U.S. stock funds lead our annual rankings of top-performing mutual funds in 11 categories.

As another terrific year for U.S. stocks and stock funds recedes into the distance, skittish investors are focusing squarely on the growing likelihood that the Federal Reserve, to borrow a phrase made famous by a former chairman, is getting ready to remove the punch bowl just as the party gets going. The key question: Can the stock market, which returned 21% over the past year, continue to thrive even as the Fed tempers its easy-money policy?

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The early evidence suggests that it can. Stocks tumbled and bond yields jumped in mid June after Fed chairman Ben Bernanke indicated that the central bank might start tapering its $85-billion-a-month bond-buying program if the economy continued to show signs of improvement. But in early July, following the release of a surprisingly robust June jobs report that led to steep declines in bond prices (and rising bond yields), stocks actually advanced.

The conventional wisdom holds that rising interest rates hurt share prices. But modest rate increases don’t necessarily upend bull markets. As market seer James Stack, editor of the InvesTech Research newsletter, points out, stocks have been higher a year after rates begin to rise some 70% of the time since 1960. The pattern should hold this time. For starters, bond yields are rising for a benign reason: The economy is getting better. Plus, the Fed has promised to keep short-term interest rates near 0% until at least 2015. Finally, as investors see bond prices decline, many are bailing out of bond funds and moving into stock funds, which should create more demand for stocks.

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The picture isn’t as rosy overseas. Much of Europe remains mired in recession. Growth in China is slowing, and other emerging nations, such as Brazil and Turkey, face restive populations.

Here we show the top-performing mutual funds over various periods in 11 categories. The lists include only funds with modest minimum investment requirements and exclude leveraged funds.

Large-company stock funds

Vanguard Capital Opportunity, closed to new investors for nine years, reopened in April. Investors gain access to a stellar team that takes a contrarian view and makes big sector bets, currently on drug and tech stocks. Donald Yacktman’s funds lag during strong markets. But buying on the cheap produces stunning gains following downdrafts (63% for Focused in 2009; 59% for Yacktman). Bill Nygren recently took on two co-managers at Oakmark Select, but a preference for bargains and a concentrated portfolio remains. Select has 28% of its assets in financial stocks. Good versus evil? Matthew 25, named after the gospel verse, bests the Vice fund, which buys alcohol, tobacco and gaming stocks.

Midsize-company stock funds

Bill Miller is back. Miller, who won hosannas for beating the market 15 straight years only to see his funds crater during the financial crisis, piloted Legg Mason Opportunity to the top of the charts. Miller, who invests in firms of all sizes, has made big bets on financials, airlines and homebuilders. A less-volatile choice in this category is Akre Focus, a member of the Kiplinger 25. Akre can invest in companies of any size, but it holds 56% of its assets in mid-cap stocks. And don’t overlook Primecap Odyssey Aggressive Growth, managed by a low-key Los Angeles firm. The growth-oriented fund has two-thirds of assets in health and technology stocks.

Small-company stock funds

Funds that invest in small companies led the domestic-stock sweepstakes over the past year, as an improving economy made investors more comfortable taking on risk. And bargainhunting funds outpaced their growth-oriented brethren. Standouts include Bogle Small Cap Growth, run by Jack Bogle Jr. the son of Vanguard’s founder. Bogle Jr. uses computers to find companies that are likely to beat analysts’ earnings estimates and whose stocks are cheap. Homestead Small Company Stock, a member of the Kiplinger 25. focuses on turnaround stocks, and Aegis Value has two-thirds of its assets in tiny companies known as microcaps. T. Rowe Price New Horizons has been in the top 25% of its category every calendar year since 2009.