Alex, you should look into rolling it over into a Roth IRA. It may or may not be a good idea for you. You'll have to "run the numbers". I'll be rolling over a 401k into a Roth later on this year. It makes sence for me to. The Roth will allow you to buy individual stocks. N*****gin though, and you can't "short". Although, you can purchase mutual funds that "short".