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Before executing a commercial property lease or sales contract, the parties may prepare a letter of intent or an agreement in principle. The letter of intent or a similar document (the “LOIs”) generally signals that the parties have agreed on the outline of a deal, but not on all of its provisions or details.

Most market updates are preoccupied with shorter-term phenomena and near-term concerns. However, today’s realities are best assessed through a longer-term lens—one based on the goal of generating attractive, or at least sufficient, compounded returns over decades rather than months, quarters, or even years. Great investment opportunities are rare, and an investor’s job is to recognize them when they occur and to avoid putting capital in harm’s way.

In a recent venture market survey, entrepreneurs said they have lowered their valuation expectations and venture capitalists reported having slowed their investment pace. One of the most interesting questions in the survey was also most likely one of the hardest to answer: Which two metrics are most important when evaluating new investments today?

The combination of improving economic data, stronger corporate earnings, and, particularly, potential policies from the Trump administration has created a heady brew for domestic equity markets. Even stocks abroad are posting robust returns. While President Trump’s plans for infrastructure spending, tax cuts, deregulation, and generally growth-focused policies are a key factor in the current U.S. stock rally, these policies are also a main source of uncertainty, and therefore risk, for investors.

Political events in 2016 gave rise to increasing nationalism and populism globally. Combined with a global slowdown in economic and trade growth, international integration may already have plateaued and could begin to reverse over the coming decade. Multinational organizations should prepare for potentially significant implications by carefully considering the political threats in the countries in which they operate.

The potential economic and development gains from gender equality are vast and well-documented—and yet they are currently being bypassed. This joint report with the United Nations Foundation explores the market potential of advancing gender equality. By investing in companies offering products and services that promote gender equality, investors can earn the “return on equality,” seizing profitable, under-tapped market opportunities. In fact, narrowing the global gender gap could add U.S. $12 trillion in annual gross domestic product.

Taking a closer look at the major market themes and strategic positioning for 2017, the view is slightly more optimistic than 2016, but includes many of the same themes that played out last year. Although there may only be a modest pickup in economic activity, equity markets should benefit from expectations of growth and strong corporate earnings. Given this backdrop, expect modest equity returns with developed economies outpacing emerging markets, interest rates to move modestly higher across the maturity curve, and bouts of volatility.

Anyone comparing diversified portfolio returns to domestic equity performance since the election may be disappointed, but this initial discouragement is misplaced. Instead, investors should remember the value of diversification and have confidence when positioning portfolios for the long term instead of reacting to current headlines. By taking this approach and holding onto recommended asset classes, investors can keep their eyes on the real prize of achieving their long-term wealth goals.

The acceleration of technological innovations and the challenges associated with adapting to them seem to point toward a tumultuous future. That future appears to be approaching faster than ever. Companies are finding it harder to maintain their positions in industries that are increasingly subject to disruption. And while investors may not be able to pinpoint precisely which companies or industries will lead the disruption—or fall victim to it—they should do what they can to plan to take advantage of these opportunities when they arise.

While currency traders were fixated throughout 2016 on the U.S. Federal Reserve’s outlook for short-term rates, we expect that changes in the value of the U.S. dollar in 2017 will be driven more by geopolitical events: most notably, the French Presidential election, a potential national election in Italy, as well as U.S.-China relations. In this edition of Global Foresight, we look across geographies, beginning with a focus on European politics and then a review of Japanese valuations. Jimmy Chang follows with an article on the U.S., China and emerging markets.