Guidance is another majorvariable for investors to watch during earnings season, with companies such as Cisco and Research in Motion facing substantial selloffs recently after disappointing guidance numbers.
Mutual funds now find themselves in a redemption phase as do hedge funds and insurance underwriters who are major players in variable annuities, guaranteed investment contracts and mutual funds.
"Two major energy companies are currently offering cheap fix deals at the same price as the cheapest variable deals, cutting many people's bills by hundreds of pounds and guaranteeing no price rises for up to two winters, " he said.
They know it, so attempts at major legislation have tended to crowd in the first two years hence stock returns on average have been more variable then. (For US stocks, but the pattern largely holds for global stocks.) There have been plenty of big double-digit positive years in years one and two, but the variability drags down the averages to 8% and 9% respectively.