Tale of the Tape

Wall Street's hits and misses

When the closing bell tolled at 4 last Friday afternoon, the New York Stock Exchange rang out its busiest year ever. Inspired by a continuing bull market, investors had traded 21.6 billion shares, up from 16.5 billion in 1982. The Dow Jones industrial average closed the year at 1258.64, a gain of 212 points over 1982. Prices on the American Stock Exchange, which is made up largely of younger companies with lower-priced issues, surged ahead 31%. The over-the-counter market, the haven for more speculative stocks, rose 20%. Most shares...