fund can be equally fortuitous with its reentry into stocks.

FIVE HIGHLY RATED EQUITY FUNDS FOR UNCERTAIN TIMES FUND Arbitrage Fund - Retail GAMCO Mathers Fund James Advantage Market Neutral A JPMorgan Market Neutral Fund A Reynolds Blue Chip Growth Fund TICKER ARBFX MATRX JAMNX JMNAX RBCGX TheStreet.com RATINGS GRADE A+ A+ A+ A+ A+ INCEPTION DATE 17-Sep-2000 19-Aug-1965 2-Oct-1998 28-Feb-2002 12-Aug-1988 MAX. INITIAL SALES CHARGE ($) 0 0 0 5.25 0 MIN. INITIAL INVESTMENT ($) 2,000 1,000 2,000 1,000 1,000 EXPENSE RATIO (%) 1.88 2.15 1.95 1.51 2.00 TOTAL NET ASSETS ($MIL.) 118.0 25.6 48.8 16.1 22.4 3-MONTH TOTAL RET'N (%) -1.05 -0.19 1.66 0.76 1.10 YR.-TO-DATE TOTAL RET'N (%) -1.29 0.38 -0.57 -2.25 -1.13 12-MO. TOTAL RET'N (%) -1.61 0.56 1.51 -2.72 -3.59 3-YR. ANNUAL RET'N (%) 4.30 1.94 1.29 4.31 4.36 5-YR. ANNUAL RET'N (%) 2.84 1.39 5.15 2.35 0.72 Source: TheStreet.com Ratings - Data as of 10/31/2008. For an explanation of our ratings, click here.