Fasten your seat belts, financial forecasters! The brutal disruption of first-world business models will be even more challenging in months and years to come. CFOs and their financial analysts must be at the top of their game. Most of all, they must be fast.

Consider this view shared by World Bank president Robert Zoellick in a November 30, 2011, speech to the Harvard Kennedy School of Government: “Over the past five years, two-thirds of global economic growth came from emerging markets.” With that back-drop, consider that fast-growth economies such as China are now down-shifting. Add in the current predictions of recession in the euro zone. The prospect for revenue growth for multi-nationals looks bleak.

Still, it’s a good bet that we will not see all sectors, all channels and all product lines dry up in unison. Hot products marketed carefully, properly priced and delivered flawlessly to the right hungry buyers will reward shareholders handsomely.