The big market stories over the course of 2014 were Oil, the US dollar and surging U.S. equities. The Russian ruble tumbled to record lows in December, and as of this writing continues to weaken, but the U.S market's meteoric rise appears to be unstoppable.
However, there were a host of other events that rounded out—and contributed to—the 2014 market year. As 2014 draws to a close, we thought it might be interesting, even fun, to take a look at the past year through the prism of Investing.com's weekly comics. Below, 20 comics, and events, that were highlights of our year. Editor's Note: All dates reflect when the comic was posted.
January 9 - Spain's recovery strengthens as bond yields fall and the stock market rallies.
February 13 - New Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen delivers her inaugural testimony to Congress on February 11, 2014.
February 27 - Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) acquires WhatsApp in $19 billion deal.
March 12 - Concerns mount regarding the health of China's economy.
March 19 - Markets shrug off geopolitical concerns over Ukraine as the S&P 500 heads toward 1,900.
May 08 - Fears over a tech bubble in the NASDAQ begin to surface.
May 15 - The S&P 500 crosses the 1,900-level for the first time in history.
May 22 - Ukraine voters go to the polls to elect a president amid ongoing geopolitical tensions.
June 19 - Oil prices soar on fears over Middle East violence.
July 4 - The Dow, S&P 500 celebrate the Fourth of July with all-time highs.
July 10 - Germany thrashes Brazil on the way to winning the World Cup.
July 24 - The European Central Bank begins to consider QE as the eurozone recovery stalls.
August 13 - U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin continue to flex their muscles over Ukraine.
August 28 - The S&P rally picks up steam as the index climbs above the 2,000 mark.
September 11 - Voters in Scotland go to the polls to vote on independence from the UK.
October 30 - The Federal Reserve announces the end of QE3.
November 13 - The U.S. dollar strengthens sharply on the diverging monetary policy outlook between the Fed and its major Central Bank peers.
November 20 - The yen tumbles as the Bank of Japan adds to stimulus.
December 4 - The Russian ruble crashes along with oil prices, putting pressure on President Vladimir Putin.
December 11 - Oil futures plunged 40% in 2014 as a price war between Saudi Arabia and U.S. shale companies escalates.
And perhaps our favorite comic from this past year, Investing.com's new iOS App announcement:
To see the full year's worth of Investing.com comics go to our Comics page under the Opinion tab, here.