If you stepped away from markets after the Fed meeting and just resurfaced, a lot happened while inboxes filled with out-of-office replies. From speculative trades rolling over to blockbuster AI deals, here’s the condensed catch-up.
Market Moves Worth Noticing
The S&P 500 finished 2025 on a sour note after its final record close on December 24, sliding 1.25% across the final four sessions of the year. Every sector except energy declined, with tech, financials, industrials, and consumer discretionary leading the downside.
Silver stole the spotlight. The metal surged nearly 150% in 2025, hit a record $84 per ounce, then violently reversed. Retail attention exploded, with the iShares Silver Trust $SLV ( ▲ 2.07% ) dominating r/WallStreetBets chatter. Despite the pullback, physical demand signals remained strong, with elevated premiums and backwardation in Shanghai futures.
Speculative trades cooled late in the year. A Goldman Sachs basket of nonprofitable tech fell roughly 9% from mid-December through year-end, while retail favorites and high-beta momentum stocks also slid. Some crowd darlings cracked technically, including Oklo $OKLO ( ▲ 8.42% ) and Opendoor $OPEN ( ▲ 4.12% ) , both breaking key support levels.
Meanwhile, memory stocks ruled 2025. The top four S&P 500 performers all had exposure to memory chips, including Micron $MU ( ▲ 10.52% ) , Western Digital $WDC ( ▲ 8.96% ) , Sandisk $SNDK ( ▲ 15.95% ) , and Seagate $STX ( ▲ 4.41% ) , as AI-driven demand continued to outrun supply.
AI Deals and Corporate Power Plays
Nvidia $NVDA ( ▲ 1.26% ) closed out the year with momentum. Reuters reported Chinese companies have already placed orders for more than 2 million H200 AI chips in 2026 after export restrictions were eased. Nvidia asked TSMC $TSM ( ▲ 5.17% ) to boost production, with potential revenue upside north of $54 billion if demand is met.
The chipmaker also struck a licensing and acqui-hire deal with AI inference specialist Groq, pulling key talent into Nvidia while avoiding a formal acquisition structure.
Elsewhere, OpenAI’s valuation climbed again as SoftBank $SFTBY ( ▲ 1.27% ) completed its full $40 billion investment, overtaking Microsoft $MSFT ( ▼ 2.21% ) as OpenAI’s largest financial backer.
M&A activity stayed hot. ServiceNow $NOW ( ▼ 3.75% ) announced its largest acquisition ever, buying cybersecurity firm Armis for $7.75 billion. Meta $META ( ▼ 1.47% ) agreed to acquire AI startup Manus for more than $2 billion. SoftBank also snapped up AI infrastructure firm DigitalBridge for $4 billion.
Reports suggested SpaceX could be nearing an IPO at an $800 billion valuation, while Trump Media $DJT ( ▲ 4.0% ) announced a fusion energy deal with TAE Technologies, sending shares sharply higher.
Economic Data and Policy Shifts
Labor data showed cracks forming. Combined October and November payrolls pushed unemployment to 4.6%, marking four consecutive increases for the first time since 2009. Core CPI cooled to 2.6% year over year, though some of the softness was flattered by data collection issues tied to the government shutdown.
Q3 GDP surprised to the upside at 4.3%, driven largely by strong consumer spending.
On the policy front, the Trump administration moved to reschedule marijuana, potentially unlocking tax relief and institutional investment for cannabis operators. It also delayed new tariffs on Chinese semiconductors until mid-2027, signaling a temporary thaw in US-China tech tensions.