For much of this decade, value investors have beaten the pants off their growth counterparts. But just when you thought you'd figured out the secret of making money in the stock market, value stocks have stopped behaving the way you'd expect -- and have given investors who got used to seeing strong gains a most unpleasant surprise. As an investing strategy, is value dead?

Value's track record
After the end of the tech-led bull market of the 1990s, returns on growth stocks lagged behind value plays for years.  

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

Value

(6.3%)

(15.2%)

29.5%

16.1%

6.6%

22.5%

Growth

(20.8%)

(27.7%)

29.2%

6.2% Continued...