But the best thing about the market is that it's completely objective - we can rank the best of 2013 with certitude. Bloomberg Markets Magazine has done just that, looking at estimates made by hundreds of market forecasters.
Economists were scored based on their predictions of indicators such as GDP, consumer price index, durable goods orders, consumer confidence, PMI, and the like.
In terms of overall predictive ability, JP Morgan took home the top prize, followed by Standard Chartered and Royal Bank of Scotland.
Here's
U.S.
- Christophe Barraud, Market Securities (61.61)
- Bernd Weidensteiner/Christoph Balz, Commerzbank (57.98)
- Joshua Shapiro, Maria Fiorini Ramirez (57.77)
- Jim O'Sullivan, High Frequency Economics (57.60)
- Thomas Lam, OSK-DMG (57.28)
Eurozone
- David Mackie, JP Morgan (70.08)
- Daniel Hartmann, Bantleon Bank (66.31)
- Andreas Scheuerle/Peter Leonhardt, Dekabank Deutsche Girozentrale (65.00)
- Francesca Panelli, Banca Aletti (64.79)
- Gerd Hassel, BHF-Bank (61.73)
Australia
- Bill Evans, Westpac Banking (62.11)
- Warren Hogan, Australia & New Zealand Banking (60.58)
- Su-Lin Ong, Royal Bank of Canada (59.33)
- (tied) Scott Haslem, UBS, (59.33)
Brazil
- Fernando Fix, Votorantim Asset Management (65.32)
- Fabio Akira Hashizume, JP Morgan Chase (62.67)
- Daniel Snowden, Informa Global Markets (58.05)
Canada
- James Blumenthal, Informa Global Markets (58.79)
- David Tulk, TD Securities (57.49)
- Paul Ferley, Royal Bank of Canada (56.89)
China
- Song Yu, Goldman Sachs (65.21)
- Yao Wei, Societe Generale (61.38)
- Nie Wen, Nuabao Trust (60.12)
India
- Anubhuti Sahay, Standard Chartered (60.60)
- Sonal Varma, Nomura Financial Advisory (59.72)
- Shubhada Rao, Yes Bank (59.29)
Indonesia
- Anton Gunawan, Bank Danamon (64.83)
- Destry Damayanti, Bank Mandiri (60.05)
- Helmi Arman, Citigroup (57.81)
Japan
- Yoshiki Shinke, Dai-Ichi Life Research Institute (60.90)
- Kiichi Murashima, Citigroup (58.28)
- Taro Saito, NLI Research Institute (57.63)
Mexico
- Gabriel Lozano, JP Morgan Chase (67.13)
- Nader Nazmi, BNP Parisbas (59.70)
- Gabriel Casillas, Grupo Financiero Banorte (58.11)
U.K.
- Malcolm Barr/Allan Monks, JP Morgan Chase (65.52)
- Brian Hilliard, Societe Generale (58.66)
- Adam Chester/David Page/Nikesh Sawjani, Lloyds Bank CB (58.43)
Top Firms Overall
- JP Morgan Chase (58.20)
- Standard Chartered (56.64)
- Royal Bank of Scotland Group (56.34)
- BNP Paribas (54.55)
- Barclays (54.02)