S&P at year end.

The S&P is at the same level it started a year ago, despite huge volatile periods.
The Federal Reserve, the US Credit Downgrade by Standard and Poors, the deterioration situation in Europe, Congress Debt Ceiling debacle, Japan's Earthquake, all these events contributed to the huge market swings, but the market remained within a range and it's flat for the year.

Wisdom

Sometimes It Is Best Not to Trade What You Think
This statement does need some qualifiers, so here they are. First, if we think something seems logical, we need to wait for the market to prove us out before we go “all in on margin” because we are sure of what the market will do next. Second, simply because something makes sense doesn’t mean the market will respond in the way we think it will or at the time we think it will.