When it comes to politics, economics and stock markets, 2018 feels like a year of transition - and it’s been a bumpy ride.
Brexit rumbles on, there have been riots on the streets of Paris and a new Italian government is negotiating a controversial Budget with the EU, which itself faces the prospect of a change in ECB president, the end of its asset-buying programme and its first rate rise in a decade.
The US and China continue their trade spat and the Asia Pacific region has been swept up in the turmoil, with many of its equity markets slipping into bear territory. Emerging markets such as Turkey and Argentina have also been dealing with their own credit and inflation issues.
A lot of stock markets around the world ended 2018 lower than when they started, but investors know that doesn’t tell the whole story. This year has been a rollercoaster. Some short, sharp declines early on were followed by a fairly flat spring and summer before sharper downward moves kicked in again during the last quarter.
Momentum, which had been driving markets in recent years, has dislocated. Growth stocks have suffered some stinging losses and small-caps are under pressure. In their place, larger, more conservative names have held up rather better - but the outlook is far from clear.
In amongst it all we’ve been covering as much as we can (although we’re also looking forward to a few days off now). But before we go, here are some of the editorial highlights from Stockopedia this year. We’ve got exciting plans for 2019, so keep watching!
1. Paul Scott & Graham Neary’s Small Cap Value Report
One of this year’s top Small Cap Value Reports, written way back on the 6th of February, had it all (apart from actual small-cap stock analysis). Join Graham Neary on a frosty February stroll through falling stock markets, FTSE technical support levels, macroeconomic indicators, credit markets, volatility indexes and cryptocurrencies. Markets on both sides of the Atlantic were tumbling - and it was beginning to feel like a bad start to the year. There was even time for a cameo appearance from Paul, who had just got back from a long weekend in Amsterdam. All in, there were nearly 170 comments on the SCVR that day.
Another top candidate was this post in December, which saw…
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