Top Tips for Investing in 2012
Thursday, January 5th, 2012
There’s no doubt that 2012 is going to be an interesting year for the world’s economies, forex traders and investors.
The two major issues from 2011 – the eurozone sovereign debt crisis and the slowdown in China – will no doubt provide the dramatic context for the global financial markets in 2012. Some analysts are suggesting that the eurozone will not exist 12 months from now while most argue that it will, but it won’t look quite the same as it is today.
The latest positive PMI manufacturing reports from China will have soothed the nerves of those investors expecting a hard-landing for China this year – it is likely that those nerves will not be soothed for too long if the eurozone falls into a serious recession though. Those investors online share dealing will be watching China’s fortunes this year closely.
Compare the latest unemployment figures from Germany and Spain and you get a good snapshot of the differences in economic health of even the major eurozone countries – let alone the difference between the major and minor players in the eurozone.
It also looks likely that politics will continue to cast its shadowy influence on the financial markets as in 2012 there will be elections in China in January, Russia in March, France in April and the US in November.
Safe havens will be difficult to find but it looks as if the US dollar will continue to be the popular choice among investors – as long as the Democrats and Republicans can stop bickering over fundamental issues that is.
Despite all the doom and gloom, the slump in equities during the second half of 2011 has left many stocks undervalued and therefore analysts are predicting that equities have the potential to reap rewards in 2012 – but you’ll have to choose wisely. In general, stock analysts are tending to see US-and UK-based companies as safer bets than those within the eurozone and Japan – there are exceptions though. As a general rule of thumb investors should concentrate on yield and high-quality stocks.
Look to the detail in each sector. Take the major grocery retailers in the UK for example; there is perhaps more value in the shares of emerging supermarket WM Morrisons compared to shares in Tesco, whose rapid expansion into new markets has stunted their recent growth. Of the major pharmaceutical companies GlaxoSmithKline looks a safer bet than AstraZeneca – the latter of which has another major patent expiring in 2012, this time it’s Seroquel.
In emerging markets, Tata Motors in India looks a solid bet after it announced a 22% rise in sales for December 2011 compared with December 2010. The only way is up for car sales in India as its middle classes continue to expand; Ford has just announced that it will invest $142 million in its existing plant in Chennai. It is predicted that the car market in India will be the world’s third largest by 2020.
Nissan, Japan’s third-largest carmaker could do well in 2012 too. It’s year-on-year sales in India were up 44% in December and it has just announced record annual production in its Sunderland plant in the UK meaning that it is now the UK’s biggest car exporter.
As I am sure you will have noticed the use of caveats in this article will mean that 2012 will be another year of ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’, so, stay cautious but not too cautious.
Good luck in 2012.


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