Nikkei ends 2014 at 15-year high

Yeah it was a bullish year, commercially. Would be good if consumer confidence could catch up.

Made some pretty good returns with the volatility of the Nikkei this year. Rollercoaster all the way, and pretty exciting.

Sold short on the USD/YEN too which was excellent!

Good news for Japanese residents, but with the slide of the yen vs. all major currencies this is a very poor performance. At constant FOREX it is negative actually!

How does my comment deserve a downvote? I was literally just talking standard trading stuff. Weird. Anyway, this volatility is ace for making money on the market. Celebrating the fact that the nikkei is a bit higher than before is a little odd, but sensationalism sells I suppose.

It's a false high, a sugar rush, propped up by yen devaluation.

Analysts were generally upbeat on the prospects for the Japanese market in 2015

Great. Now if only my salary will go to a 15-year high...

After the high comes the hangover. Highs always "correct" on the downside. With the roller-coaster ride of autumn we saw the speculators and analysts running to and fro like headless chickens. The winners were the traders;they get their commission whether win or lose.

Traders get profit. Brokers get commission.