afternoon all, i have to give a presentation on the 2005 outlook for the FTSE. from the research i've made so far, i believe it will generally follow the same pattern as last year, ie strong at the start, weakening in the middle, and strengthening robustly from sept. onwards, with a FTSE 100 level of over 5000 by the end of the year. i think parallels can be drawn between labour's recent election, and that of the conservative election in 1992. as well as the relatively poor performance of the FTSE 100 in the last 8 years, gaining just 8%. although labour are not fully responsible, with the '98 asia market collapse affecting other worldwide stockmarkets, including the FTSE. however, worldwide shares index rose by 25% in the past 8 years, triple the FTSE gain. i've found some interesting points from other posts, and would gratefully appreciate any links for commentary on the FTSE (thetimes.co.uk seems to still be down), as well as any opinions on the FTSE outlook that people here may have. what other factors in 2005 will have a significant affect on the FTSE? many thanks in advance, eidolon.