by KYW's Salil Gutt

2007 was a wild year for the stock market. The last three months in particular were very uncomfortable for investors as the news of sub prime losses swept the market like a tsunami.  The Wall Street Journal polled a dozen savvy pros in the investing world for applying lessons learned to investing in 2008.

Here are three common themes.

First. Market volatility will continue well through the first half of the year.  The secret is not to let your short term emotions drive long term investing. In short, don't bail in a panic just because the Dow is tumbling. Use this as a buying opportunity.

Second. Diversification is important so you should be constantly rebalancing to make sure you are not overweighted in certain sectors. For instance, adjusting holdings in emerging markets is a good idea.

Finally. Include other asset classes to both diversify and goose up annual returns. For instance, adding natural resource holdings, infrastructure development sectors and international real estate will accomplish this very well.