FILE - In this Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012 file photo, specialist Christian Sanfilippo works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, in New York. Despite many challenges, 2012 turned out to be a surprisingly good year for stocks. The Dow Jones industrial average, the Standard & Poors 500 and the Nasdaq composite index will all end the year substantially higher, despite losing ground in the final days of the year as concerns about the looming fiscal cliff mount. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
FILE - In this Tuesday, March 13, 2012 file photo, President Barack Obama's speech is shown on a television monitor on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, in New York. In 2012, stocks wavered ahead of a presidential election that at times seemed too close to call, and while Obama ultimately reclaimed the White House by a comfortable margin, the Republicans retained control of the House. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
FILE - In this Friday, July 20, 2012 file photo, workers clean the rooftop of a building near an Apple Store in Shanghai, China. Apple was one of the star performers of the first quarter of 2012 and was probably the year's most talked-about company. Apple also announced a dividend and overtook Exxon Mobil as the United States' most valuable company. Investor optimism faded though and prompted a sell-off. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)
NEW YORK — If you’d told investors what was going to happen in 2012 — U.S. economic growth at stall speed, an intensifying European debt crisis, a slowdown in China, fiscal deadlock in Washington, decelerating corporate earnings growth — and asked how the stock market …
