A Look Ahead If you made it through 2007, you'll make it through 2008--or so say economic forecasters asked to describe the near-term environment for entrepreneurs.

Last year's themes of real estate woe, falling interest rates, tighter credit and rising oil prices are likely to continue to play out for much, if not most, of this year.

Don't look for housing to return to prosperity before midyear, if even then. "There's not going to be a real estate bounce-back," says Gerald Celente, director of Trends Research Institute, a futurist study group. Celente says it may be a good time to buy in some markets, but prices won't soon return to those found a couple of years ago.