Good luck to financial experts and their predictions
Over the last few weeks I’ve read a few articles where financial experts made some predictions for this year. Along with my little game I thought I’d share some predictions I found:
1. Edward Jones Canada
On Stocks – The Jones forecast for 2015 is for mid-single-digit increases based on improved earnings growth in a growing economy.
Me – rather vague, not surprisingly, so I’ll take this as 5% Canadian equity returns to be measured by the ETF XIC that tracks the broad Canadian equity market.
On Bonds – The same Jones forecast expects bond returns in 2015 to be the mid to low single digits.
Me – I’ll take this as 3% Canadian bond returns to be measured by the ETF XBB that tracks a diversified selection of investment-grade Government of Canada, provincial, corporate and municipal bonds.
2. Douglas Porter, Chief Economist, BMO Capital Markets
On U.S. (Federal Reserve) Interest Rates – “the Fed” will raise rates for the first time in more than nine years.
3. Wall Street Gurus
Below is a list of Wall Street Strategists and their predictions for the 2015 close of the S&P 500 index at the end of the year. At the time of this post, the S&P 500 index is at 2,057.
RBC – 2,325
Wells Fargo – 2,222
BlackRock – 2,160
Goldman Sachs – 2,100
I won’t bother including any oil price predictions since most of the forecasts I read were something to the effect of “oil prices will rebound after Capex…” or “oil prices will remain depressed for the first few quarters as uncertainty…” or “oil prices are poised for…”, well, you get the picture.
Good luck to all experts and amateurs alike in 2015.
In summary, I think the best and most accurate answer for any predictions is usually “I don’t know”. Ha.
While it’s helpful to listen to experts, it’s important to take their advice with a grain of salt. None of the 22 economists predicted the Bank of Canada would cut interest rates. Here’s an interesting documentary CBC did on experts:
http://www.cbc.ca/doczone/episodes/the-trouble-with-experts
Thanks for that link Sean.
I’ve learned to ignore these market predictions by the expert.I also don’t bother with their stock price predictions.
I always find them interesting and entertaining.
I aways find these predictions amusing. Nobody knows the direction but they feel obliged to give out such data. Nobody has that magical crystal ball. I wish i did lol
Same 🙂 Thanks for the comment.
Haha I wish RBC got it right with occasional volatility.
Cheers,
BeSmartRich
For sure!