[MRM]

Three things. Remember, it wasn't until almost 2013 that the market finally got back to the peak it saw in 2007. The absolute nadir came in 2009. Then prices went up dramatically until 2012 when there was another drop, and then the market caught fire again toward the end of 2012 and 2013 was a boom year.

So, number one factor is that some of the gains were just the natural rebound that comes after a bad market was oversold. Number two factor, the economy in 2013 was fundamentally stronger and was in post-recession growth mode, so corporate earnings were better, which supports higher stock prices. Factor number three, four, five and six through one million is a little dance the Fed called Quantitative Easing. With 0 percent interest rates corporations had free money to invest with which juiced the stock market on one hand and with no return on bonds on the other hand, everyone was jumping into stocks because there was no where else to go.