Here are some interesting averages:

• 10 years 1990 through 1999, the average stock fund gained 23.6% per year. $10,000 invested grew to $83,194
• The S&P 500 gained an average 28%, and $10,000 invested grew to $118,074 in the same 10 years

Because of this, financial experts advise to just hang in there through the bad times, taking advantage of the drop in your fund's share price to buy more at bargain prices.

Jumping from one fund to another can be a big mistake. Sometimes the cure is worse than the disease. There's a real temptation to look at the latest list of top 10 funds and switch to the "winner".

In fact, the top 5 funds for the 10 years ending June 2000 had an average annual gain of 21.6%, but all had quarters where they pulled back sharply with a 25% or more loss for the quarter. Your fund may just be having one of these temporary bad-luck runs.

Other Stock Market Basics Topics:

1. Mutual Fund Advantages
2. History of Mutual Funds
3. NAV
4. Dollar Cost Averaging
5. General advice about choosing a fund
6. Mutual Fund Ratings
7. Evaluating Mutual Fund Investment Risk
8. Mutual Fund Share Classes
9. Mutual Fund Fees
10. The Mutual Fund Prospectus
11. How important is the manager's length of experience?
12. Why is the prospectus hard to understand?
13. Mutual Fund Annual Report
14. Comparing your fund to the competition
15. Comparing funds on an after-tax basis
16. Average Return on Investment
17. How Not to Pick a Mutual Fund
18. Cashing in Your Fund
19. When to Sell Your Fund
20. Mutual Funds and Asset Allocation
21. When to get started with a mutual fund
22. Types of Mutual Funds
23. Value Stock Funds
24. Growth Stock Funds
25. Small and Micro-cap Stocks
26. Mid Cap
27. Large Cap Companies
28. Income Stock Funds
29. Mutual Fund Index
30. Enhanced Index Funds
31. Sector Mutual Funds
32. Stock Market Sectors
33. Defensive Stocks
34. International Funds
35. Real Estate Mutual Funds
36. Socially Responsible Funds
37. Balanced Funds
38. Tax-Efficient Funds
39. Bond Convertible Funds
40. Junk Bond Funds
41. Mixtures of stock types
42. Closed End Funds
43. Exchange Traded Funds (ETF’s)
44. Stock Picking Strategy - Picking your own stocks?
45. Fund names, and what they really invest in
46. How to get started
47. Where can I start investing with no money?