Ashby: The outlook for 2011 - nobody knows!

ASHBY'S ANSWERS

It is traditional at the beginning of each year to give a view on the outlook for the UK economy and the stock market for the next 12 months.

However, as has become apparent in recent years, the track record of many strategists and fund managers in consistently making correct predictions has been patchy at best – and is often a waste of time. Let me explain why: The UK stock market is not the same as the UK economy. According to Oriel Securities, there are now approximately 25,000 companies in the UK, but only just over 600 of these are in the FTSE All Share index. In addition, many of the quoted UK companies have little or no exposure to the domestic economy, having expanded in recent years overseas to take advantage of lo...