VIEW SLIDESHOW Was it a tough year for stock markets? Certainly. Were share prices halved - or worse? Unfortunately. But contrary to popular belief -- and the incessant drone of talking heads -- it's not all doom and gloom. Even in the most challenging of environments several stocks posted impressive gains. After wading through a lot of red ink Minyanville uncovered 7 publicly traded companies (for the record there are many more) that can look back on their fiscal year with satisfaction instead of despair.