(MONEY Magazine) – JANUARY

27 WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM'S ANNUAL MEETING BEGINS Hundreds of top business, political, media and academic leaders (including several Nobel winners) will gather in Davos, Switzerland for four days to discuss issues including globalization, poverty and the backlash against U.S. economic dominance. After the WTO debacle in Seattle, any communication might help.

FEBRUARY

1 NEW HAMPSHIRE PRIMARY "The race looked like a shoo-in for a while, but now it looks more like a footrace," says Carl Steen, an analyst at Maria Fiorini Ramirez, a global economic consulting service. "Wall Street, like the Republicans, would like one clear front-runner in the party." Debate among Democrats, Steen continues, is par for the course.

1-2 FEDERAL OPEN MARKET COMMITTEE MEETING The Fed now gives warnings before making interest-rate changes. "So at the first meeting after Y2K, we can expect to see a leaning toward raising rates again," says Kurt Karl, chief international economist at global forecasting firm WEFA. An actual hike is unlikely, he says.

--JUDY FELDMAN