Reply #26: You are choosing the worst five year period in the market since the 1929-

[Zynx]

1934 period to make your point which is silly. The 1950s, 1960s, 1980s, and the 1990s all provided good returns that beat anything else out there. Periodically we have a bad decade and that's what this could be just like the 1970s. However, picking and choosing stocks can make even more money than indexing if you know what your are doing. Since September of 2000 I have made 80% in Procter and Gamble without dividends being taken into account.