If you're counting on another great year for emerging-market stocks, you may be disappointed.
That's what Morgan Stanley's chief Asia and emerging markets equity strategist Jonathan Garner suggested in a Jan. 15 report, arguing that early performance trends aren't reliable full-year predictors for developing markets.
For investors who were around 18 years ago, there may be a sense of deja vu. In emerging markets and Japan, 2018 may be a year like 2000, "which begins well, gets more difficult and ends badly," analysts led by Garner said in the report, citing late-cycle economic expansion, global equity bull market, central banks tightening policies and rising inflationary pressures.