No place to hide. (Investments & Finance).

To flee risk in a falling stock market isn't as simple as it may seem.

Sure, I can stop the bleeding from declining prices anytime I wish by selling stocks and stock mutual funds out of my account.

The question is, what then?

Put the money in real estate, some advise. Or bonds, or money-market funds, or gold--as if all of those alternatives didn't come with their own considerable risks.

Real estate in its many forms has been a favorite antidote in this bear market, to the point that some analysts see a speculative bubble taking shape in house prices almost as scary as the one that blew up technology stocks.

Bond mutual funds, by all the evidence, are the favorite destination of investors fleeing stock funds. June from the Investment Company Institute showed $12 billion flowing into bond funds as $18 billion left stock funds.

I'd never knock bonds as a choice for income-conscious investors, or as a diversification stabilizer in almost any portfolio. For a growth-minded investor to buy them as an alternative to stocks, especially in a period of historically low interest rates, is a far different proposition.

Money-market funds, a favorite around my house, hold $1 trillion of individual investors' money. They're easy to get in and out of, and have built confidence as a safe place to keep money. Let's hope we never see that trust shaken.

For all their versatility, money funds at current yields of around 1.3 percent have poor credentials for long-term growth. Anyone hoping to see them climb back to the 6 percent yields of two years ago is in for along wait.

Nothing beats gold for sheer inhospitality in its treatment of stock-market refugees these past couple of months. From a high of just under $328 an ounce in early June, the London gold price tumbled briefly below $300 on Aug. 1.