Business: A Roller Coaster Year

After a year as harrowing as a ride on a runaway roller coaster, the stock market ended 1970 on the rise. The Dow-Jones industrial average started the year at 800, then plummeted to an eight-year low of 631 on May 26. After that, the market began to climb back—haltingly at first, but accelerating notably near year's end. Last week the Dow-Jones average closed 1970 at 839. That was a 4.8% increase over the 1969 close, but still far short of the 1968 high of 985.