You forget how much happens in twelve months. Given how the year has ended, it is worth remembering that investors entered 2019 in a much gloomier state of mind...
The final quarter of 2018 saw the FTSE 250 tumble from around 20,200 points to 17,500 - a stomach churning 13% drop that left many retail investors hiding behind sofas. It was a bruising end to the year. Fast forward to today and investors seem much more optimistic about prospects following a strong December rally.
Looking back, 2019 was another year of political change with the resignation of Theresa May, a Conservative leadership election and a General Election. In amongst it all, we had disastrous profit warnings, financial scandals and stellar small cap coverage.
Here are some of the most popular articles from the year.
1. 100 years of stock market returns
So this was technically published right at the end of 2018, but it’s fair to say the piece has aged well. Heading into 2019, the mood music was decidedly dour - the UK economy was growing at its lowest rate for several years and this downwards momentum was projected to continue. Morale was low.
These conditions prompted Ed’s analysis of 100 years of stock market returns. It was a timely attempt to gain some data-backed insights into market base rates and prospects for investors. Give it a read and refresh your memory.
2. Paul Scott and Graham Neary’s Small Cap Value Report
Paul and Graham continue to provide an unrivalled level of detailed, daily small-cap commentary. Paul’s entry on the 27th of December is already one of the most popular of the year thanks to his recap of a ‘bewildering’ 2019 and thoughts on the outlook for small caps in 2020.
Meanwhile, an entry from Graham in which he discusses the ‘ZIRP Absurdity’ of low interest rates that have become the norm around the world was also well received. This is a powerful market dynamic for investors to factor into their own outlooks.
A bonus entry: easily Stockopedia’s most upvoted article of the year was this post-Mello Conference SCVR placeholder written very much ‘the morning after the night before’... It features a lively comments section (including an impromptu four-part autobiography of sorts from Paul) and is a great example of what makes Stockopedia such a fun community to…
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