Wow, what a year 2008 was. It was perhaps one of the most momentous years of the modern era which saw the rise and fall of some of the biggest companies on the planet such as Bear Sterns, a newly elected US president, a market crash, a free fall in interest rates, a war in Israel, a Chinese Olympic Games, a large number of natural disasters such as the Tragic Earthquake in China and a worrying prediction for 2009.

Wow, what a year 2008 was. It was perhaps one of the most momentous years of the modern era which saw the rise and fall of some of the biggest companies on the planet such as Bear Sterns, a newly elected US president, a market crash, a free fall in interest rates, a war in Israel, a Chinese Olympic Games, a large number of natural disasters such as the Tragic Earthquake in China and a worrying prediction for 2009.

Of course, 2008 was a fantastic year despite all the gloom and doom.

We saw the best brought out in Humankind through the Chinese Olympic Games and record numbers of people tuning into watch the Paralympic Games. We saw the election of what the world hopes will be one of the greatest US Presidents to ever rein over their country. We saw triumphs in technology, music, science and celebrated the winners of the Nobel Prize in their respective categories — who brought amazing change to the earth in ways we cannot even begin to imagine. We saw the best and the worst of people and we saw innovation flourish through the use of new technology such as the semantic web and the utilisation of social networks to achieve a purposeful outcome.

So what lies ahead for humankind in 2009?

Naturally at the beginning of any year, we always recap on the events of the last year as a precursor to the year ahead. The media is painting a picture of economic doom, recessionary outlooks, huge increases in unemployment, a slowdown in innovation and a year of belt-tightening and general unrest.

For me, I tend to disagree. I am naturally an optimist and don’t like to dwell on the negative sides of what “may” or what “might” happen. If the whole world looks at the negative side of 2009 in the first week of the new year, then how can anyone hope for a better and brighter year. A new year means new opportunities and new success stories. The world is an oyster at the dawn of a new year and I don’t believe for one minute that innovation is going to cease because of tougher economic times. The greatest idea’s always come from a time when money is tighter as entrepreneurs are forced to do more with less. 2009 will be a year of opportunity as humankind will need to become more economically minded. Recessionary periods are always a time for improving efficiency and ensuring that a forensic statistical analysis can be conducted across businesses to determine the weak points of the process chain. The greater the emphasis on efficiency, the more streamlined a business can be in tough times and a better utilisation of working capital can be achieved.

Don’t get me wrong, I am a realist as much as I am an optimist. But I think 2009 will be a great year. The 8 years of bullish market action had to come to an end because the regulatory legislation in place in the biggest markets around the world was outdated and simply ineffective. The market needs to implement fixes and it needs to move into the future a better and more transparent medium for trading and doing business than what currently exists today. Of course this is going to mean that people are going to struggle and that some people are going to loose their jobs. But this is a facet of any year, not just one which is recessionary.

Sometimes I feel that we all get caught up a little in the picture that the media paints for us, and this is because the media wants to grab your attention and provoke some sort of physcological reaction from you. I think 2009 should be a year of “stepping back” and really making up your own mind. Don’t get caught up in what the media is throwing at you everyday — take it all in by all means — but don’t get any knee jerk reactions to all the news that will be thrown at you. Take a calculated response to news and media, and ensure that you manage the risks you take in your life as best you can. There will be many opportunities which will come your way and it’s up to you to decipher which of these are the ones worth taking.

What what will 2009 bring for Tim Davis?

Well I have had a few people ask me this question and I have received some emails as well. 2009 is an exciting year in my, and my families life. Primarily because I will hopefully finally finish my Juris Doctor after completing my Masters in Business Law last year. I hope to allocate some time to posting more content on both this blog as well as SmallStocks — a site that I run in my spare time to post some thoughts on the Stock Market. However, perhaps the most exciting thing for me in 2009 will be the launch of our companies flagship product. We think the site rocks and although I don’t want to shed any more light on it just yet — we all hope that you will see it by the end of 2009.

There will also be a tonne of new content on this site under the Notes and Papers pages as I post more and more open source articles relating to law and business. Of course, I want to state now that my door is always open and I am always happy to receive requests from readers about content. Just use Contact Me page above to manage these requests and feel free to contact me at any time.

Most of all, I hope that you, your family and your friends have a great year. Stay safe & healthy, get those new year resolutions achieved and have a fantastic year.