Courtesy of Doug Short writes: Despite the lack of a vote on the Fiscal Cliff issues, the constant stream of breaking news, comments from congressional sources and assorted tweets kept the markets in an upward trend on this last day of 2012. The S&P 500 closed the day with a gain of 1.69% to finish the year up 13.41%, the best performance in three years.

Here is a look at today’s action — a fairly subdued performance until the noon hour followed by a steady acceleration as the Cliff optimism increased.

And here is a snapshot of 2012 with the roller coaster peaks and troughs highlighted.

The S&P 500 finished 2012 with a gain of 13.41%, but the index is 2.70% below the interim closing high of September 14th.

From a longer-term perspective, the index is 110.8% above the March 2009 closing low and 8.9% below the nominal all-time high of October 2007.

For a better sense of how these declines figure into a larger historical context, here’s a long-term view of secular bull and bear markets in the S&P Composite since 1871

- Phil

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Philip R. Davis is a founder of Phil's Stock World (www.philstockworld.com), a stock and options trading site that teaches the art of options trading to newcomers and devises advanced strategies for expert traders. Mr. Davis is a serial entrepreneur, having founded software company Accu-Title, a real estate title insurance software solution, and is also the President of the Delphi Consulting Corp., an M&A consulting firm that helps large and small companies obtain funding and close deals. He was also the founder of Accu-Search, a property data corporation that was sold to DataTrace in 2004 and Personality Plus, a precursor to eHarmony.com. Phil was a former editor of a UMass/Amherst humor magazine and it shows in his writing -- which is filled with colorful commentary along with very specific ideas on stock option purchases (Phil rarely holds actual stocks). Visit: Phil's Stock World (www.philstockworld.com)

© 2012 Copyright PhilStockWorld - All Rights Reserved Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors.

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