The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) had a bad year in 2015. It dropped 2.23% to 17,425. The performance would have been worse if not for a handful of stocks representing some of America’s largest companies.

Microsoft Corp.’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) stock price rose 19.4% to $55.48. The success was not expected as recently as two years ago. Long-time CEO and Bill Gates ally Steve Ballmer was leaving. Relatively unknown Satya Nadella became chief executive. To the multi-decade, and ongoing success of the traditional Windows products and the Xbox franchise, Microsoft added new cloud computing efforts. Wall St. began to view Microsoft differently.

General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE), which has been left for dead many times since CEO Jack Welch left over a decade ago posted a year-end share price of $31.15 up 23.27%. The restructuring, followed by restructuring, year after year, began to pay off, as fast growing medical and infrastructure divisions did well, and financial services operations, so unpopular since the financial collapse of 2008, were pushed our the door.

Shares of Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) hit $132.25, up 25.99%. The improvement was proof that not all bricks and mortar retailers are dead. Home Depot was helped by the rise in real estate prices, and consumer confidence. People believed they could afford to pay for deferred maintenance on their houses. Battered home buildings thought it was safe to go back into a sector slaughtered by the bursting of the housing bubble, which cause, in large part, the Great Recession.

McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD) ended the year with a $118.14 share price, up 26.08%. Its was the least likely strong performer of the DJIA just a year ago. Same store sales for the fast food giant has flattened and in some cases fallen. Competition from smaller fast food operations like Pizza Hut and Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG) drew customers away. McDonald’s reaction was brilliant. Its breakfast menu had been a huge success for years. So, McDonald’s started to offer breakfast 24 hours a day.

Nike Inc.’s (NYSE: NKE) success was expected. Its share price hit $62.50, up 30.01%. The home of Michael Jordan and a slew of other athlete endorsers kept the world’s largest athletic shoe company well ahead of global rival Adidas

Oddly, none of these companies has any relationship to the others. Their shareholders did not care.

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