Back then, we had a headline-grabbing war going on and substantial social changes taking place in the name of a Great Society. Both programs may or may not have had lofty goals, but both sucked up supreme amounts of private and public capital, and left the following decade panting for liquidity. That said, a load fund is not necessarily a bad investment. No-load funds sell over internet sites and 800 numbers, and there may be some comfort in the knowlege that there's an investment professional in the brokerage community who's watching the fund he sold you and can update you about its progress over your investment horizon. Over the last year, my only 401K mutual funds that had a positive growth has been my Small Cap funds.
Markets run in cycles.
For most of the 90's, large caps creamed smaller cap stocks. The reverse held last year for several reasons, and we're just beginning to figure out what the course of 2001 will be. I salute you for diversifying your portfolio into a range of market capitalization styles. Yes, if you have the patience to sit through what may well be further turbulence. Otherwise wait it out, knowing that you probably won't get in at the absolute bottom.