Can you see the future?

Yes, you can do better than looking at an IKEA light rigged up to look like a crystal ball, like this lass here, when looking into the future... As a PR professional, your ability to predict the next trend, the next smash hit, the next big news, is key to your success for 2 reasons:
1) people won't read old news - you have to be cutting edge,
2) new ideas spark creativity - a new idea with your tired old product may create something extraordinary.
Here are some useful sources for trend spotting: trendwatching.com, TrendHunter magazine, YouTube trends blog, Mintel (including this consumer trends article), Euromonitor, Office for National Statistics (UK government) e.g. this report on household spend, and watch the newspapers and magazines too - here's a repeat of a Trendwatching.com article in the Independent...