Originally posted by the Voice of America.
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                        US, Japanese Stocks Soar in 2013

   by VOA News

   U. S. and Japanese stock markets posted strong gains in 2013 as
   investors were encouraged by central bank efforts to make it easier to
   buy homes, equipment and other goods by pushing down interest rates and
   promising to keep them there for a while.
   Japan's Nikkei was up 57 percent in 2013, the best performance in
   decades. In the United States, the S&P 500 began the last day of
   trading in 2013 on track for a 29 percent annual gain. The Dow and the
   NASDAQ also headed for major annual gains.
   Nick Ventura of Ventura Wealth Management in New Jersey called Japan's
   action an unprecedented  "global gamble" that has worked, at least so
   far.
   In 2013, the United States saw modest improvements in growth, housing
   prices, and the unemployment rate. Ventura said the improving economy
   meant fewer wild swings in prices and fewer worried investors.
   "Every time there was the slightest pullback in stock prices it was
   rewarded with a fresh round of buying. So there is a growing confidence
   in the U.S. recovery, and I think that's what really perked up the U.S.
   economy."
   A [1]study published Tuesday by the Boston investment firm State
   Street, shows a significant improvement in investor confidence between
   November and December. That growing confidence is apparently making
   investors more willing to take modest risks and buy some kinds of
   stocks.
   The Wall Street Journal reports investors have been shunning complex
   strategies and are simply seeking stocks with low prices and strong
   earnings potential.
   Meanwhile, The Financial Times reports that investments thought to
   offer a safe haven for money in troubled economic times, like gold and
   government bonds, saw fewer buyers.
   Many analysts predict stock prices will continue to climb in 2014, but
   at a slower pace.
   Investment advisor and author Matthew Tuttle, of Tuttle Tactical
   Management in Stamford, Connecticut, said prices will increase, but so
   will risk.
   "We have a 'house of cards' [fragile economy], but we don't see the
   cards toppling really until 2016. We are definitely forming a bubble
   [pushing prices toward unsustainable levels], but that bubble still has
   a lot of room to grow," he said.
   Tuttle said it is crucial that the U.S. Federal Reserve moves gradually
   and carefully when it reverses the low interest rate policies that
   spurred rising stock prices.
   U.S. markets will be closed Wednesday for the New Year's holiday.
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   [2]http://www.voanews.com/content/us-japanese-stocks-soar-in-2013/18208
   61.html

References

   1. http://statestreet.com/wps/portal/internet/corporate/home/aboutstatestreet/newsmedia/pressreleases/pressreleasedetail/!ut/p/c4/RY3LDoIwFES_xQUrFvcCCu1SF6Ih8YGaKJvmUgo2QDHSYPx78ZGY2cxkTmYgg1GGBl2R1Z2hBs6QhWJzSpEtvDmyXYy4ThguZ_tlgKEPF8iif7_d7MOxX6dJEK8QYw-O70XZGauM3ZG9wsXBh2wbnYu2tqK_0l0V4gc4WOhB959nl0zh3lX1DT_A7bVVDsquvZF5uj05WDVdPgJvGxWe9BnDqR8GkfIV5xSUOS-nM15yhhIOyojTAW415Ww-mbwAhUGd4Q!!/
   2. http://www.voanews.com/content/us-japanese-stocks-soar-in-2013/1820861.html