As we start the New Year, it’s time to glance in the rear view mirror and rejoice that 2008 is behind us. It was a tumultuous year during which nearly every aspect of the global economy took a beating — from stocks and bonds to every other financial instrument on the major indexes. Hardly any industries or businesses were spared.

The financial chaos leapt the boundaries of both country and class. It didn’t care if you were uber-wealthy or a hard-working blue collar worker. After a six-year bull run that brought shareholder gains of nearly $7 trillion, the U.S. markets watched those gains evaporate. 

These far-reaching losses punctuate one of the main themes of our book, “The Big Gamble: Are You Investing or Speculating?” The point being that no investment is 100% safe—never has been, never will be.  And now, even though we’re eager to accelerate into a New Year, we can’t ignore that we’re still hitched to a trailer load of problems—problems Wall Street wants Washington to solve.

 A flight to “safety” now underway

In the worst market plunge since 1931, the Dow lost 33.8% of its value in a mere twelve months. This time even the blue chips were hit—some of the biggest losers for the year were General Motors, down 84.7% and American Express, off by 64.5%.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index sank 39.5% —the worst nosedive since 1937. In fact, with the exception of Wal-Mart and McDonalds, every one of the 30 Dow Jones Industrial stocks suffered a loss of at least 10%.