2017 in Review: A Look at the Numbers

New leadership in Washington saw the record Wall Street closes of 2016 continue into the beginning of 2017, a trend that has continued right through until the final weeks. In the first 11 months of the year, the Dow Jones Industrials Index has notched over 60 record closing highs, the most record closes for the 30-stock index since 1995, while the S&P 500 saw 55 records and the Tech-focused Nasdaq an astonishing 70 record closes.

But it’s not just the US markets that have been propelled higher. Their European counterparts too have joined the act. The UK’s UK 100 overcame a plethora of political events, including a shock snap election resulting in an even more shocking hung parliament, to trade 20 fresh record highs over the course of the year, while the index only fell below 7100 points twice over the entire year. Meanwhile, the German DAX saw 25 record highs in the first 11 months of the year, smashing through both the 12,000 and 13,000 marks for the first time ever.

And while the year may be remembered for the macroeconomic and political stories that emerged, it will also go down in the history books as the year of Bitcoin. The most-recognisable cryptocurrency in circulation has rallied an astronomical 1500% over the course of the year, a rally that even overshadows the 2000 dotcom boom.

Only time will tell if the controversial asset will continue climbing higher, or whether it will prove to be the biggest bubble in financial history, eclipsing the Tulip bubble in 1600s Europe. Which outcome are you backing?

The UK 100 companies that reached record highs

An astonishing 42 of the UK 100 ’s constituents have posted an all-time record high through the first 11 months of 2017, with 11 of those companies notching more than 30 fresh all-time high closes since the end of 2016.

That list includes newer names to some investors, with companies such as Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust (an impressive 60 new record highs), NMC Health (47) and Smurfit Kappa (13), however a plethora of UK Index stalwarts such as Persimmon (35), RELX (35), Unilever (30) and St James’s Place (27) also make the list.

However, there are also several surprises on that list. WPP, having touched its highest ever level in February, has since dived into the bottom five UK Index performers of the year, retreating 32% from its high. It is joined in the bottom 10 UK Index performers by Merlin Entertainments, which saw 10 all-time record closes, and Convatec, the UK 100 newcomer which enjoyed an impressive 31 record closes, the last of which coming on 5 June.

… And Record Lows

At the other end of proceedings, only two companies recorded an all-time record low in the first 11 months of 2017. Mediclinic International wins the award for the most recent record low, having traded an all-time low in November, and is joined by the aforementioned Convatec, which, having last traded a record high in June, fell back to trade at its lowest level since its 2016 IPO in November. Will it return to those Summer highs in 2018?

After carefully analysing the UK 100 , we’ve picked out our top 10 stock picks for 2018. Amongst other things there’s high street banks, a big four supermarket and a coffee chain owner. Which of these do you think is in for a big 2018?