JANUARY FEBRUARY JUNE JULY SEPTEMBER OCTOBER NOVEMBER DECEMBER

EVENTS: General Federal Reserve Markets1ST QUARTER 2ND QUARTER 3RD QUARTER 4TH QUARTER

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11

Stock Slide Dow tumbles 3.5% for the week in its biggest weekly slide since November 2011.

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New Boss Janet Yellen is confirmed as new Fed chief, making her one of the most powerful economic-policy makers in the world.

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Blowing Bubbles Fed’s December meeting minutes show officials are wary of financial markets overheating.

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Big Deal Comcast acquires Time Warner Cable for $45.2 billion.

13

Mt. Gox Collapses The bitcoin exchange shuts down after months of problems, leading CEO Mark Karpelès to publicly apologize.

26

Super BlowoutThe Seattle Seahawks rout the Denver Broncos in New York—the first cold-weather Super Bowl—by a score of 43-8.

2

‘Around Six Months’ The Dow tumbles after Janet Yellen, in her first press conference as Fed chief, suggests rate hikes could come six months after bond-buying ends.

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The Dow hits a summer low amid global jitters.

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Suiting Up Men’s Wearhouse acquires rival Jos. A. Bank for $1.8 billion.11

Radio Retreat A month after running a splashy Super Bowl ad, RadioShack closes 500 stores.

5

Crushed King Digital, maker of thepopular ‘Candy Crush Saga’ game, sinks 16% in IPO debut, as Wall Street worries it’s a one-hit wonder.

26

Ukraine in Crisis Citizens of Crimea vote to leave Ukraine in favor of Russia shortly after Russian soldiers rumble across the border.

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Exit Mohamed El-Erian stepsdown as Pimco CEO amid tension with Bill Gross.

21

Thirsty for Bourbon Beam Inc., owner of Jim Beam and Maker’s Mark, is bought for $13.6 billion.

13

Exit Sign Minutes from the Fed’s June meeting show the central bank plans to end its signa-ture bond-buying program in October.

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Financial Fines, Part I France’s BNP Paribas pays nearly $9 billion in money-laundering plea.1

Über Alles Germany beats Argentina in the World Cup final after pulverizing Brazil 7-1 in the semis.

13

Top Dollar Dollar Tree reaches a deal

to buy out Family Dollar; soon after, rival Dollar General makes its own bid.

28

To the Brink and BeyondAfter losing a years- long fight with creditors, Argentina defaults on its bonds.

31

Financial Fines, Part IICiti pays $7 billion to settle a probe into its mortgage practices.

14

Home Invasion Home Depot hires a security firm to investigate a potential data breach, which would be confirmed a week later.

3 Open for Business A little more than 13 years after the terrorist attacks that destroyed the World Trade Center, the first group of employees—from media firm Condé Nast—show up for work at One World Trade Center as the new tower opens for business.

3 Ruble in the Rubble With oil prices still sliding, Russia’s ruble falls 6% in a day as the Russian economy is wracked by oil’s travails.

1

Just Talk From Draghi European Central Bank President Mario Draghi promises more action but doesn’t take steps to deliver much.

4

Our Plan in Havana President Obama says the U.S. and Cuba have agreed to restore diplomatic ties, ending a standoff that dated to 1961.

17

GOP Sweeps Congress The Republican Party expands its majority in the House of Representatives and wins control of the Senate.

4

The $100 Billion Day Halliburton buys rival Baker Hughes for $35 billion, and Actavis pens a $66 billion deal for Allergan.

17

Fury in Ferguson Protestors fill the streets of Ferguson, Mo., after a grand jury decides not to indict a white police officer in the shooting death of an unarmed black teenager.

23

Shiniest Apple Ever Behind a revival in its lineup and its stock, Apple’s market capitalization tops $700 billion, putting it about $300 billion ahead of Exxon Mobil.

25

Red Friday Sales for the four-day weekend that began on Thanksgiving drop 11% from a year early, a sign the big ‘black Friday’ sales lure may be fading.

30

Hilton Checks Out of the WaldorfHilton Worldwide sells its flagship hotel, the Waldorf Astoria in Manhattan, for nearly $2 billion to China’s Anbang Insurance Group.

6

Patient Dies of Ebola in DallasThomas Eric Duncan, a Liberian hospitalized with Ebola, becomes the first person to die of the disease in the U.S.

8

19 Open SesameJack Ma’s Alibaba surges in its IPO, making the Chinese e-commerce firm one of the most valuable companies in the world.

Scotch on the Rocks After a heated public debate, Scottish voters elect to stay with the U.K.

