Scorecard for 2017

Happy new year, and a fond farewell to 2017. For most investors, 2017 was the best year for stocks since 2013. Here are the final numbers for the year:

• The Nasdaq composite was the biggest winner among the major indexes, with a gain of 28.2 percent. 
• The Dow Jones industrial average rose by 25.1 percent. 
• The large-company Standard & Poor's 500 increased 19.4 percent.
• The relative laggard was the small-cap Russell 2000. It gained 13.1 percent, which was less than its 19.5 percent return from 2016.