Shelter From the StormPreserve your capital by embracing safe-haven investments.

It's hard to imagine a more tumultuous market year than the one that's about to wrap. Financial headlines in 2008 repeated billions of dollars in write-downs at the major banks, rounds of corporate layoffs and a slipping-and-sliding stock market. While it may not get worse, market experts say we're hardly in for a complete 180 in the new year. For one, the start of a new presidential cycle is historically subpar for the broader market. "When I think about the typical first two years of a president's term in office, the gains are 5 percent or so--not great," says Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist of Standard & Poor's Corp. Equity Research.

Secondly, the colossal wreckage from the housing and credit crisis will take time to rebuild and fortify. "It's going to be a long and arduous [recovery] process," says Todd Harrison, founder and CEO of financial intelligence and infotainment website Minyanville.com. "We've been living beyond our means for a long time. We're in the process of taking our medicine."