Commodity Fund

Commodity and stock-price movements are generally not in step with each other.

Commodity and stock-price movements are generally not in step with each other. That pattern didn't hold last year, however, because "fundamentals and economic analysis didn't matter," says Mihir Worah, manager of Pimco CommodityRealReturn Strategy (PCRDX). In that time of distress, virtually every asset class reacted similarly to events in the financial markets.

Worah says Pimco's view is that stimulus and liquidity will help pull the economy out of recession in 2010. Moreover, much of the stimulus is in natural-resource-intensive infrastructure spending. Add to that the growing economies of China and India (combined population 2.5 billion), plus the fact that many commodities -- such as crude oil and copper -- are trading at or below their cost of production, and the long-term picture for commodity prices, Worah says, looks quite favorable.

Large-Company Funds

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Small- and Mid-Cap Funds

Overseas/Global Funds

Go-Anywhere Funds

Bond Funds

Contributing Writer, Kiplinger's Personal Finance

Andrew Tanzer is an editorial consultant and investment writer. After working as a journalist for 25 years at magazines that included Forbes and Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, he served as a senior research analyst and investment writer at a leading New York-based financial advisor. Andrew currently writes for several large hedge and mutual funds, private wealth advisors, and a major bank. He earned a BA in East Asian Studies from Wesleyan University, an MS in Journalism from the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, and holds both CFA and CFP® designations.