Precious-Metals Funds Outperform

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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