outlook

Inflationary concerns, the US property market, and UK interest rates all figure highly among the factors determining whether 2007 will be a good or bad year for investors and homeowners.

Nearly 80% of retail investors are confident the stock market will do well over the next 12 months, according to a TD Waterhouse survey of about 1,000 UK adults who also traded stocks and shares in the past year.

Trigold has announced that it will launch an customer relationship management (CRM) integration tool between its Prospector AAA mortgage sourcing software and Microsoft Outlook next month.

Regulations doubling tax relief on venture capital trusts are still on track to end within the prescribed two-year period unless the government is persuaded otherwise, says David Thorp, lead manager on Baronsmead VCTs.

Gold will continue to remain the preferred precious metal while changes in underlying demand could see silver's status downgraded to an industrial metal, says research from International Financial Services London (IFSL).

IFAs questioned by PIMS for its latest annual survey on the state of the industry have put cost controls top of the agenda for this year - ahead even of profitability

The uncertainty principle has been lifted from markets through yesterday and today as George Bush confirmed his second term in office, according to stock market watchers.

Technology funds are still waiting for the next big spending cycle, says Brian Ashford-Russell, founder Polar Capital Partners.

Energy prices have yet to properly feed into the UK and global economies even as punters may have jumped the gun on the interest rate cycle, warns Robin Geffen, CIO Neptune Investment Management.

US interest rates are likely to go up by 0.25% when the Federal Open Market Committee - the equivalent of the UK's Monetary Policy Committee - next meets on 29 and 30 June, predicts Axa Investment Managers.