Have you any useful ideas for investment opportunities at the present time? The financial sector has had/is having a torrid time...so which are the best banks for an upturn?

I kind of don't like bank stocks right now, they're somewhat unpredictable to say the least. If you fancy a punt, some of the bigger European (ex UK) ones are probably a reasonable bet since mostly they've stayed away from sub-prime stuff. Personally, I think junk bonds are going to be an attractive investment fairly soon - spreads have blown right up without there being any obvious reasons why the actual default rate should rise. Mostly though, I'm sitting in cash and waiting for some clarity.

UK income investment trusts. Anyone like the look of these? I am thinking of buying into the dips in share price in the new year.

Advice for and against please?

You Know i've been thinking the same thing but the forcast in general from what I gather is that shares as a whole will have a difficult time next year. I think the fluctuations we've seen in the past few months will continue into the new year.

I just sold some shares thinking that there maybe big falls in the market on the way. For now they're holding steady but when another big fall comes and how severe it will be is anyones guess. I'd stay away from financial markets however I think supermarkets will be strong. People still need to eat. Even if peoples disposable incomes decrease, they will still need to buy food to survive however even supermarkets shares will suffer as a result of the rest of the market.

I reckon the first 2 weeks in January might be a good time to go in. Bad news will come out saying that consumer spending over this christmas has been at an all time low etc and the stock markets will suffer. The only problem is further bad news could be only around the corner will make the markets sink further.

I can't really think of any solid investment right now as everythings going to suffer as a result of the credit crunch. If any one has any suggestions i'd be glad to hear them!

I would like to find a decent bear fund, but the only one on offer here in the UK seems to be Gartmore as the US ones don't seem to welcome foreigners(Prudent Bear anyway)

I'm new posting here but I have always enjoyed following this particular section of the forum so thought I might throw a penny in.

I've got a few quid invested in funds and my favourite is one investing in Japan which has been out of favour but is well up since the April ISA. I wonder if in present climate / house price crash here in the UK, Japan might be a good place to turn attention to - after all, it is at a very different stage in the economic cycle.

Hi...to everyone viewing this thread - and a happy investing 2008!

I think I will bide my time until the new year before investing. What I am really interested in at the moment is the mechanics of buying into dips in share prices. Do you use a broker/bank/building society? Also, do you use a nominee account or certificate trading?

What are the pros and cons of all this. All advice very gratefully received by me!

I like interactive investor www.iii.co.uk (but there are lots of others doing the same thing). You can trade in and out of shares and funds easily and hold them in or out of ISA's. You don't get the certificates. They hold all the information but its a very simple way of trading.

Pros/Cons of buying and selling are that (1) you have trading costs on each buy/sell that can eat up your profits unless you trade in large amounts each go and (2) every book warns against trying to time the market - how can you be sure a dip isn't a longer term fall and when can you know the right time to sell.

The general advice on (2) seems to be either to buy and hold shares for the long term (don't try and time the market) or set stop/loss targets which help you decide when to buy and sell.

The other advice I was given was to start with a make believe portolio using something like interactive investor and see how you do without parting with any money.