Mutual Fund Monday

After last week's stock selloff, how are investors doing? Is it time to get out of the market again? Time to throw more money in? Mutual Fund investors participate in the market indirectly depending on what kind of a fund they own. Stock funds are professionally managed portfolios run by investment teams that try to beat a stock market benchmark like the S&P 500 index. An actively managed fund will try to add value to an investor's portfolio by successfully outperforming the indexes with the right mix of buys and sells. Some do have a higher turnover rate than others which can account for the differences in expense ratios. A long lasting debate is whether actively managed funds can beat the indexes over time, to make up for their higher costs, especially for funds that charge sales loads or commissions when sold through brokers. Index fund advocates say it can't be done, but active management proponents beg to differ. What is your preference? Do you own mutual funds? If so, which ones and why?