Macro

UnitedHealth exec killing sparks anti-insurer rage; Novo CagriSema disappoints

Fed signals caution on 2025 cuts; rates stay elevated

The milestone came weeks after the pro-crypto election result and the nomination of a friendly SEC chair, with ETF inflows running at records. The round number capped bitcoin's arrival as a mainstream macro asset with over $2 trillion in value.

The finance sector is trading bullish this month, driven primarily by Bitcoin crossing $100,000 for the first time, a milestone amplified by strong demand for spot Bitcoin ETFs. Sentiment is further supported by perceived regulatory tailwinds, including pro-crypto positioning from the Trump campaign, reinforcing confidence in digital assets as a legitimate and growing part of the financial landscape.

A soft-landing year with resilient spending and September Fed cuts, but a bifurcated consumer (strained low-end, softening restaurant traffic) and EV-demand disappointment (BYD outselling Tesla, Hertz dumping EVs) capped the mood; October ports strike briefly snagged goods flow.

Reshoring, infrastructure spending and a booming data-center/electrification capex cycle (power and electrical equipment) kept order books strong; Boeing's quality crisis and the Key Bridge collapse were specific drags…

AI-driven ad targeting and record political-ad spending powered a strong year; streaming reached profitability and Meta/Alphabet/Netflix led the sector higher. Steadily positive.

Oil drifted soft and range-bound near $80, but exploding AI data-center power demand, 16-year-high uranium prices, and a wave of hyperscaler nuclear deals turned the electricity side of energy into a powerful new profit engine, lifting owners' mood despite lackluster crude.

A euphoric turnaround as the AI data-center load boom repriced us as power plays for the first real demand growth in twenty years, Fed rate cuts revived the yield bid, and nuclear-restart and SMR deals ignited a generation renaissance.

Gold broke out to a string of record highs on central-bank buying and the Fed's rate-cut cycle, copper spiked to a record in May on electrification demand, and precious-metals owners enjoyed a strong, appreciating year.

A euphoric AI-capex supercycle: Nvidia's blowout earnings added record value and it passed Microsoft as the world's most valuable company ($3.3T); a July megacap rotation, the CrowdStrike outage and the Aug 5 carry-trade selloff were brief wobbles.

Early-year uncertainty from the Congressional Ukraine-aid stall gave way to April's $61B supplemental, and Iran-Israel strikes, the Israel-Hezbollah war and China's Taiwan drills sustained record global demand;