It’s that time of year when everyone is making top ten lists to not only obsess over the thing that they know the most about but also to mark the progress of 2007. It seems though, that for the most part this year, despite housing crisis and talks of a recession, much in the world of stocks stayed the same:

the global demand for raw materials and the machinery it requires keeps chugging along. Crude oil prices at $90 a barrel and gold prices at over $800 an ounce make that clear.National Oilwell Varco (NOV, Fortune 500), an oil and gas driller, was the biggest S&P 500 stock gainer of the year, up 128 percent; Consol Energy (CNX), a coal and gas producer, rose 109 percent; and Hess (HES, Fortune 500) rose 81 percent, to name a few. (See chart).Gold and silver miners had a good year too, rising right along with the price of the raw commodity. [CNN]

Areas that did take a hit over the past year include financials, homebuilding and retail. And of the various sects of retail it seems that those folks selling clothes were hit the hardest…The consumerism connected with fashion and with all the industries associated with clothing in general has always been pretty disparate. I was really lucky to see Jia Zhangke’s beautiful documentary Useless at the New York Film Festival this year.One of the most verite documentaries I have ever seen, Useless visits a very unique high fashion designer from China as she prepares for a show in France and juxtaposes her work with small town tailors and seamstresses. Zhangke lets you watch people and really see who they are, he doesn’t cut to another image to supply his audience with meaning, but let’s you sit with a person or place and figure it out on your own. For a taste of Useless, watch below: