The outgoing year certainly earns its place in history as one of the best of times for stocks.
It was pretty much smooth sailing to a new high on the S&P 500 of 1,848—a 30 percent gain with no correction greater than 7 percent. Stocks in the coming year are also expected to make good strides, but no forecasts come close to the performance of 2013.
But 2013’s advantage over the coming year was that the market was able to climb a wall of worry—starting with the fiscal cliff last New Year’s Eve, through the government shutdown in October, and up to the Fed’s announcement in December that it would pull back on stimulus.
Strategists are optimistic for 2014. Unlike in 2013, however, they say there is no one big catalyst to fear—one major event that’s sure to trip up the stock market’s advance.
CNBC
