July Fund Returns: Help Arrives Late Results Broadly Lower Despite stock bounce, best performing funds still in bond categories.(MUTUAL FUNDS)

Byline: CLAIRE MENCKE

Mutual fund returns for July reflected the volatile market, which sent stock prices steeply down for much of the month only to push them rapidly higher in the past week.

For stock funds, the results were broadly lower returns. No stock fund categories, even those that include funds that sell short, were unscathed.

Many bond funds gained as investors fled stocks. But there were exceptions. Corporate bond funds were hit by much the same factors that dragged stocks down. Concerns over truth in reporting and earnings quality struck lower credit-quality high-yield funds harder.

Was the triple-digit Dow index gain in the past six days the long-awaited big bounce -- the start of a new bull market?

Charles Zender isn't sure. He runs $16 million Grizzly Short Fund for Leuthold Weeden Capital Management. It returned 3.77% in July through the 29th and 23.67% year to date.

"We just told clients we're in a buying, not a selling, area," said Zender. "The market's rallied 10% or 12%. We don't think you should go 100% long. But we covered our hedges."