Unless there’s a dramatic rally in share prices in the dying weeks of the year, 2018 is shaping up to be a stinker for UK investors. Yesterday’s spurt clawed back some of Thursday’s losses, but, as of last night’s close, blue-chip shares are down by 11 per cent on the year to date. To put that in context, only four years have produced bigger losses in the 35-year history of the FTSE 100. There were 2001 and 2002, when the index plunged by 16 per cent and 24 per cent, respectively, as the technology bubble deflated. There was the disaster of 2008, of course, when it turned out that our greatest banks were built of candyfloss.

Source: The Times December 08, 2018 00:05 UTC