[joedot]

There is no growth in the U.S now, and will not be for a long time. The fed is wrecking the dollar, so you should be expeditious in getting rid of those dollars as soon as possible. Having said that, there are U.S multinationals that are enjoying growth from around the world particularly asia. So I wouldn't recommend these broader indexes that you mentioned which are largely tied to the domestic economy. If you don't know how to pick individual stocks, look for some ETF's. Do a search for ETF's and find the particular industry you want to index. Your best bet will always be individual stocks though, if you are decent at picking them. If you never try, you will never learn. I would recommend 40% gold equities (auy is my favorite here and will see tremendous upside in the next 5 years, abx and gg are also solid), 40% emerging markets, particularly china and india(HDB and IBN are great banks in India which should do very well as that economy continues to expand. Bidu is incredible and is only just beginning.), and 20% large U.S multinationals like PG or KO. You probably won't do what I said, but it is good advice, and I have done very well in the market for years. Whatever you do, don't buy anything all at once! Number one rule and so important. Spread out your buys over a few months so that you aren't buying in at the highs. You can pm me if you have any questions.