24 Bull-Market Funds Still Alive and Kicking

No one really knows at this point whether the bear market that began last October is really over. While its bite hasn't been particularly deep so far, at least by historical bear-market standards, the cuts have been broad. To date, less than one equity mutual fund out of every 50 has survived the cascade.

TheStreet.com Ratings searched its database of equity mutual funds that had participated in the 2002-07 bull market and have remained intact, thus far, during the downturn. Of 2,913 funds with sufficient history, only 36 --1.17% of the total -- have so far resisted the October-through-July spill.

The increasingly popular "inverse" funds that move counter to the direction of stock prices didn't make the list because their values eroded during the bull market that ended in October. ...