US share tips: Blockbuster stocks for the New Year

The US market was a notable global underachiever in 2005 - but there are scores of analysts out there “betting against Hollywood wisdom” and expecting a “dazzling sequel” to an uninspiring picture. Are they right?

There are scores of analysts out there "betting against Hollywood wisdom" and expecting a "dazzling sequel" to an uninspiring picture. So far, the US market has risen under 5% in 2005, but in 2006 "the bulls are expecting stocks to climb anywhere from 5% to 25% next year". Are they right?

The jury is out, says Jim Jubak on MSNMoney.com. Which way stocks go depends on the answers to these questions: will the Fed overdo its rate increases? Will petrol prices shoot up again? What will happen to growth in Europe? What will happen to growth in China and India? And, finally, how resilient will investors be to surprises? Right now, we don't know the answers to any of these questions for sure, so the best thing investors can do is to stock-pick very carefully indeed.

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Charlie Gibson

Charles has previously written for the MoneyWeek, giving readers his share tips regularly and covering other topics on the side such as stock markets and the economy. He has also written for The Business, Shares, Investors Chronicle and The Evening Standard, and Charles has presented on LBC and been a guest on BBC One and BBC World. Aside from his journalist background, Charles graduated as a chemist from the University of Oxford specialising in ligand gated ion channels.