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Stocks Are on the Verge of the Best Year Since 1997
股市即將迎來20年來最大利好
The world is enmeshed in a trade war.
全世界都陷入了貿易戰。
The president has been impeached.
總統已被彈劾。
The tech industry is under attack from regulators worldwide.
科技行業也已面臨著世界各地的監管機構的攻擊。
But this year investors said: So what?
投資者卻說：那又怎樣?
The stock market is closing in on its best year in two decades.
股市即將迎來20年來的最好行情。
With only two days of trading to go, the S&P 500 could fare better than it has since 1997.
再交易兩天，標普500指數就能攀升至1997年以來的最高水平。
Stock prices have been buoyed by a mere whiff of optimism that the economy —
人們對經濟仍會繼續穩步增長——盡管偶爾還是會出現小問題，
despite occasional hiccups and dire prognostications by so-called experts — will keep chugging along.
以及所謂專家的可怕預言——的一絲樂觀推動了股票的繼續上漲。
And the Federal Reserve deserves credit, too,
美聯儲的降息之舉也值得肯定，
for cutting interest rates despite scowls from a White House that wanted more.
盡管白宮不滿其降息幅度不夠大而對其予以了斥責。
So far this year, the S&P is up 29 percent.
截至目前，標準普爾指數已經上漲了29%。
But the market crept up gradually as investors felt their way through the turbulent year,
盡管這一年頗為坎坷，投資者們都是摸著石頭在過河，好在市場逐漸有了起色，
interrupted only by a handful of short-lived retreats.
期間只出現了為數不多的幾次短暫回落。
Since mid-October, stocks haven’t had a single daily gain of more than 1 percent.
自10月中旬以來，股市單日漲幅從未超過1%。
Even on Friday, the increase was tiny, but it left the index at a record and capped a fifth consecutive week of gains.
即便是上周五，漲幅也很小，但該指數仍然創下了歷史新高，并出現了連續上漲五周的情形。
Through the uncertainty, investors saw things they liked: Job growth continued, American consumers kept spending,
投資者依然透過這種不確定性看到了他們喜聞樂見的東西：就業持續增長，美國消費者仍在繼續消費，
and President Trump’s bluster about the trade war eventually gave way to promises for an early-stage deal with China.
特朗普總統叫囂的貿易戰也還是讓位給了與中國初步達成協議的承諾。
The damage the trade war might cause was the biggest concern for both investors and the Fed this year.
貿易戰可能造成的損害堪稱投資者和美聯儲今年最大的擔憂。
The central bank cut interest rates three times to protect the economy.
為保護美國經濟，中央銀行已經三度降息。
By December, several key measurements of growth suggested
截至12月，衡量經濟增長的多個關鍵指標表明，
that a recession in the United States was unlikely to ruin the party anytime soon.
經濟衰退不太可能在短期內毀掉這場盛宴。
Major American companies reported that their profits continued to grow,
美國的企業巨頭報告稱，他們的利潤仍在繼續增長，
and even the tech industry showed resilience in the face of multiple attacks from presidential candidates and Congress.
就連科技行業也沒有屈服于總統候選人及國會的多番攻擊。
Still, stock market analysts are warning against outright exuberance.
不過，股市分析師依然就股市的全面繁榮敲響了警鐘。
The forces that lifted stocks this year might fade, and investors will face a new set of risks in 2020 —
今年提振股市的動力可能會減弱，2020年投資者可能還會面臨一系列新風險——
namely that the long-running expansion of the job market could end and corporate profits could start to fall short of expectations.
換句話說，就業市場的長期擴張可能會結束，企業利潤可能會開始低于預期。
All good business cycles come to an end, and there’s always a recession somewhere around the corner.
任何景氣的經濟周期都有結束的一天，總有不景氣的經濟周期蠢蠢欲動。
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