AIRCRAFT MAKER TO TAKE OFF

Thankfully, despite some of the bellicose talk in 2017 from north korea to Iran and the yemen, the world did not tip over the brink.

But it remains an uncertain place with a mercurial figure in the White house, disputes in the South China Sea and, as ever, turmoil across the Middle East.

The West is also on alert for cyber attacks.

all of this should have been fodder for the shares of the nation’s premier aerospace and security firm BAE SYSTEMS, which was my share pick. But sadly it drifted, falling 4pc in 2017.

as a believer in long-term investment I am keeping faith with it in 2018. The Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier may have sprung a leak but there is still a second carrier to be commissioned and the renewal of Trident to come.

BAE can also benefit from Donald Trump’s expanding defence budgets. We can expect BAE Systems’ investment in cyber security, together with its stellar brand, to earn greater incomes. The shares are 573p.