How can I find the best Gold Stock Fund?

bud987..

Thank you for your question.  You should be aware that the defintiion
of "best" is quite arbitrary: year to date performance, 52 week high,
3 month, 1 month, etc.  It all depends upon your investment strategy. 
I would also like to remind you that answers are general information,
and are not intended to substitute for informed tax, legal,
investment, accounting, or other professional advice.  Prior to
investing, always perform your own due dilligence.

Gold Funds are funds that specialize in gold, gold shares and
sometimes other precious metals. Sometimes, they are limited to ten
per cent of the portfolio in gold.  For the purpose of your question,
I will focus on the the 21 major gold funds. Below you will find the
listing of the 21 major gold funds and their websites.  Your first
step should be to read the prospectus for each of the funds you are
interested in and learn their investment strategies, holdings, etc. 
An informed investor is a smarter investor:

ASA	ASA Limited 	http://www.asaltd.com/
BGEIX	American Century Global Gold 	http://www.americancentury.com/
ACGGX	American Century QE Gold 	http://www.americancentury.com/
INPMX	American Exp IDS Prec Metals A	http://www.americanexpress.com/
INPBX	American Exp Prec Metals B	http://www.americanexpress.com/
EKWAX	Evergreen Precious Metals A	http://www.evergreen-funds.com/
EKWBX	Evergreen Precious Metals B	http://www.evergreen-funds.com/
EKWCX	Evergreen Precious Metals C	http://www.evergreen-funds.com/
EKWYX	Evergreen Precious Metals Y	http://www.evergreen-funds.com/
FSAGX	Fidelity Select Gold
http://personal.fidelity.com/funds/fund_data/fidelity/316390780.html
SGGDX	First Eagle SoGen Gold	http://www.firsteaglesogen.com/
FKRCX	Franklin Gold and Precious Metals A
http://www.franklintempleton.com/
FRGOX	Franklin Gold and Precious Metals B
http://www.franklintempleton.com/
FGADX	Franklin Gold and Prec Metals Advisor
http://www.franklintempleton.com/
GOLDX	Gabelli Gold	http://www.gabelli.com/Gab_phtml/mfund/gold.html
LEXMX	ING - Pilgrim Precious Metals A	http://www.pilgrimfunds.com/
FGLDX	INVESCO Gold & Precious Metals Fund	http://www.invesco.com/
MIDSX	Midas Fund	http://www.midasfund.com/
MNTGX	Monterey OCM Gold	
OPGSX	Oppenheimer Gold & Spec Minerals A
http://www.oppenheimerfunds.com/
OGMBX	Oppenheimer Gold & Spec Minerals B
http://www.oppenheimerfunds.com/
OGMCX	Oppenheimer Gold & Spec Minerals C
http://www.oppenheimerfunds.com/
OGMNX	Oppenheimer Gold & Spec Minerals N
http://www.oppenheimerfunds.com/
RYPMX	Rydex Precious Metals	http://www.rydexfunds.com/
SCGDX	Scudder Gold & Precious Metals - S http://www.scudder.com/
SGDAX	Scudder Gold & Precious Metals - A http://www.scudder.com/
SGDBX	Scudder Gold & Precious Metals - B http://www.scudder.com/
SGDCX	Scudder Gold & Precious Metals - C http://www.scudder.com/
SGLDX	Scudder Gold & Precious Metals - AARP	http://www.scudder.com/
TGLDX	Tocqueville Gold	http://www.tocqueville.com/
USERX	US Global Inv Gold Shares	http://www.us-global.com/
UNWPX	US Global Inv World Precious Minerals	http://www.us-global.com/
USAGX	USAA Gold	http://www.usaa.com/
INIVX	Van Eck International Investors	http://www.vaneck.com/
VGPMX	Vanguard Precious Metals Fund 	http://www.vanguard.com/

You may want to look at the performance of the particular fund over a
certain time period.  Below are a couple of time periods (3 months and
1 year) for the funds listed above:

