With the curtain closing on 2008, it’s time for me to take out my crystal ball and predict what will happen in 2009.

1- Even with a surge in the polls, due to the Israeli/Hamas conflict, both Ehud Barak and Tzipi Livni will falter badly in the upcoming Israeli elections, paving the way for former PM Benjamin Netanyahu to reclaim the title, Prime Minister.

2- Due to continued falling crude oil prices, Iran civil unrest will lead to an overthrow of Ahmadinejad.

3- The earth will continue to cool, and Obama will have to back off some of his environmentally friendly campaign promises.

4- As cracks form in the European Union and talk heats up whether the Euro will continue to exist as a currency, the US Dollar will make a strong move back to parity against the Euro.

5- US economic growth will rebound much earlier than expected, end of Q1, and we will see GDP growth of over 3% by end of ‘09.

6-S&P 500 will rebound strongly from a dreadful ‘08, and end ‘09 at 1132.

7- Despite spending the equivalent of a small country’s GDP in free agency, hated New York Yankees will contend with Baltimore for the cellar in the stacked AL East.

8- With many small market NBA teams taking a big financial hit, look for the city of Seattle to regain an NBA team.

9- With multinationals cutting back on R&D, look for the recent wave of Israeli M&A to continue, as they look to acquire technology instead of building it in-house.

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Aaron Katsman is Managing Editor of the Israel Opportunity Investor newsletter. He is lead portfolio manager for the Israel Growth Portfolio and Managing Director of America Israel Investment Associates, LLC. For more information, go to www.israelnewsletter.com or call 1-888-327-6179, or email aaron@profile-financial.com.

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