US stocks lived up to their reputation for looking forward in the fourth quarter. It was, by any measure, a very positive year for investors.

A September market slide took the shine off a strong start to the quarter but the economy continued its recovery.

The US stock market kept chugging along in the second quarter.

Market and economic review for the first quarter of 2021.

An historic year ended with very positive results for investors.

The stock markets continued their recovery and their apparent disconnect from the economy.

The roller coaster continued for US stocks, with the S&P 500 having its best quarter since 1987.

The quarter began innocently enough, with mixed data (see a brief summary below) and then came March and all bets were off. Ultimately the US stock market suffered its worst quarter in 12 years.

It was, simply put, a great year to be an investor.

Performance for stock markets was not great for the quarter, nor for the trailing year, but how about those year-to-date numbers?