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Bull market

The Dow’s 2-year trip to nowhere

Adam Shell, USA TODAY

The Dow has taken investors on a wild ride to nowhere in the past two years.

The Dow Jones industrial average has taken traders on a wild ride to nowhere over the past two years.

On Wednesday, the Dow Jones industrial average, the iconic U.S. stock index represented by 30 of the USA’s best-known companies, closed up 30 points at 18,199.13.

And while that gain pushed the Dow’s gain for the year up to 4.4%, it is a stark reminder that the stock market has barely budged in almost two years.

The last time the Dow passed a milestone, it was Dow 18,000. And that happened way back on Dec. 23, 2014 -- nearly two years ago. Proof of the Dow’s heady run to heights that (at the time) were never seen before come courtesy of old newspaper articles and catchy photos of traders at the New York Stock Exchange donning baseball hats emblazoned with “DOW 18,000.”

But the bright future of big, round numbers like Dow 19,000 or Dow 20K has yet to materialize. Instead, the Dow, based on Wednesday’s close is just 175.16 points higher than it was 22 months ago. Not to depress long-term investors, but that equates to a price gain of just 0.97% -- which means investors have seen the Dow grow at an annual pace of 0.5% the past two years.

To call the market a go-nowhere market, or a sideways-moving market or a dud market, would all be accurate. The bull, of course, is now seven years, seven months old. And like an aging athlete, this bull doesn’t have the money-making moves it had in its prime. Whether the bull has one more big run in it or is on the verge of retirement remains to be seen.

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