Paul Sullivan, in his Wealth Matters column this week, goes back to a group of analysts and advisers who had agreed at the start of 2011 to not only make investment recommendations but also to assess each quarter how they were doing.

The one theme of the year is that no one could have anticipated all the economic shocks — from the earthquake and tsunami in Japan to the Arab revolutions and the economic and budget troubles in Europe and the United States. But, in some cases, the advisers made the right call, even if their reasons for the recommendation changed through the year. That was true for Bill Stone, of PNC Wealth Management, who backed dividend-paying stocks. On the other hand, none of the analysts anticipated the continued strong demand for United States Treasuries, even after Standard Poor’s downgraded the country’s credit rating in August.

So what’s their advice for 2012? In the wake of all the volatility in the markets in the second half of the year, the advisers say investors should tune out the daily headlines and concentrate on longer-term trends. Do you agree? What is your plan for investing in the new year?

Article source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=1b52aac3edb7145a9e149f254d6e5549