The main culprit was easy to identify: unfavorable currency shifts.

Even before the grounding, Air New Zealand warned that the profit outlook was bleak because of high fuel prices and currency shifts.

Many corporations restructurered operations so that they would not be battered by currency shifts.

But if that company does business in the United States, the currency shift will also increase the value of the company's dollar-based earnings.

The currency shift is an attempt to bring into the economy trillions of yen that Japan's elderly keep stashed at home.

European leaders loudly complained about "excessive" currency shifts, and pushed the Group of 7 to drop its previous call for greater "flexibility" in exchange rates.

Thus, currency shifts cannot reduce the trade deficit until they make American companies competitive enough to win back major shares of international markets.

At home, imported items could decline in price if manufacturers and dealers pass along the currency shift.

But the double risks of currency shifts and small-stock investing suggest the fund is not for everyone.