This is not the most amazing year to say the least, it is a mixed bag of nothing and some, while on an individual level, many people will enjoy a better year overall!

The problem is that 2012 provides a false sense of security; it is not a destructive year like 2009 with its financial and employment crash and it is not a surprise year like 2011 with its uprisings and unexpected Japan Tsunami.

2012 will be full of mines politically and economically; some months will be good and positive, some will be challenging and negative. Unfortunately the year starts with the positive so I will let you guess how we will finish this. Since I believe the election results won’t be a surprise, we will continue on the path we are on…And I don’t know if this is good news!

The reality is that we can’t trust no one, whoever is in power, whoever leads us does not have our best interest in mind. The cat is out of the bag and we need to look at that fact now.

The problem is global and there is no country immune to this reality so 2012 may just be a transition year for bigger events to take place. Personally when looking at it, I felt disappointed. Not because I did not see something big but rather because the perspective shown to me was not that exciting. So my apologies if my predictions this year lack of glams but it is how 2012 feels like to me…

So I wish each of you a great year 2012 even though in general, we won’t remember much of it by the time we reach December 31st. Meanwhile here is a recap of what the year looks like and you can also check the posts for 2012 for the R.E. market, the Stock Market, Europe, the Presidential election and for global world events. Please keep in mind, those insights are set for the U.S.A.

• New conflicts on the international scene with countries experiencing political shifts and change in leadership
• New elected officials promissing new laws and new political directions triggering an exodus of monies from certain countries to others more favorable…
• USA will have better diplomatic relations with a country that was considered an ennemy
• New information regarding the financial sector may bring more scrutiny about income and revenues (taxes)
• New businesses will be noticed as new growth opportunities mainly in services and social networking sectors.
• Possible plunge of the Stock Market toward the end of 2012 due to news from Europe.
• Mixed and stagnant R.E. market with persistent financial troubles hosted by the banking industry.

Sylvie Steinbach

February 12th, 2012

Updates:

Article from yahoo Feb 17th, 2012 using the new terms “collaborative consumption” web-based businesses, a new trend in growing enterprises that is getting a lot of buzz: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-personal-car-sharing-20120215,0,4712879.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+latimes%2Fnews%2Flocal+%28L.A.+Times+-+California+%7C+Local+News%29&utm_content=My+Yahoo

First political coup of the year 2012 taking place in the Maldives: a small preview of a democratically elected President ousted from office by force: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/around-the-world-abc-news/island-paradise-shattered-violent-coup-125638034.html

Goldman Sacks: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/mar/14/goldman-sachs-director-quits-morally-bankrupt