The Week by the Numbers: December 29, 2013 – January 4, 2014

By Matt Phifer

Almost 30 – Percent gain in the stock market in 2013

2013 was the best year on Wall Street since 1997 with investors seeing a nearly 30 percent gain on investment.  It was a record-breaking year with the Dow Jones closing on highs 52 times despite various issues like the turmoil in Egypt, the Boston Marathon bombings and speculation of a change in Federal Reserve policies.  The Dow Jones closed the year with a new record high of 16,576.66.  The S&P 500 saw 45 new highs and went up 29.6 percent, the biggest gain in 16 years.  The Nasdaq returned to a level not seen since September 2000.  

1,058 – Candidates have made the short list to be part of a Mars colony

Mars One, which launched in 2011 and has the goal of beginning a colony on Mars by 2025, has narrowed its candidate list to 1,058 possible Martian colonists from over 200,000 applicants.  The applicants will have to undergo rigorous tests including simulations of life on Mars as well as isolation tests in order to determine who will make the final cut.  Only 24 of the 1,058 will be selected to make the mission, which Mars One hopes to accomplish in 2025.

Over 1 million – People have signed up for Obamacare

Over 1 million Americans signed up for Obamacare in the month of December, pushing the total number of enrolled citizens to roughly 1.1 million by the end of 2013.  The majority of those who signed up did so in the week before the deadline to have coverage in January.  The numbers still fall far short of the Obama administration’s initial projections that 3.3 million people would be signed up for healthcare through the federal and state exchanges by the end of the year.