If you pick a few stocks on your own, though, one or more may turn out to be stinkers, though -- that happens to the best of us, even Warren Buffett. But most of us aren't really savvy stock pickers, with a deep understanding of how to evaluate stocks. So we might wisely choose to stick with a broad index fund of stocks, instead.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average index has done well this year, helped by the rising hopes that the Federal Reserve will start cutting interest rates. It has also risen as investors cheer the strong first-half earnings and after the United States avoided a hard landing.

SolarEdge Technologies is down 5% after shares of the solar-power-equipment maker were downgraded to Underperform from Hold at Jefferies and the price target cut to $17 from $27. S&P 500 futures are up 0.3%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures are adding 0.2%.