Argentina is the top performer so far this year with the Merval Index up by 21%. Mexico has increased by a modest 5% despite hopes of great gains after AMLO came to power. Among the developed European markets, Germany is up by 8.5% while UK’s FTSE 100 has gained only 6.7% as the market is still caught up in the great British Brexit chaos. Unlike last year, China is leading major emerging markets with a gain of 12.4% and India is basically flat year-to-date.

Below are some interesting links for weekend reading:

• What the end of quantitative tightening means for markets (MoneyWeek)
• Diverging Trends: A Look At Earnings Growth Around The World (Schwab)
• Dis-assembling IKEA (FT Alphaville)
• Australian Outlook: Making the Case for a Cut (Nikko AM)
• Emerging Markets Race Ahead in January (Franklin Templeton)
• Wall Street Has It Wrong. You’re a Smart Investor. (Jason Zweig)
• Six adventurous single-country fund ideas (Money Observer)
• Grounds for optimism in the UK stockmarket (M&G Investments)
• Will 2019 Be the Year of King Copper? (US Funds)
• Suffering Liquidity Withdrawal Syndrome, Market Gets Its Fix (Thornburg)
• How to increase the odds of owning the few stocks that drive returns (Vanguard)
• Five Reasons Europe Should Avoid Recession in 2019 (Alliance Bernstein)
• Global Dividends End Year on a High Note (Henderson)
• Investing in All-Season Large-Cap Growth Stocks (T.Rowe Price)

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Spiky Plant @ Loro Parque, Tenerife, The Canary Islands