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Today's big stories

We took a look at the big economic trends coming up in 2021
One Swiss wealth manager thinks you’ll find a host of opportunities in post-pandemic “smart cities” – Read Now
We dug deeper into the market trends you're likely to see next year

Good Health

What’s Going On Here?

The pandemic might not be over yet, but economists with an eye on big-picture economic trends are already raising their glasses to a prosperous new year.

What Does This Mean?

Now that vaccines are making their way around the world, hopes are high that the pandemic will be a thing of the past soon enough. And as the New Normal™ kicks off in earnest, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reckons the global economy will rebound from this year’s 4.4% shrinkage to 5.2% growth in 2021. That would take the world’s economic output roughly back to where it was before coronavirus struck. The IMF’s expecting emerging markets to do the best out of that resurgence, with China and India expected to grow by as much as 9%. That’s a far cry from the US’s 3% and the eurozone’s 5%...

Why Should I Care?

For markets: The best laid plans…
Steep drops in economic growth have historically been followed by sharp recoveries, but the finer details of what comes next are fuzzier. Most economists are expecting more government spending to help boost growth, which might cause inflation in the prices of goods and services. If prices climb by too much, too quickly, central banks will probably increase interest rates to make borrowing more expensive – in turn discouraging people from spending money and causing prices to shoot up anyway. In other words, there’s a risk the move could slow down economic growth, rather than accelerate it.

The bigger picture: So much for a common enemy.
Geopolitics will have a major influence on the global economy next year too, what with the ongoing drama in some of the world’s biggest countries. Between the impact of Brexit on the UK and Europe, the fallout of the trade war on the US and China, and the questions around who will control the US Senate, even the world’s best economists could see their forecasts rendered moot at a moment’s notice.

You might also like: How to recession-proof your portfolio for next year.

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2. Analyst Take

Out With The Old: How To Invest In The Smart City Boom

What’s Going On Here?

The pandemic might’ve accelerated the shift to WFH, but Carsten Menke – head of the next generation research team at Julius Baer – thinks cities will still be the powerhouses of the global economy.

The real change, Carsten says, will be in companies themselves: they’ll have more bargaining power, and higher expectations of the infrastructure they’re paying for.

And he’s not just talking physical infrastructure like office buildings, railways, and roads – though they should all benefit from looser budgetary restrictions.

He’s talking digital infrastructure too: think smart cities with more efficient water management, real-time traffic routing, predictive maintenance – you name it.

And that’s where you – and a whole ecosystem of infrastructure-focused public companies – come in.

So that’s today’s Insight: how to invest in tomorrow’s smart cities.

Read or listen to our Insight

🤖 Investerminator: Rise Of The Machines

You might think robot security guards are the stuff of movies, but Knightscope’s autonomous security robots are already in action across the US.

In fact, the Silicon Valley robotics firm is taking the lead in a market that could be worth $165 billion by 2025.

That’s where you come in: you can join the thousands of investors who have invested in Knightscope through Startengine.

Over a target life of 5 years, Knightscope are projecting a profit of up to $250,000 per robot, in a market that’s growing 10% a year.

Find out more about Knightscope, and get invested from as little as $500.

Learn More

Disclaimer: You should read the Offering Circular and risks related to this offering before investing. This Reg A+ offering is made available through StartEngine Primary, LLC. This investment is speculative, illiquid, and involves a high degree of risk, including the possible loss of your entire investment.

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Greatest Hits

What’s Going On Here?

Economists’ optimistic predictions are music to investors’ ears: they think there’s an over 70% chance stocks will be all-singing and all-dancing next year (tweet this).

What Does This Mean?

A pick-up in the economy should create a healthier environment for share prices going forward – especially cheap-looking “value” stocks and “cyclicals”, whose fortunes rise and fall with economic growth. And while company profits themselves might take a while to recover from this year’s slump, Goldman Sachs argues that profit growth should – just like it has after past recessions – rebound strongly, spelling good news for stock prices.

Commodities should do well too: a bump in demand for things like oil and copper could outstrip supply and push up prices. And with central banks’ bond-buying programs showing no signs of letting up, there’s not much to suggest bond prices will collapse any time soon either.

Why Should I Care?

For you personally: Easy pickings.
Just as the biggest tech stocks almost single-handedly drove this year’s rising US stock market, a positive outlook doesn’t necessarily mean stocks and bonds will climb across the board. So as you set out your stall for 2021, you might find you’re better off investing in exchange-traded funds that track a basket of, say, cyclical or value stocks, rather than buying into individual assets. That way you stand to benefit from wholesale rises without risking it all on one or two big names.

The bigger picture: What goes up doesn’t have to come down.
Stocks tend to see a particular pattern during economic recoveries: an initial bounceback where everything heads in the same direction, and then rises and falls based on a company’s individual merits (or “fundamentals”). Plenty of firms, then, could do well in the short-term, but the ones that are able to grow their earnings might really set themselves apart from the crowd…

You might also like: How to pick next year’s big winners (and avoid the duds).

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🙋 Ask a question

💬 Quote of the day

“I’d rather regret the risks that didn’t work out than the chances I didn’t take at all.”

– Simone Biles (an American gymnast)

Tweet this

💵 There’s big business in ‘bots

You might never have thought of investing in a robotics company like Knightscope, but the numbers tell you all you need to know…

$1 trillion: The negative economic impact of crime in the US every year.

46%: The drop in crime reports when one of Knightscope’s robots is on patrol.

8: The number of patents that set Knightscope ahead of the competition.

$250K: The estimated profit per robot over its 5-year lifespan.

10%: The amount the global security market is projected to expand each year.

$165 billion: The value of the global security market by 2025.

$500: All you need to invest in Knightscope.

Learn More

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📈 The biggest trends of 2020

To wrap up the year, we asked our analysts what they thought the biggest trend of 2020 was. And you might be surprised at some of their responses…

💉 Carl chose the pandemic, but not for the reasons you might think. He reckons the vaccines might actually be bad news for pharma investors. Read more

🏡 Milou focused on housing: real estate prices usually fall in a recession, but this year they’ve rocketed. And that’s got her worried that they’re poised to tumble. Read more

🤑 Andrew’s been obsessed with bitcoin’s meteoric rise this year. Mostly because he thinks investors treating the cryptocurrency as a “safe haven” are going to lose money… Read more

🚗 Reda picked the electric vehicle revolution: he reckons the ultimate winner will be whoever produces the best batteries – and he thinks he’s found that company. Read more

⚠️ Stéphane’s eye was on markets’ record highs. And since he noticed legendary investor Bill Ackman protecting himself against big price drops, Stéphane looked at how you can copy his strategy yourself. Read more

📚 What we're reading

How to give away billions of dollars (Mother Jones)
The year’s biggest scientific headlines (Cosmos)
Working from home has only just begun (Chicago Booth Review)

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Finimize - 🍾 New year, new something?

Today's big stories

Good Health

What’s Going On Here?

What Does This Mean?

Why Should I Care?

Out With The Old: How To Invest In The Smart City Boom

🤖 Investerminator: Rise Of The Machines

Greatest Hits

What’s Going On Here?

What Does This Mean?

Why Should I Care?

💵 There’s big business in ‘bots

📈 The biggest trends of 2020

Older messages

😷 Remind me what just happened?

😱 IPOs really are canceled

🚗 Apple runs Google off the road

🤫 Don't worry about Tesla

🎄 SMIC's nightmare before Christmas

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