The best mutual funds to buy operate on long-term optimism. At the same time, they stop well shy of implying that everything that trades will go up and to the right in a straight line higher.
Still, stock-market pundits entered 2026 with expectations for more double-digit gains after the S&P 500 finished 2025 with a total return in the high teens that easily surpassed its long-term annual average.