3 Month Performance:
ASA	http://quote.yahoo.com/q?s=asa&d=3m
BGEIX	http://quote.yahoo.com/q?s=bgeix&d=3m
ACGGX	http://quote.yahoo.com/q?s=acggx&d=3m
INPMX	http://quote.yahoo.com/q?s=inpmx&d=3m
INPBX	http://quote.yahoo.com/q?s=inpbx&d=3m
EKWAX	http://quote.yahoo.com/q?s=ekwax&d=3m
EKWBX	http://quote.yahoo.com/q?s=ekwbx&d=3m
EKWCX	http://quote.yahoo.com/q?s=ekwcx&d=3m
EKWYX	http://quote.yahoo.com/q?s=ekwyx&d=3m
FSAGX	http://quote.yahoo.com/q?s=fsagx&d=3m
SGGDX	http://quote.yahoo.com/q?s=sggdx&d=3m
FKRCX	http://quote.yahoo.com/q?s=fkrcx&d=3m
FRGOX	http://quote.yahoo.com/q?s=frgox&d=3m
FGADX	http://quote.yahoo.com/q?s=fgadx&d=3m
GOLDX	http://quote.yahoo.com/q?s=goldx&d=3m
LEXMX	http://quote.yahoo.com/q?s=lexmx&d=3m
FGLDX	http://quote.yahoo.com/q?s=fgldx&d=3m
MIDSX	http://quote.yahoo.com/q?s=midsx&d=3m
MNTGX	http://quote.yahoo.com/q?s=mntgx&d=3m
OPGSX	http://quote.yahoo.com/q?s=opgsx&d=3m
OGMBX	http://quote.yahoo.com/q?s=ogmbx&d=3m
OGMCX	http://quote.yahoo.com/q?s=ogmcx&d=3m
OGMNX	http://quote.yahoo.com/q?s=ogmnx&d=3m
RYPMX	http://quote.yahoo.com/q?s=rypmx&d=3m
SCGDX	http://quote.yahoo.com/q?s=scgdx&d=3m
SGDAX	http://quote.yahoo.com/q?s=sgdax&d=3m
SGDBX	http://quote.yahoo.com/q?s=sgdbx&d=3m
SGDCX	http://quote.yahoo.com/q?s=sgdcx&d=3m
SGLDX	http://quote.yahoo.com/q?s=sgldx&d=3m
TGLDX	http://quote.yahoo.com/q?s=tgldx&d=3m
USERX	http://quote.yahoo.com/q?s=userx&d=3m
UNWPX	http://quote.yahoo.com/q?s=unwpx&d=3m
USAGX	http://quote.yahoo.com/q?s=usagx&d=3m
INIVX	http://quote.yahoo.com/q?s=inivx&d=3m
VGPMX	http://quote.yahoo.com/q?s=vgpmx&d=3m

1 Year Results
ASA	http://www.quicken.com/investments/charts/?symbol=ASA
BGEIX	http://www.quicken.com/investments/charts/?symbol=BGEIX
ACGGX	http://www.quicken.com/investments/charts/?symbol=ACGGX
INPMX	http://www.quicken.com/investments/charts/?symbol=INPMX
INPBX	http://www.quicken.com/investments/charts/?symbol=INPBX
EKWAX	http://www.quicken.com/investments/charts/?symbol=EKWAX
EKWBX	http://www.quicken.com/investments/charts/?symbol=EKWBX
EKWCX	http://www.quicken.com/investments/charts/?symbol=EKWCX
EKWYX	http://www.quicken.com/investments/charts/?symbol=EKWYX
FSAGX	http://www.quicken.com/investments/charts/?symbol=FSAGX
SGGDX	http://www.quicken.com/investments/charts/?symbol=SGGDX
FKRCX	http://www.quicken.com/investments/charts/?symbol=FKRCX
FRGOX	http://www.quicken.com/investments/charts/?symbol=FRGOX
FGADX	http://www.quicken.com/investments/charts/?symbol=FGADX
GOLDX	http://www.quicken.com/investments/charts/?symbol=GOLDX
LEXMX	http://www.quicken.com/investments/charts/?symbol=LEXMX
FGLDX	http://www.quicken.com/investments/charts/?symbol=FGLDX
MIDSX	http://www.quicken.com/investments/charts/?symbol=MIDSX
MNTGX	http://www.quicken.com/investments/charts/?symbol=MNTGX
OPGSX	http://www.quicken.com/investments/charts/?symbol=OPGSX
OGMBX	http://www.quicken.com/investments/charts/?symbol=OGMBX
OGMCX	http://www.quicken.com/investments/charts/?symbol=OGMCX
OGMNX	http://www.quicken.com/investments/charts/?symbol=OGMNX
RYPMX	http://www.quicken.com/investments/charts/?symbol=RYPMX
SCGDX	http://www.quicken.com/investments/charts/?symbol=SCGDX
SGDAX	http://www.quicken.com/investments/charts/?symbol=SGDAX
SGDBX	http://www.quicken.com/investments/charts/?symbol=SGDBX
SGDCX	http://www.quicken.com/investments/charts/?symbol=SGDCX
SGLDX	http://www.quicken.com/investments/charts/?symbol=SGLDX
TGLDX	http://www.quicken.com/investments/charts/?symbol=TGLDX
USERX	http://www.quicken.com/investments/charts/?symbol=USERX
UNWPX	http://www.quicken.com/investments/charts/?symbol=UNWPX
USAGX	http://www.quicken.com/investments/charts/?symbol=USAGX
INIVX	http://www.quicken.com/investments/charts/?symbol=INIVX
VGPMX	http://www.quicken.com/investments/charts/?symbol=VGPMX

Please bear in mind that past results may not be indicative of future
performance.

I would also recommend you visit EagleWing Research at
http://www.eaglewing.com/ for investment help.  They have a white
paper you can purchase on investing in gold funds as well as research
tips, weekly updates and more.  I would read the archives of their
newlsletters and learn as much as possible about precious metals
investing as possible.

Thanks again for your question and I hope the above information has
been helpful.  If you need any additional clarification, please let me
know prior to rating my answer.

Regards,

-THV

Search Strategy:
"gold funds"

References:
List of Gold Funds
http://www.eaglewing.com/fundlist.htm
Gold Funds
http://www.pamp.com/Gold/gg/gofunds.html