|
Will the A.I. Boom Continue to Drive Up Stocks in 2026? The New York TimesWall Street Ends 2025 Grinning Despite Some Gloom Bloomberg.comWall Street ends 2025 near record highs after year of economic upheaval The GuardianStock market ends 2025 with double-digit gains ABC News
|
|
For investors worldwide, 2025 was anything but boring: It was great for metals, surprisingly bad for crypto and particularly nice for stocks outside of the U.S.
|
|
Gold Forecast 2026: Why Macro Forces and Technical Breakouts Point to $6,000 FXEmpire'We're in a metals war': Gold, silver track their best year since 1970s as volatility grips trade Yahoo FinanceSilver shines in 2025 global market spotlight as softs, oil lag ReutersSilver, gold and copper trounced stocks. Here's what a key chart level suggests could be ahead for 2026. MarketWatch
|
|
Markets and Fed officials themselves see only modest easing in the year ahead.
|
|
Disruption. It's coming for the U.S. dollar in the form of digital currency. Last week the Biden administration detailed a broad plan for adopting a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in the coming years. The Departments of Energy, Commerce, the Treasury, and other agencies weighed in on how to manage and regulate a CBDC.
The government is reacting in part to the explosive growth of digital currencies. About three out of ten U.S. adults currently invest in some form of cryptocurrency, or "crypto," like Bitcoin or Ethereum. These digital "coins" rely on a decentralized network of computers to verify financial transactions, cutting out third parties like banks or credit cards.
The good, the bad, and the ugly of crypto
Advocates of crypto point to its affordability, efficiency, and its ability to reach consumers with little or no access to traditional banking services. With just a mobile phone or a crypto ATM, consumers can easily send and receive digital currency, even across international borders.
On the other hand, crypto is still largely unregulated and volatile. Investors in Bitcoin, for example, saw returns of over 70% in 2021, but the currency is down almost 60% year to date. And if you send your payment to the wrong account (called a "digital wallet") there may be no way to retrieve it. Crypto has also been used for money laundering, fraud, and to fund terrorism. Several
|
|
