2014EconGrowth

Personally, I think the domestic financial market is rapidly approaching an overpriced threshold that’s really crying out for earnings to catch up. 2013 was fantastic, but I’m not booking my vacation for 2014 just yet. However, that’s just my take on domestic equities. International markets are always anyone’s call, particularly considering the volatility in emerging markets. I’d like to see some profitability in the first quarter 2014, and certainly by the end of January, before I make any overzealous calls about projected global economic growth. One thing I think we can all agree on for 2014 is that interest rates have to move up. Which means we can also probably expect some relative inflation before year end. Sorry folks. Money can’t stay cheap forever. Therefore, you’re best bet to keep pace may just be in developing markets if you can stomach the ride.

 

In other news, the unemployment rate recently fell to 6.7%, which is a much appreciated but often under-celebrated ongoing improvement to the domestic economy. Now if we can only make those wages livable and reasonable, then I think we’ll really be making progress.

 

Anyway, here’s the latest from World Bank. I’m taking it with a grain of salt.

 

World Bank Is Expecting Widespread if Still Possibly Turbulent Growth for 2014 – NYTimes.com.

WASHINGTON — After years of recession, financial crisis, fiscal wars and a patchwork recovery, there are relatively few dark clouds on the horizon for the global economy.

That is the conclusion of the World Bank’s latest global growth forecast, released on Tuesday. The bank’s economists expect growth over all to increase from 2.4 percent last year to 3.2 percent in 2014, and to maintain that level for the next two years. 

“The performance of advanced economies is gaining momentum, and this should support stronger growth in developing countries,” Jim Yong Kim, the president of the World Bank, said in a statement. 

Indeed, in the latest sign that even battered Europe is on the mend, Eurostat reported on Tuesday that factories in the euro zone ramped up output in November after two months of decline. Industrial production rose 1.8 percent from October, which itself was revised upward to show a smaller monthly drop.