3% per month return on a 401(k) is OK in a market that is moving sideways. In the last quarter of '05, I applied seasonality to 1/3 of my portfolio and made over 5% per month on those monies. There's very few that make money beginning of the year. The ones that do perform (exceed 4%) are energy related. Nov and Dec are the best consecutive months. Most of the gains are made then.