We start the first trading day of the new year — Happy New Year, everybody! — in optimistic territory, following a modest December overall, which saw the Santa Claus Rally peter out and the tech-heavy Nasdaq close in the red for the month. Currently, we’re +139 points of the Dow (+0.29%), +35 on the S&P 500 (+0.51%), +235 on the Nasdaq (+0.93%) and +13 points on the small-cap Russell 2000 (+0.53%).When we look back on another successful trading year in 2025, it’s important to consider where we came from: a ...