A Strong First Half

Friday marked the close of the first half of 2013, and it was certainly a happy six months for the stock market. The S&P 500 returned nearly 13 percent, giving that index its best first-half returns since 1998, when the dot-com mania was just getting started.

In addition to the good news for the first half, this performance also bodes well for the second half. Since 1946, the S&P 500 index has risen at least 10 percent 23 times in the first six months of the year, according to data from S&P Dow Jones Indices. During those 23 years, the market also rose the second half of the year 19 times. In eleven of those years, the S&P 500 rose at least 10 percent over the second half of the year.

Three of the stocks in the S&P managed the difficult feat of doubling in value over the course of the past six months. They are:

• Best Buy, up 134 percent
• Netflix, up 128 percent
• Micron Technology, up 126 percent