Japan's Nikkei 225 Average fell 42% in 2008, the worst loss in its 58-year history, though the benchmark gained 1.3% on its final half-day of trade.

Japan's government and central bank are considering launching a $110 billion scheme to buy bad loans and other financial assets from banks using public funds to ease a corporate credit crunch, the Japanese daily Sankei Shimbun said on Tuesday.

While the overall market is unlikely to stage a major turnaround any time soon, experts agree there are a handful of investments that are heating up and could help you recoup some gains.

Housing prices in England and Wales fell 8.7 percent in 2008, bringing the average price of a house to 159,900 pounds ($235,800), property consultant Hometrack said in its monthly survey on Monday.

Friday: The day after Christmas, and all through the U.S., retail stores are hurt by abysmal holiday sales. But there is a slightly brighter consumer spot: online merchandisers like Amazon.com, which reported its best holiday sales ever. Auto maker stocks climbed and techs slide, bringing the market mostly flat. Experts told CNBC that strong Web retail is a very good omen for the economy — and pointed to specific stocks that may jump after the Obama inauguration.

Japan's industrial output posts a record fall in November as companies halt factory lines to deal with a plunge in global demand, underscoring fears that the world's No.2 economy could face a prolonged recession.

Manufacturing activity in Japan hit a record low in December, contracting for the 10th straight month in a corporate survey that underscored the country's dire economic situation amid the global downturn.

Wednesday: Christmas Eve is short on economic cheer. Unemployment claims jumped by 30,000 to a 26-week high. New U.S. durable-goods orders fell 1 percent in November, which was less severe than feared — but it followed a sharply revised drop in October orders. CNBC heard from experts who predict a slow awakening beginning after H2 2009 — and one analyst who says we're already in a bull market (!).

The big questions for the coming year are how long and deep will the recession be  and how it will  compare to those  of the past.

New U.S. orders for long-lasting manufactured goods fell 1 percent in November, a less severe drop than anticipated though it followed a steeply revised plunge in October orders, a government report on Wednesday showed.

Bleak housing data showed the United States and Britain were sinking deeper into recession and authorities from Washington to Tokyo worked hard to spend their way out of the worst
downturn in decades.

Big Japanese firms grew more pessimistic about business conditions in the three months to December, hit by tighter funding conditions and plummeting exports amid the global economic slump.

Japan's cabinet approved a record $980.6 billion budget for the year from April, boosting spending on social security and economic steps that analysts say will not be very effective in fighting the recession.

A drop in gasoline prices gave consumer sentiment an unexpected lift, but the data gloom continues: the recession deepened and both new and existing home sales fell by a record amount in November. Investors' flight to quality goes on; retail stores are eerily quiet; and reseachers at Challenger are predicting more than 1 million job cuts next year. But one expert sees a spark that'll start the economic thaw in 2009.

The first half of next year will be very bad for the world economy, but investors will find value in stock markets as some deeply discounted shares will stage a rebound, Marc Faber, editor and publisher Gloom, Boom and Doom Report, told CNBC.