STOCKS FINISH BEST YEAR SINCE 2013: Here's what you need to know

Peter Nicholls/Reuters

Stocks slipped on the final trading day of 2017, but not by nearly enough to cast a shadow on the incredible rally this year.

For the first time ever, the S&P 500 finished every month of the calendar year with a gain.

Here's Friday's scoreboard:

• Dow: 24,767.29 -70.22 (-0.28%)
• S&P 500: 2,677.04 -10.50 (-0.39%)
• Nasdaq: 6,907.68 -42.48 (-0.61%)

And for the final trading day of the year, here's how various assets were priced on Friday, and their annual gain:.

• S&P 500: +20% (best year since 2013)
• 10-year yield: 2.45% on Jan. 2, 2.4% on Dec. 29
• 30-year yield: 3.06% on Jan. 2, 2.74% on Dec. 29
• WTI crude oil: $60.42, +12% (highest level since mid-2015)
• Gold: $1,305.50, +13% (best year since 2010)
• US Dollar Index: 91.94, -10% (worst year since 2003)
• Bitcoin: $14,610.71, +1,401% (as of 3:35 p.m. ET)

1. Goldman Sachs expects a $5 billion hit to profits for the fourth quarter and year because of the new tax law. Two-thirds are due to changes in repatriation taxes, when funds held overseas are returned.
2. Ripple briefly overtook ethereum as the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap. Ripple, which focuses on bank transfers, sported gains of more than 40% at one point Friday, propelling it to a record high and a market cap of $73.65 billion, according to data from CoinMarketCap.com.

3. A settlement has been reached in the insider trading case against Bill Ackman's hedge fund, Pershing Square, and Valeant Pharmaceuticals. "Pershing Square and Valeant have agreed to split the $290 million total settlement such that Pershing Square will pay $193.75 million and Valeant will pay $96.25 million," Pershing said in a press release.

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