Monday, January 12, 2009

How Will Stock Markets Perform in 2009?

I am sure that most people will agree that 2008 was a bad year for stock markets from around the world. Who could have predicted at the start of the year the turmoil that was to follow? 2009 may well be even worse, unemployment is likely to rise in a major way and many household names will cease to exist. The question on many investors' lips is how will stock markets from around the world perform in 2009?

Now it is important to state at this stage that I am not a financial adviser and that what I am going to write in this article is purely my opinion. I am however an experienced investor who actually is finding the current financial turmoil as making very interesting reading and who believes that a lot of people will make a lot of money during this crisis. I for one will be taking a chance, a gamble as it were, as I like to buy when the markets are low and to sell when they reach new highs. Think about it for a while, when do markets fall? When something major goes wrong, but history tells us that they do eventually recover.

The UK and US are taking massive steps to put the wrongs right. Interest rates have fallen to new lows, lows not previously seen. The governments of these countries have stated that they will do whatever is necessary to get their people through this credit crunch. This is not the normal "wait and see" policy and is something that should be applauded.

Stock markets may well lose a further twenty percent in 2009 however I feel that by 2011 they may well see new highs. I personally like to invest on a monthly basis which helps me to take advantage of what is known as "pound cost averaging". It has worked very well for me during previous downturns and I am more than confident that it will work again.

My attitude is a very simple one, sit tight, have a lot of patience, do not panic, stick to the principals that have worked for you in the past and then go and collect your winnings!

Steve Hill is a speech coach from Birmingham, he has a number of websites including:
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