19

Bill Gross Leaves PimcoDecades after founding the firm, Bill Gross departs Pimco amid acrimony, heading to Janus Funds.

26

The Weight of the Wait Still sensitive to economicpressures, Janet Yellen’s Fed maintains it will be a ‘considerable time’ before interest rates rise.

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The Fed Gets Patient Policy makers say they will wait a ‘considerable time’ before raising rates and be ‘patient.’ The Dow surges 700 points in two days.

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The End of QE3 At its October policy meeting, the Federal Reserve announces what everybody has known for months: The central bank was shutting down the bond-buying stimulus known as QE3.

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Yellen Stays Upbeat Fed chairwoman maintains status quo on rates and stimulus but worries markets are too calm.

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M&A ‘Game of Thrones’ 21st Century Fox withdraws Time Warner bid, saying the owner of HBO has ‘refused to engage with us.’ Separately, Sprint abandons a proposed purchase of T-Mobile US in the face of regulatory pressure.

5

Mideast Flashpoint President Obama approves airstrikes in Iraq aimed at militant Islamic State forces.

7

Financial Fines, Part III Bank of America is fined $17 billion over allegations it sold flawed mortgage securities.

21

Critique for Buffett Burger King’s $11 billion deal to buy Canadian chain Tim Hortons, with Warren Buffett’s assistance, draws criticism over taxes.

26

Sinking Ukraine’s currency

collapses against the dollar amid

escalating tensions with Russia.

12

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New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says he is ‘embarrassed and humiliated’ by actions leading to a traffic jam that was apparently politically

motivated.

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Split DecisionApple declares an unusual 7-for-1 stock split.

24

Redefining Blockbuster Gilead Sciences reports $2.3 billion in sales for its hepatitis C drug Sovaldi, the most ever for a drug during its first quarter on the market.

22

It Was a Good Run Ford announces that CEO Alan Mulally will retire.21

Shut the Windows Microsoft turns off the lights on Windows XP after 12 years9

This Is Going to Get UglyValeant and investor Bill Ackman pair up to make a (soon-to-be) hostile bid for Botox-maker Allergan.

21

Whoops! The Institute for Supply Management needs not one, not two, but three tries before it gets its manufacturing data correct.

2

ECB Goes Negative The European Central Bank cuts a key interest rate below zero, leading some banks to later charge to hold cash.

5

Missing the Tar-zhay Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel is ousted for problems including the retailer’s December security breach.

5

Is That Your Final Offer? Pfizer makes its best bid for AstraZeneca—$120 billion. AstraZeneca rejects it.

18

Apple Chases the Cool IPhone maker makes a splash by acquiring Beats Electronics, the high-end headphones company.

28

Steve Ballmer to the RescueFormer Microsoft CEO reaches an agreement to buy basketball’s L.A. Clippers for $2 billion.

29

Rise of Islamic State Sunni militants take over parts of northern Iraq in a shockingly fast attack that threatens a wider regional conflict.

9

Oil’s Big MomentObama administration clears the way for the first exports of unrefined American oil in nearly four decades.

24

The Winter Olympics feature a U.S. ice-dancing win and something very wrong with Bob Costas’s eye.

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Correct Me if I’m Wrong Small-cap Russell 2000 index briefly enters correction territory, down 10% from its high.

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No Triple Crown Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner California Chrome finishes fourth at Belmont.

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Pro-Russian forces in eastern Ukraine seize the regional prosecutor’s office in Donetsk.

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Dow Drops Stocks follow a weak January with a brutal entrance to February: Dow falls 326 points.

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On the Verge? The DJIA swings 450 points at one point in the session but pares that to close down 173 points, with stocks rattled as oil’s slide continues and Ebola fears fester.

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Rebound Fed official James Bullard suggests policy makers might be more accommodative than previously expected. Equities jump.

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A late-year rally pushes the granddaddy of the stock indexes over the 18000 mark for the first time, after a strong GDP report provides fresh optimism about the economy.

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7.5% for2014

Source: WSJ Market Data GroupErik Brynildsen/The Wall Street Journal

Photos (in order, 1Q): Associated Press (2); Getty Images (2); Zuma Press; Reuters (2); European Pressphoto Agency; (2Q) Associated Press; Bloomberg; Agence France Presse/Getty Images; European Pressphoto Agency; Zuma Press; Reuters; (3Q): iStock; Associated Press; Getty Images; Associated Press; HBO/Everett Collection; Reuters; Bloomberg; Getty Images; Reuters; (4Q): Reuters; Associated Press (2); Reuters

MARCH AUGUST

WSJ MoneyBeat blogger Paul Vigna gives his take on the big events of 2014

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Dow, daily change