First Mutual Fund Purchase Advice...?

I'm looking to make my first investment into a mutual fund. I'm young and able to take some losses in order to have larger gains, what are some recommended funds that seem to be doing well presently, and look promising for the long term? Personal successes welcome, as well as, advice on which ones have failed you.

Go entirely with an "index" fund ... the expense ratios are very very low (money that is taken for maintenance of the fund and salary for fund managers) and you wont get caught up in the typical inclination of first time investors to jump on a raging fad type of stock or industry that is about to make a rapid decline (otherwise known as a 'market correction'
I started with the Vanguard Index Fund because that was the only one offered as part of my 401k plan at my employer.. With time I did the necessary reading and research and realigned my holdings to ones that I felt more comfortable with taking my chances on.
I am also young (29) but believe that playing the market is a game of patience.. and that the desire for overnight success will only lead to impulsive and disasterous consequences for poorly planned decisions. The turtle and the hare... Be a turtle :)
I am doing very well with this approach.

sound shore

We've had decent returns with American Century and Lincoln Benefit funds. The best thing is to do some research into the funds (what their history is, what companies they invest in, what kinds of fees they have, etc) and get a "feel" for what you're getting yourself into.

I can tell you that we put money in Janus when they were doing really well, and I've been nothing but disappointed with their results ever since. Oh, well... we're in it for the long term so I'm just watching and waiting.

I can only suggest to you to read a little bit more before your invest. There is a mutual fund for pretty much every occasion in this life: ethical, environmental, etc. That's why very often it is referred to as the Universe. There is a couple of articles I liked on www.investorpedia.com referring to Advantages of Mutual Funds and Disadvantages of MFs. A Yahoo!Finance has a whole section devoted to investor education, as do most of the exchanges such as www.nyse.com (New York Stock Exchange). I would advise you to read a little bit to understand more before you actually jump into those that do or do not do well. An excellent source of information for me has been in www.morningstar.com which allows not only to look at the funds in general and in particular but to compare it against other funds...Remember, the more you undestand, the better. One thing is for sure - mutual funds in general are for a longer-term investor. If you want to trade often you would be better off opening a brokerage account through Scotttrade, Ameritrade, etc. and buy and sell stocks and bonds and other securities that way. Hope that helps and opens up your mind for a little bit more reading and comprehension of what this whole industry is about...

I know you've heard it a million times but "invest in what you know." That's what one of my professors taught me when I was studying financial investments. I've only been investing 8 years, but if I could change anything, it would have been to not invest in stocks I knew nothing about such as a mining company. I don't know the first thing about mining, but I do know technology. I have a decent understanding of how the tech market works, and know what products will probably last because I use them. Look at what you buy, what you enjoy, and invest in them.

I don't think you can go wrong investing in mutual funds that invest in Asian countries right now. The tech areas are going to grow like mad over there as they become more developed in the next 5-10 years. For example, the last month has been rough for my India Fund (EMGIX) and other international funds, but IBM seemed to think it was worth tripling their investment in India.

I don't know how experienced you are with investing but I put a few links at the bottom for you to do research. Morningstar is a pretty important one to look at for mutual fund research.
For what it's worth.
Good luck!

One of your responders answered that a mutual fund that invests in India is a good fund. I agree with him at this point in time. The Indian markets are much much more attractive than they were a month ago. Also the China markets. But since this is your first mutual fund purchase, you might be better off with a more diversified and not so risky type fund. PENNX has a good record. Many American Funds have excellent records although they are load funds. Royce funds that manages PENNX also manages other funds that have good records. All Royce funds invest in smaller companies.

One responder mentioned index funds. I am not much in favor of them except for the ones that index an area that one might have a difficult time investing in on ones own.

You do need to be aware that 70% of mutual funds under perform the broad market. That is why index funds have become so popular. If you can't beat them, join them.

Interestingly enough during the last 5 years the best performing funds as a group have been the gold funds with an annual return of better than 25%. So to reap the best returns from mutual funds is not always "investing in growth funds" for example. Most growth funds are negative for the last 5 years. Large cap funds have also been a disappointment. Maybe it is about time form them to make a resurgence.

You have a lot of links to fund filters. Use them and see what pops up.