The craziest, creepiest year in my 50 years of writing about business

The Fed move, combined with Congress passing a big spending boost, helped revive the economy. It also revived a stock market where the S&P 500 had fallen a sickening 34 percent in less than six weeks. (Since their March 23 bottom last year, stocks then have risen 109 percent, according to the Wilshire 5000, adding about $25.8 trillion in value.)

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