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.
The Week by the Numbers: November 10-16, 2013
By Matt Phifer
15 – Hawaii became the 15th State to Legalize Gay Marriage
A bill legalizing gay marriage passed Hawaii’s senate on November 12th by a vote of 19-4. Governor Neil Abercrombie called the special session in order to pass the bill, which he quickly signed into law a day later, making Hawaii the 15th state to legalize gay marriage.
1,776 Feet – The Height of One World Trade Center, Officially Denoted as the Tallest Building in America
The Chicago-based Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat officially designated One World Trade Center, at 1,776 feet, as America’s tallest building. One World Trade Center’s official height includes the spire on top of the building, which was a source of controversy. Spires are allowed to be used in the measurement of a building’s height, but antennas are not. The council determined that the top of One World Trade Center is a spire, not an antenna. Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel disagreed with the decision, saying that the spire is an antenna, which he believes should keep it from being ranked as taller than Chicago’s Willis Tower (Formerly known as the Sears Tower.).
About 106,000 People – Signed Up for Health Insurance Through the Federal and State Marketplaces Created by the Affordable Care Act in the First Month
The first statistics of the number of Americans who enrolled in health insurance through the federal and state marketplaces were released by the Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius and the numbers were very low. Only about 106,000 people had signed up for health insurance in the first month. Of that, only 26,794 signed up using Healthcare.gov, the problematic federal exchange website. That number is far short of the administration’s projections in an internal memo from September that said the administration expected 464,920 people would sign up in the first month.