The preparation of the Ten Surprises, now in its 36th edition, is a long process. It begins in the summer when the four (now five) Benchmark Lunches give us a sense of where the consensus is. That is followed in the fall by a series of focus groups and sifting through hundreds of research reports and newspaper and magazine articles to try ...

As much as we all crave it, asking for another year of continued economic growth and positive equity returns in 2020 may be too much. The start of this year was marked by the American assassination of Iran's Major General Qassim Suleimani. This raised the prospect of a full-scale conflict in the Middle East, but that risk has ...

In this edition of the Surprises – a series Byron has been publishing since 1986 – the strategists outline unexpected events that could shape the political, economic and financial landscape in 2020. The Ten Surprises of 2019 worked out plenty well. While we don’t go through this process with the objective of getting a high score, knowing that ...

Every summer for the past several decades I have organized a series of Friday lunches in eastern Long Island for serious investors. More than 100 people attend the four sessions, with 25–30 at each one. The participants include hedge fund, private equity and real estate billionaires, venture capitalists, an academic and some ...

We all complain that so much is happening so fast these days it’s hard to keep up. The plethora of events that could have a negative impact on the financial markets is being ignored in the United States, however, and investors seem to be assuming that everything going on will somehow be resolved favorably. The S&P 500 index is up 15% so far ...

The process of creating The Ten Surprises begins in the summer when I organize four lunches in the Hamptons for serious investors. About 100 people attend including hedge fund managers, private equity titans and even some academics. One of the benefits of this is that it gives me some clarity on where the consensus is, and that is essential ...

Byron R. Wien, Vice Chairman, Blackstone Advisory Partners, today issued his list of Ten Surprises for 2015. This is the 30th year Byron has given his views on a number of economic, financial market and political surprises for the coming year. Byron defines a “surprise” as an event that the average investor would only assign a one out of ...

Among the strategist's predictions: Strong economic growth turns Fed tapering into a nonevent.

Editor's Note: This is the 29th year that investment strategist Byron Wien has given his views on a number of economic, financial market and political surprises for the coming year. Wien is currently a senior advisor with Blackstone, the private-equity and asset-management ...