Holly's Blog: Ho Ho Flipping Ho!!!

Hi everyone.

We’re on the home straight now for 2021 and what a year it has been. Again! It’s hard to feel any more festive than the tattered old straw in the manger but come on folks! Let’s cheer ourselves up with a festive look at some numbers.

What a difference a year makes……………here’s how things have changed since January.

• The FTSE 100 is up about 10%.....plod plod up with some nervous spikes down

• The main US index the S&P 500 is up about 25%.....wheeeeee

• It’s been a Tech Story - Apple is up 33% and Microsoft has jumped 49%

• Bitcoin trumps them all and is up 72% - gulp

• Poor old BA’s parent has nosedived about 40% from March highs – investors’ safety was not their priority

• Inflation has risen from around 1% to 5.1% - yikes

• Interest rates crept up yesterday from 0.1% to 0.25%. (Or if you work for a tabloid…. UK interest rates shot up by a whopping 150%!! )

• A litre of unleaded petrol has gone up from about £1.15 to £1.46 – ouch

• And the number of Boris Johnson’s children has increased by an estimated 14.3%

Despite all the gloom and uncertainty, I think there are pockets of opportunity for 2022. We’ve been speaking to investment experts across the board and will have a bumper special for you in the first week of January on what to expect in the year ahead.

With input from AJ Bell, Bestinvest, Interactive Investor, Hargreaves Lansdown and more, tune in on the other side to find out what the professionals are picking. In general, the mood music is cautiously positive.

Although the FTSE100 remains unloved over the long-term, most experts still feel more bullish about the States. And China, emerging markets and UK smaller companies are some of the main sector picks for 2022 growth. That said, most are more cautious about next year, suggesting broad-brush global diversification rather than trying to be a hero and pick out any one sector or handful of shares.

(A final ask for the year…..As well as market predictions, the first few months of 2022 bring our dazzling Best Buy ratings and awards. If any of you can leave a of your investment platform or online pension to add to our calculations, we’d be super grateful.)

I leave you with some final advice for 2021. Give any children unlimited screentime for the rest of the year and enjoy the peace and quiet. Someone else’s chips have no calories in them. Sobering up in between meals at the end of December is bad for your health. You can have a Christmas party but don’t go to one. And NO snogging under any mistletoe. Unless it’s Brad Pitt. In a time capsule dated 1995.

Thanks to all our lovely readers and shareholders for following and supporting us this year. Have a wonderful break with your families (maybe!?... hopefully??), have a very Happy Christmas and see you all next year.

Holly and the Boring Money Team