US Economy Fueled by AI Investment Faces Rising Risks Ahead of Fed Meeting 
Morgan Stanley Names Top AI Security and Data Center Stocks for 2026 
Global Bond Selloff Pressures Stocks as Rising Oil Prices Fuel Inflation Fears 
Spying, Southampton and economic pressure cooker of the ‘richest match in football’ 
Gold Cracks Below $4,500 as Safe-Haven Shine Fades; Technical Breakdown Signals Sell-on-Rallies Toward $4,000 
AI-Driven Memory Chip Prices May Be Skewing U.S. Inflation Data, Fed Minutes Suggest 
Rice feeds billions of people – but its role in fueling climate change is growing 
Goldman Sachs Sees Stronger U.S. Dollar as Global Economic Gaps Widen 
Macquarie Names Five Taiwan AI Stocks Set to Benefit From Data Center Growth in 2026 
With silver achieving explosive gains of over 120% YTD, driven by its double role as a safe-haven asset and rising industrial demand from industries including solar, EVs, and AI infrastructure, precious metals emerged as the clear front-runners of 2025 asset performance. Reinforcing its position as a trusted store of value amid geopolitical instability and central bank purchases, gold followed strong 64–69% returns. Equities, however, showed less growth; the Nasdaq increased 17–21% on tech and artificial intelligence momentum, the S&P 500 up 12–17% driven by large-cap resilience, and Bitcoin displayed extreme volatility, varying from -8% to +80% over intervals, but finally mitigated by ETF inflows—still much behind metals. Inflation eroded cash to a meager ~4.5%.
Notable single performers showed niche strengths: in stocks, Western Digital (+261%), Robinhood (+233%), and Seagate (+217%) led the S&P 500; in crypto, privacy and RWA-themed altcoins suchas Zcash (+700%) much surpassed Bitcoin. From emerging metals funds and cocoa, commodities gleamed carryover force. While equity breadth contracted to big caps during small-cap adjustments, a weakened USD (down 9–10%) increased metals and emerging market gains.
With gold as a strong hedge against central bank policy changes and volatility, this year's results emphasized the importance of diversification in turbulent macro conditions. Crypto's Q4 sector rotation toward financials and smart contracts indicated a possible altcoin momentum spillover into 2026, consistent with current whale tracking for BTC/alt rotations and metals as fundamental defenses against volatility.
