The idea of investing in the stock market is a scary one too many new investors as a result of the loss of billions of dollars and lifetime's worth of investments after the recession took a nosedive during the most recent recession. Experienced investors who lost a great percentage of their investment may not want to choose such a risky form of investment in the future, if they even have anything left to invest. Others may simply take to hiding their money under their mattress and not concern themselves with the market at all. Despite the current stock market climate investors, new and experienced, can make sound investments that are likely to offer a return on the investment year in and year out regardless of market conditions.

That may sound like it's impossible, especially to investors who have been burned badly. However, the long short mutual fund is not your typical investment. In fact, it's an investment that takes into account the ups and downs of the market and uses that movement in its strategy. It's somewhat complex how the long short mutual fund works in detail, but the basic strategy is to buy long stocks that will outperform other stocks in a good market and short stocks that are expected to lose. However, these short stocks will pull their weight when the market is down and help cover any losses that might occur with the long stocks. It's basically like creating a portfolio and adding in some insurance that while not guaranteed will most likely keep investors from losing everything.