We have also seen the re-emergence of volatility, after four relatively quiet years. Markets faced a commodity price rout, concern over the slowing Chinese economy, a sharply higher US dollar and renewed fears of a Greek euro exit. With valuations at high levels after the strong years, they've been more vulnerable to bad news.
Locally, big moves in the currency and interest rates have dominated the investment landscape. We saw some cracks appear in the NZ dollar last year, but a falling dairy price, global risk aversion and the resurgent US dollar have seen this trend gather pace this year.
The currency has fallen another 17 per cent against the US dollar, but unlike last year it has also weakened against the Australian dollar, British pound and the euro.
At the beginning of the year, the official cash rate (OCR) was sitting at 3.5 per cent, with the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) having hiked it from 2.5 per cent a year earlier.
The debate was around when the next increase would come, and how long it would take for the OCR to move back to 'neutral', at around 4 per cent.
However, falling dairy prices, much lower inflation than expected and a slowdown in domestic growth quickly saw the discussion turn to rate cuts, rather than more hikes.
We have also seen the re-emergence of volatility, after four relatively quiet years.
The RBNZ cut the OCR in June, July and September, taking term deposit rates to the lowest levels since 1966 and mortgage rates down with them. Few people predicted just how much weakness we would see in the commodity sector. Crude oil prices have declined to levels not seen since the height of the financial crisis, less than half of where they were trading midway through last year.
Lower oil prices are a big positive for many countries and industries, including the local economy, consumers and the bulk of our corporate sector.
However, the equally sharp moves in the dairy sector have not been so encouraging. The global dairy trade index remains more than 50 per cent below the early-2014 peak.
A lot has happened this year, but it's certainly not over yet with December shaping up as an action-packed month.
Fonterra is expected to update its $4.60 payout forecast and on current information a cut seems possible. There is a good chance the RBNZ cuts the OCR again on December 10, while the US Federal Reserve might do the opposite a week later, raising interest rates from zero for the first time in nine years.
Historically, December is the strongest month of the year for shares, with an average return of 1.6 per cent since 1950 in the US, more than double that of the other months of the year.
Mark Lister is head of private wealth research at Craigs Investment Partners. His disclosure statement is available free of charge under his profile at craigsip.com. This column is general in nature and should not be regarded as specific investment advice.