The year 2017 is underscored by an aging eight-year bull run, which still has legs. Several events led to the rally in the stock market and impacted the ETF world in either a positive or a negative way. Below are some of the major events that hit the headlines for longer than expected and are worth watching in 2018:

Tax Reform

After a huge battle, President Donald Trump finally signed a massive $1.5-trillion tax cut bill to end 2017. This will likely create an economic surge, boosting job growth and reflation trade. It will further accelerate earnings, leading to increased dividend and buyback activities and paving the way for increased mergers and acquisitions.

While many corners of the market will enjoy a huge rally, small caps will likely be the biggest beneficiary of the trend in 2018 as these pay huge amounts in corporate tax. As such, iShares Morningstar Small-Cap Growth ETF JKK stole the show in this space gaining 24.4% this year, followed by gains of 23.5% for First Trust Small Cap Growth AlphaDEX Fund FYC and 22.7% for iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF (IWO – Free Report) . These funds have a Zacks ETF Rank #2 (Buy).

Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF – Free Report) is up 22.2% and will likely continue its strong performance given that it has a Zacks ETF Rank #2.