Given a document, generate a short title of the document. The title should convey the main idea/event/topic about which the document is being written. Note that URLs in the text have been replaced with [Link].

Q: No way around it - 2017 was a great year to own stocks. The S&P 500 index had risen almost 20 percent over the year. And the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 25 percent over the same period  buoying portfolios  dividends and retirement accounts. And it's a similar story around the world on financial markets in Japan  Hong Kong and the United Kingdom. All this happened despite a wave of political turmoil in the U.S. and around the globe. To find out why 2017 was such a bull year  we're joined now by  NPR senior business editor Uri Berliner . Hi  Uri.
 URI BERLINER   BYLINE: Hey  Ray.
 BERLINER : Well  you know  despite all this tension and political volatility and geopolitical uncertainty  it actually was a good year for the global economy and remarkably kind of a stable one. Corporate earnings were very strong. Inflation is in check. Sort of the sense that the financial crisis of 2008 is really behind us now. I think economies around the world felt that more confidently. And every single country  every major developed country grew last year which is a remarkable thing. It just doesn't happen that often.
 BERLINER : Well  really  you know  since the end of the financial crisis  the stock market in the U.S. has just been on a roll. It's had a number of really good years. In 2009  the S&P 500 was up more than 26 percent. In 2013  it was up more than 32 percent. So stocks have had a lot of good years but this was especially notable  this one.
 BERLINER : Well  I think a lot of this just has to do with corporate earnings. I mean  markets look at corporate earnings very closely. This is really their bread and butter. And  you know  companies throughout the U.S. - technology companies  all kinds of companies - posted really stellar earnings. And there was strong earnings growth overseas as well. So  you know  I think this market has just looked at a - an unusually stable year economically despite  and in spite of all craziness  all the turmoil  all the threatening situations around - the world the volatility and the fear in the economy just wasn't there.
 BERLINER : Right  exactly. As you said  you know  half of Americans own stocks. And for them  it was a very good year. And to some extent  if those people feel wealthier  they may spend more. That's called a wealth effect. That may boost the economy a little bit. But those people who don't own stocks  they don't benefit directly in any way from this big year in the stock market. And even those who do own stock  they're really concentrated mostly among people who are wealthy - six-figure earners  seven-figure earners. Those are the people who own most of the stock in the U.S.  and even those who own some  many of them don't own that much.
SUAREZ: That's  NPR's Uri Berliner . Thanks a lot  Uri.
 BERLINER : You're welcome  Ray.

A: Global Markets Remain Immune To A Year Of Political Volatility : NPR
****
Q: Cryptocurrency ETFs  proved too risky for ETF Managers Group Founder and  CEO Sam Masucci   but  he  threw caution to the wind with  his  latest marijuana ETF â and it's paying off.
"The business is growing  the companies entering it are growing "  Masucci  said on CNBC's "Fast Money."
ETF Managers Group in late December launched Alternative Harvest ETF  which tracks around 30 domestic and international stocks that may benefit from the growing marijuana industry. The ETF started with $5 million in assets under management and has grown to around $400 million in just under a month   Masucci  said.
Since Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinded the Cole Memo  sending pot stocks tumbling  there is reason to be concerned when dealing big money in marijuana. But  Masucci  has accepted a degree of volatility  something  he  wasn't willing to do with cryptocurrency.
"We can't explain the volatility within bitcoin. Until we are comfortable with it and we know how to trade it  we don't see ourselves getting involved "  he  said.
A majority of Alternative Harvest's companies are based in Canada or other countries  where legalization is impending or where regulations are more lax. As far as domestic companies go   Masucci  said ETF Managers Group was careful to pick those best suited to benefit from the cannabis boom  like hydroponics company Scott's Miracle Gro or cigarette manufacturer Philip Morris.
"We will continue to participate in those companies that are largest  and right now  the largest piece is outside of the U.S.  " Masucci  said.
Despite Sessions' actions   Masucci  has high hopes that the U.S. cannabis industry will stick around.
"Twenty-eight states now have approved medical marijuana  16 more have it on the docket for this year  " Masucci  said.

A: Marijuana ETF manager Sam Masucci interview on Fast Money
****
Q: The planned news conference from Sens. Richard Burr  R-N.C.  and Mark Warner  D-Va.  has been billed as a forum for the two panel leaders to give the public an interim status update on the committee's long-running investigation of allegations that Russia attempted to meddle in the 2016 U.S. elections  and that members of the Trump campaign may have colluded with Kremlin officials to improve their chance of victory. It is one of only a handful of public events the Senate Intelligence Committee has held in the nine months since commencing its probe.
In the course of that investigation  committee members and staff investigators have interviewed several members of the intelligence community and Trump's inner circle  mostly behind closed doors - including former campaign chief Paul Manafort and current senior adviser Jared Kushner  who is also President Donald Trump's son-in-law. They have also spoken with senior executives of social media companies like Facebook and Twitter  which carried many of the Russian-backed ads and falsified accounts that tried to exploit popular divisions in the run-up to the election. The committee is expected to continue those conversations in a public hearing with the tech giants early next month;  Burr  and Warner may share additional information about the social media-focused part of their probe on Wednesday.
The intelligence committee has had unprecedented access to classified files during the course of this investigation  and has spent significantly longer vetting the intelligence community's report than officials took to write it. Though  Burr  has set an aspirational deadline of wrapping up its probe by the end of the year   he  and Warner are not expected to release an interim report on Wednesday  according to sources familiar with their plans.
 Burr   Warner  and the spy chiefs they have called to testify before their panel in occasional public hearings have stressed that the 2016 election likely only emboldened Russia's resolve to meddle in future American elections  using similar tactics. Though 2018 is not a presidential election year  it could prove to be a pivotal contest for Congress - and the primary season begins in March  less than six months away.

A:
Senators expected to largely endorse intel report on Russian meddling sound alarm about next election
****