In this week's MoneyWeek magazine: five big trends you need to be aware of; our experts give their views on where to invest and what to avoid; and three sectors to watch.
Plus, how to prepare your finances for 2017, the race to commercialise our DNA and all the usual news, views and features, including share tips, pensions and property. Sign up and you'll get the magazine delivered direct to you, plus full access to the website and our smartphone and tablet app. Why not give it a go now?
Five big trends to profit from next year
I don't know about you, but 2016's been a bit too interesting for my liking. Too many events; not all of them good. But we're not looking back in this week's edition of MoneyWeek magazine, we're looking forward. And in our cover story, John Stepek dusts off his crystal ball. "The global economy remains fragile", says John, and voters around the world are demanding change. That's going to make investing tricky. John looks at five trends we're likely to see in the next year, including bonds, equities, property and the global economy, and picks the best ways for you to take advantage of them. Want to find out what they are? Sign up here.
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We asked eight experts for their views on the coming year, and for their top tips for investing. Not all were positive. According to financial historian Edward Chancellor, "the global investment outlook remains dreadful". But that doesn't mean there aren't pockets of opportunity. Rupert Foster sees Xi Jinping and Donald Trump as two "brave knights riding to the rescue of world markets". Dominic Frisby picks a contrarian currency trade, while admitting that "most people think I'm bonkers". And Charlie Morris continues the contrarian theme with his pick of a market that most people have given up on. Find out what all our experts think, and what they tip, with a subscription to the magazine.
Will we see another Great Depression?
Simon Wilson's investment briefing looks back to the 1930s, and to America's Smoot Hawley Tariff Act, introduced by Herbert Hoover to protect American farmers from cheap imports. Soon, however, trade tariffs were applied to countless other goods. Other countries retaliated and "world trade crumbled", says Simon. The Act is now regarded as "a crazed act of self harm" that turned a recession into "an era-defining depression that sowed the seeds of political extremism and accelerated the march to war". There are uncomfortable parallels with today, says Simon. But there are some grounds for cautious optimism.
Three promising sectors
If investors want to make any money from stocks next year then companies are going to have to grow their earnings or trade on higher valuations. But "neither is a given", says funds expert Max King. Initially good earnings forecasts tends to be "relentlessly downgraded" as the year goes on, and a re-rating onto higher valuations looks unlikely. But "not all is gloom", he says, and patient investors who are prepared to take a little risk "should be well rewarded". He picks three sectors and the best ways to invest in them. Find out what they are by signing up here.
Help solve the housing crisis, China's dotcom bubble, and ready your finances
As well as all that, David C Stevenson looks in to a property fund that concentrates on the provision of social housing; Matthew Lynn asks if a dotcom bubble is forming in China; and Ruth Jackson sets out the steps you should take to make sure your finances are in good shape for the new year.
Of course, we have our regular roundup of the best share tips from the rest of the financial press, and all our other usual features too. This week, our toys pages are filled with the best Christmas hampers from Aldi to Fortnum & Mason.
If that tickles your festive fancy, why not kickstart your investments in 2017? Sign up now.
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Ben studied modern languages at London University's Queen Mary College. After dabbling unhappily in local government finance for a while, he went to work for The Scotsman newspaper in Edinburgh. The launch of the paper's website, scotsman.com, in the early years of the dotcom craze, saw Ben move online to manage the Business and Motors channels before becoming deputy editor with responsibility for all aspects of online production for The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday and the Edinburgh Evening News websites, along with the papers' Edinburgh Festivals website.
Ben joined MoneyWeek as website editor in 2008, just as the Great Financial Crisis was brewing. He has written extensively for the website and magazine, with a particular emphasis on alternative finance and fintech, including blockchain and bitcoin.
As an early adopter of bitcoin, Ben bought when the price was under $200, but went on to spend it all on foolish fripperies.
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