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Good morning from the newsroom of the Financial Times.

Today is Monday, December 31st,

and this is your FT news briefing.

I'm Amy Keene.

Today we'll be looking back at the year in markets.

2018 was a bruising and unpredictable ride for investors and the

F.T.'s Nicole Bullock is here to walk us through the highs, the lows, and just

how investors are feeling as they get ready to ring in 2019.

2018 was a very tumultuous year in financial markets.

If the year began on a note that was almost giddy, euphoric, a melt-up

where the terms that were being used, it is certainly ending with investors in quite

a pessimistic mood.

The start of the year was stupendous.

Investors were feeling great,

people were talking about a sugar high.

Stocks opened this morning in record territory after passing another big

milestone for the first time the Dow crossed the 25,000 mark on

Thursday from the tax cuts that 5,000 mark on Thursday.

From the tax cuts that had been agreed in December,

that did ultimately power a tremendous amount of growth

...