I almost always invest via mutual funds. (I'm either in equities or cash, I ignore other instruments - not justifying it, just noting that I don't follow the other stuff at all.)

To evaluate funds, like when joining a new 401k, I typically use a combination of

• the Forbes ratings (2 letter grades - up and down markets) (2002 report [URL], general funds and lists )

• [Charles Schwab] reports which gives 10-year returns, plus quartile-within-category rating for each of the past few years.

I tend to ignore "captive" funds, those run by banks, insurance companies, [AmEx], etc.

I also typically ignore funds that have been in operation less than 10 years - and they should have had the current main manager for that long.

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