It was by any measure a record-setting year.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 26 percent in 2013, its best performance since 1995.
The S&P rose 29 percent on the year, another 16-year best.
The Nasdaq rose 38 percent, touching levels last seen during the dot-com bubble era of 2000.
But not every asset class rose in 2013. Gold turned in its worst performance since 1981, falling 28 percent for the year.
Similarly, US 10-year Treasury bonds declined by the most in four years, pushing yields back above the psychologically important 3 percent level.