To: Wade  who wrote (952 ) 2/7/2006 7:46:57 PM From: unrealistic_thoughts  Read Replies (1)  | Respond to    The key is to beat ^XAU and ^HUI indexes with your mutual fund. tinyurl.com  Vanguard Precious Metals Fund VGPMX, with the 0.48% total expense ratio ??  Sorry, I could not resist a big grin when I read that comment from Wade.prudentbear.com  ??  I have done pretty well in the past 4 years from finding the smelliest assets (gold, vanguard pacific stock index fund), holding my nose, and investing.  My timing has been stomach-turning - usually there is an immediate 20% drop in the investment value, but I am happy with the 40% and 200% returns since those initial investments have been done.