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SINGAPORE-Many investors said good riddance on Wednesday to one of the worst years on record and prayed that government rescue plans will pull the global economy out of its fierce tailspin later in the new year.More pain is expected in the near-term as bleak economic reports roll in, flagging more bankruptcies, bad debts and layoffs through at least early 2009, and more sleepless nights for everyone from central bankers to consumers struggling to pay off mortgages and credit card bills.The biggest financial crisis in 80 years, sparked by a U.S. mortgage meltdown, made this year one of the worst ever for investors as recession stalked the global economy."It has been a shocking year, hardly anything was spared in the market carnage," said Michael Heffernan, senior client adviser and strategist at Austock Group in Australia.The slump wiped out nearly $14 trillion in market value, according to the benchmark MSCI world index of larger companies.For all markets, the damage was probably much worse. The World Federation of Exchanges, which tracks stock markets in 53 developed and emerging economies, said some $30 trillion in market value evaporated through to the end of November. The crisis also radically changed the financial landscape, bringing down U.S. investment banks Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers, saddling many other banks with huge losses and freezing the credit system that keeps the world economy humming.The U.S. S&P 500 benchmark has lost about 40 percent with just one trading day left in 2008. Its biggest yearly drop was in 1931 during the Great Depression, when it fell 47.1 percent.Victims of the crisis are still piling up, with announcements almost daily of fresh company losses, more layoffs, and slumping prices for assets from cars to homes.Oil slid below $37 as economic slowdown bit into demand. Gold was one of the few commodities to end the year higher, gaining about 4 percent, as panicky investors grabbed assets seen as safer in times of trouble.Tuesday brought news from the United States that single-family home prices were down 18 percent in the year to October and consumer confidence was at a record low.On Wednesday, data showed Finnish industrial output down over 10 percent in the year to November, the biggest drop in 17 years.By Kim Coghill
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