Scorecard 2015

Top S&P 500 stock +139%

Shares of Netflix soared on strong subscriber growth, helped by original programming. The service has launched in most major European markets, Japan, and Australia. It has 26 million foreign subscribers and aims to have more than 100 million by 2020. It expects to have 74 million total subscribers by the end of 2015.

Biggest gain in wealth +29.7b

The fortune of Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos doubled to $58 billion on the strength of the 114 percent rise in his company’s stock, making him the biggest winner among the world’s richest people. Warren Buffett’s worth declined by $12.3 billion, to $61.5 billion, as stock in his Berkshire Hathaway fell 12.9 percent.

Hottest commodity +14.1%

Cocoa was one of only two commodities to post positive returns. The other was palm oil. The rest fell victim to slow global growth and shrinking demand. Oil fell 40.8 percent on the Nymex, while gold declined 8.9 percent, to $1,078 an ounce.