(MONEY Magazine) – If the cheap Vanguard and Barclays indexes are good, then a free index fund must be even better, right? Investors don't seem to think so. Stockjungle.com started a no-fee S&P 500 index fund in November. The dubious business model was that this giveaway would attract investors to Stockjungle's other, fee-bearing products. The fund shut down in March after garnering less than $1 million in assets. The financial website X.com is still offering a similar deal, but it too has yet to find many takers.

--B.P.M.