US jobless applications fell to 199,000 in the week ending December 27, marking the lowest reading in weeks. The figure signals that employers remain reluctant to cut payrolls despite economic uncertainties approaching the year’s end. The unexpected decline, down 16,000 from the previous week’s revised 215,000, underscores a labor market characterised by minimal layoff activity,
The Nasdaq 100 Index and the QQQ ETF had a strong performance in 2025 as the artificial intelligence boom entered its third year. The two assets jumped by over 20%, adding trillions of dollars in value. Most companies in the index and its ETFs were in the green, with companies like Western Digital, Micron, Seagate,
For the past few decades, Europe treated cheap Chinese imports as a mixed blessing. They squeezed margins in some industries, but kept inflation low and consumers happy. But the trade-off no longer exists. As domestic demand weakens in China, exports have become a release valve, and Europe is absorbing that flow. What European manufacturers are
India’s small-cap stocks had a year to forget in 2025. Even though India’s large caps managed to put up a decent showing, the small caps suffered after a strong run in the last 2 years. High valuations, earnings misses added to its woes. Most of the stocks are trading below their 52-week highs as well.
Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) has defied its earnings slump to become the standout US airline stock in 2025. In the first nine months of this year, the air carrier saw its profit crash an alarming 42%. Still, LUV shares are currently up more than 70% versus their year-to-date low in late April. More importantly, Southwest
By most conventional measures, 2025 should have been remembered as crypto’s breakthrough year. Regulation finally arrived in force. Institutional capital flowed through regulated channels. Bitcoin printed a new high. Stablecoins crossed multi-trillion-dollar volumes. On-chain markets expanded beyond native tokens into equities and commodities. And yet, as the year closes, the dominant mood is not triumph
Banks have enjoyed a formidable moat built on customer relationships, regulatory privilege, and distribution networks for decades. – but that moat was breached in 2025. Embedded finance, the integration of payment, lending, insurance, and investing directly into non-financial platforms, became mainstream this year – shifting the locus of value creation away from banks and toward
The Strategy stock price continued its freefall this month and is now hovering at its lowest level since September last year. MSTR stock has plunged by over 70% from its highest level in 2024, even as the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 indices jumped to a record high. Strategy enterprise NAV is about to
US stocks rose on Monday, kicking off a shortened holiday week on a firmer footing as gains in technology shares lifted the broader market. The S&P 500 advanced 0.5%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 133 points, or 0.3%. The Nasdaq Composite outperformed, climbing 0.7% as investors returned to growth-oriented names after recent sector
Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison has agreed to personally backstop a crucial portion of the financing behind Paramount Skydance’s hostile bid for Warner Bros Discovery (WBD), intensifying a high-stakes takeover battle that could reshape Hollywood’s streaming landscape. Paramount said on Monday that Ellison has provided an “irrevocable personal guarantee” covering $40.4 billion of equity financing for