That question drew a wide range of responses this week on Diehards.org, the popular grass-roots site for indexers big and small.

Each weekend, IndexUniverse will be chronicling some of the forum's best discussions. We'll strive to offer a recap, of sorts, of some of the site's most interesting and significant tit for tat.

Of course, we won't be able to carve up everything at once. But we offer this new feature as a handy tool for keeping up with a key source of information on the Internet.

Feel free to help sharpen our focus. Send us suggestions of your favorite posts. And don't be shy to tell us where we screwed up.

So let's get on with it.

Jabberwocky's pointed question about why anyone should consider holding anything except bonds right now brought some intriguing responses. They can be found here. 

Defense was also on the mind of many Diehards responding to a question by ttcbj concerning money market funds. He raised doubts whether these super-safe investment vehicles could provide adequate support against rising inflation. That conversation is here. 

Meanwhile, while DDB doesn't believe in market timing, the poster asked (for entertainment purposes only) what asset classes Diehards thought looked interesting these days. It attracted a wide-ranging discussion which includes everything from price-earnings comparisons to thoughts on Warren Buffett. Who says indexers are one-trick ponies? Check it out. 

Bimmer asked for a closer examination of two micro-cap funds. The first is Bridgeway Ultra-Small Company Market (BRSIX), an index-hugging mutual-fund. The other was an ETF, iShares Russell Microcap Index (NYSE: IWC). It's an in-depth breakdown of both portfolios and an excellent primer for anyone interested in adding tiny small-cap stocks to their portfolios. It can be found here.

Looking for a good book? A popular string on the site with nearly 400 responses simply asks what books Diehards are currently reading. This list is broad and includes all sorts of interesting titles. It's a discussion that might be worth bookmarking for future reference. 

Of course, at a pace of more than 100 new conversations a day, these are just a few of the topics and conversations. Again, please feel free to email us with suggestions for next Saturday's update at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .