Bubbles, Roses and Ducks

Sometimes, at the close of a year, it is difficult to decide what aspect of the markets to write about.  The final year of the twentieth century was not such a year!  In 1999, more than 100 mutual funds (out of 7,000) registered returns in excess of 100%!  The initial public offering (IPO) market was boiling all year long, with scores of firt-time offerings more than doubling on their first day of trading.