The simplest way to benefit from a rising market is to buy an index fund. When you buy individual stocks, you can make higher profits, but you also face the risk of under-performance. Unfortunately the Western Alliance Bancorporation ( NYSE:WAL ) share price slid 42% over twelve months. That contrasts poorly with the market decline of 19%. Longer term investors have fared much better, since the share price is up 7.8% in three years. Even worse, it's down 21% in about a month, which isn't fun at all.