Can we kiss 2007 away now? Despite the market's gyrations, the overall return stuck to its historical norm. This doesn't mean that a lot of interesting things didn't happen.

  • Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) shed roughly 40% of its stock value.
  • XM (NASDAQ:XMSR) and Sirius (NASDAQ:SIRI) agreed to merge back in February, yet both stocks lost ground in 2007.
  • Market darlings like Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Baidu.com (NASDAQ:BIDU), Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), and Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) continued to hit fresh highs.

Why should 2008 be any different? Sure, it's an election year. Interest rates are likely to bounce around like a pinball. The ingredients are certainly in place for some eventful trading in the year ahead, but which way will the market turn?

Not all Fools agree. Ryan Fuhrmann sees good things in the marketplace for 2008. Chuck Saletta is braced for bear.

Where do you stand on the market's prospects for the coming year? That's what this week's bout is all about.

Duel on!