The Big Screen: A Salute to the Steady Eddies

Let's take a minute to celebrate the Steady Eddies.

Usually we look at mutual funds as if investing were a footrace: We focus on those that have had outsize gains over the last few months and ignore those that are further back in the pack. But for many of us, those plodders might be a perfect fit. After all, the leaders' names change year to year because so many of them fall back.

That's why this week The Big Screen keeps it simple. We've sifted for U.S. stock funds that have posted positive returns in each of the last 10 calendar years -- essentially a 10-for-10 record of making money for investors each year in the 1990s. To make the cut, a fund also had to have the same portfolio manager for all those years. Out of 770 U.S. stock funds with a 10-year record, just 16 fit the bill. Here they are, ranked by their year-to-date return. ...