Investing this summer: Plain sailing or rough seas?

It should be plain sailing for investors in shares this summer. The world economy is growing this year, and should do so again next year at a reasonable pace.

The central banks of the developed world – the US, Europe, the UK, and Japan – all want to promote growth. Interest rates are very low in all these jurisdictions, and various stimulatory policies are being followed. The US is coming to the end of a large programme of quantitative easing, creating more money, while Japan is working its way through an even larger one relative to the size of its economy. The UK is making cheap finance available to commercial banks who will lend it on. Even the eurozone is talking about more easing, and has cut interest rates further as a gesture. Should ...