Nonetheless, investors have reasons to be optimistic. Although a tough first week for the S&P 500 heralded a loss of 38.5 per cent in 2008, in most cases it has rallied to deliver full-year growth. Markets have also shown a tendency to bounce back recently: the sharp market sell-off in August 2015 was largely reversed as China stabilised and the US economy remained strong. And analysts predict that a weaker growth outlook could help undervalued companies such as Apple (US:AAPL) and Intel (US:INTC) - both of which are IC tips - to outperform in 2016.