As the stock market sinks to 12-year lows, stock mutual fund shareholders are calling it quits.

The Dow Jones Industrial average plunged 299.64 points Monday, or 4.2%, to 6763.29, a level it first passed in January 1997. The Dow is down 22.9% this year.

Investors sold an estimated $7.1 billion in stock fund shares in the four weeks ended Feb. 18, the latest data available from the Investment Company Institute, the funds' trade organization. For the month through Feb. 26, TrimTabs.com, which tracks the funds, estimates investors pulled $33 billion from stock funds.

At the Vanguard Group, call volume was up considerably, says spokesman John Woerth. "Some modest exchange activity was reported out of equity funds and into money market funds."

Courtesy Of USAToday.com