WSJ: How to Play the Five Big 'What Ifs' of 2012

By SIMON CONSTABLE

When it comes to investing, 2012 isn't the year to do nothing and just hope for the best.

Yes, there are some mammoth-sized unknowns out there that could hurt your returns. But when the biggest "what ifs" are resolved, you could also profit, if you play it right.

Here's how to tackle the five scenarios that are keeping Wall Street investors awake at night:‬

1 What if Europe gets worse?

No matter how much investors might desire it, Europe's economic mess just won't go away. But the big fear is that it will deteriorate even more before it gets better.
"Europe getting worse is a disaster for everything but the safest investments," says Milton Ezrati, market strategist at Jersey City, N.J.-based money-management firm Lord Abbett. Read more here.

Photo by Danielle Rice on Unsplash

NBR: If You Think Europe Was Bad Last Year, Just Wait...

By SIMON CONSTABLE

If you think things were messy in Europe in 2011, then just wait for this year. I`ve been talking about the euro`s crisis for three years, but I expect the fourth year to be the most explosive. Here`s why — a battle has been set up between European government elites, who want to keep the single European currency and the European taxpayers, who are being asked to endure financial hardship in order to keep the currency. Those taxpayers, those people lucky enough to have jobs, aren`t that happy about those hardships.

Nevertheless, the elected and unelected elites of Europe seem hell- bent on forcing the euro and the austerity upon their people. In 2011, we saw Greece burn due to those cutbacks. The elites see the euro as a way to make Europe more like America, with its single currency, the dollar. They do have a point — single currencies have huge economic advantages. But in democracies, we are governed by consent and there`s the problem — that consent is being tested, more so this year, likely because Europe will fall into a deep recession with even more pain. My worry — it won`t be just Greece that burns, but instead the entire Eurozone. I hope I`m wrong.

Read more here.