2009 - The Year Ahead

Yes there are still a few trading days left in 2008 but for the most part the individual consumer and investor is looking ahead to 2009. Noticed I did not say “looking forward to”. At this point I do not know a lot of people looking forward to 2009.

Many individual consumers will start 2009 either already as a part of the massive unemployment numbers or fearing they will become one of them. Those who do manage to escape losing their jobs will probably face shorter work weeks resulting in smaller overall income for the home, thus increasing the need to find value in both their investments and in those must-have items needed to operate a household.

Bailout enthusiasm is fading but I think we will see the need for bailout money spreading to other sectors as the recession deepens and the credit crisis continues to affect the consumer. Some of these companies may be helped by the new administration which has stated numerous times the intent to create more jobs by building a better infrastructure. Finding and blogging about some of these companies will be the focus of 2oversold.com in 2009.

2008 was not a good year for the investor nor the consumer. Does 2009 promise to bring better days? I don’t think so. The problem will not be because of new programs and initiatives. There will be many and for the most part I expect they will eventually have a lasting impact on the overall state of the economy. But I do expect these programs will take some months to implement and even a couple more quarters to see any real results. Therefore I expect the best case scenario would be 1st qtr 2010 before we can actually start seeing the unemployment numbers dropping.

DOW 6500 is a projection we made in Nov, 2008 and I believe this is still a level the markets will test before any of the programs or incentives from the new administration will be able to prove any lasting support for the markets.

For sure there will be many individual companies in all sectors that will get 2oversold during this time. When we find one we think is worth a look, we’ll be blogging about it to give our readers ideas for the year ahead.

I expect many of the companies we have already blogged about will continue to do well as we trudge through the early stages of 2009. Precious metals related companies such as Yamana Gold (AUY) , and Western Goldfields (WGW) will continue to do well as recession and economic uncertainty continue to develop around the world.

Companies like Mattel (MAT) and Mad Catz (MCZ) may be companies that benefit from the “value” they offer the consumer as more and more of the individual American family continues to find home entertainment an affordable alternative to the expensive nights out. Readers of 2oversold.com have come to realize that a trend has developed here in the companies we think are worth a look and that is “VALUE”. But not as much value from a market analysis viewpoint as in value they offer the consumer.

There will be many more companies emerge in the coming year that fit our views on companies worth a look and we would like to invite you to sign up for our subscription service. You can have all our daily blogging activity delivered to your email each morning before the market opens.

2oversold.com is a blog for the individual consumer and private investor. We are not experts in the markets nor do we make any recommendations of any company. The companies we blog about are discussed for the purpose of this blog only and should not be considered as investment advice.