the UK investment outlook for 2008

Out of the turbulence that was 2007 and into... yet more turbulence in 2008. While emerging markets have gone from strength to strength, a slump in credit markets and the UK and US housing markets have caused the scales to tip wildly up and down in the overall global economic picture. Can it be, then, that the new year and present market cycle offer an opportunity to reinstate a balanced approach?

It has been a challenging year for investors - one in which the US dollar price of oil almost doubled while China and other emerging market economies went from strength to strength. The year also saw a slump in US housing, turmoil in the credit markets and Britain's first bank run since the 1860s. The tension between good and bad news made for a volatile year in the UK stock market. The market is likely to remain volatile in 2008 as the big drivers of the bull run since March 2003 - ever-higher financial leverage, profligate consumer spending and ballooning corporate earnings - look likel...