Where to invest in 2003

Ignore the prophets of doom. There's hope on the horizon. But only if you read the signs right.
Gautam Chikermane
I’m going down...down...down...down...
–Bruce Springsteen, Born in the USA, 1984
The rock star was talking about his heart, but 19 years later, this song could well be talking about investment returns. When I meet pensioners, they cry about lower returns from small savings and fixed deposits. The young cry about money they’ve lost in stocks. People in their forties and fifties are worried stiff that tax breaks may soon be history. Households are finding it difficult to balance their budgets at a time when salaries are frozen, if not cut; some have even lost jobs and are perforce dipping into their savings. Down...down...down...down...
What’s up? Hopes.
The dust of gloom that rose from the debris of the Twin Towers, and giant corporations gone bust, and the securities scam closer home has begun to settle down–and the signs of an economy on the upswing are there for all to see.
Opinion in Outlook Money