Trying Again to Find the 'Sure Thing'

'Tis the season to reminisce about the year gone by ... and then make bold predictions about the year ahead.

Last year at this time, TheStreet.com surveyed fund managers for their biggest surprises of 2004, before turning around to find out their sure things for 2005. The results -- as one might expect from a gaggle of fund managers talking about the market -- varied wildly.

When it came to the biggest surprises of 2004, the stubbornly low interest rate environment was the real shocker, followed by the jump in oil prices to the $50-a-barrel range. Continued small-cap domination and drugmaker Merck's (MRK Quote) collapse also were stunners a year ago. ...