The 15 charts that defined the global economy in 2017

Stocks hit all-time highs (over and over and over)

Markets Insider

After hitting 20,000 points in January, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has continued to surge, coming close to the 25,000 point mark during early December.

Stocks in the USA have continued to rise throughout the year, with a combination of the soaring US economy, and improving earnings from firms pushing valuations higher.

“The new records have everything to do with earnings. You really don’t need to get much fancier than that. Over time, earnings have been what’s determined the direction of the market — far more than interest rates or anything else.

“It was about a year ago that earnings were really stuck in the mud, but there’s been a tremendous improvement from the expected growth rate, which is all tied to the economy,” Kevin Caron, a market strategist and portfolio manager who helps oversee $180 billion at Stifel Nicolaus told BI’s Joe Ciolli in October.

The Dow’s main counterpart indexes, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq have followed suit, hitting fresh high after fresh high throughout the year, as the charts below illustrate: