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Good morning.
Markets closed Friday with the S&P 500 and Dow near all-time highs as the Santa Claus rally kept building steam.
But not all is calm. The silver trade keeps blasting to new highs, but rumors of a major bank liquidation caused by silver futures last night and concerning new export controls from China have silver investors worried.
In this issue:
Gold mania and silver’s supply crunch
Investing in the “casinos” of the modern age
Nvidia’s exclusive Groq deal (no, not “Grok”)
Let's get into it.
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📰 Market Headlines
Markets closed Friday with the S&P 500 and Dow near all-time highs as the Santa Claus rally continued building momentum.
The S&P 500 slipped just 0.03%, while the Dow edged down 0.04% and the Nasdaq declined 0.09%.
For the holiday-shortened week, the benchmark S&P gained 2.3%, the Dow picked up 1.6%, and the Nasdaq surged 2.5%.
Wall Street analysts shrugged off AI bubble fears, pointing to strong earnings growth as the main engine for the market's run. Some strategists see a bubble forming closer to 2029, but firms like Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank are calling for the S&P 500 to hit 7,800 and 8,000, respectively, in 2026.
Investing in the “casinos” of the modern age (Coinbase, Robinhood, Polymarket) might be the way to go if you want to bet on Gen Z and Millenials’ existential fear about financial success (or really, lack thereof). This bleak but insightful Twitter essay lays out an explanation for why young people seem so bent on using prediction markets, sports betting, and crypto exchanges to gamble for a future they feel doesn’t exist through traditional means anymore.
Silver hit $84, then flash crashed; allegedly, a major bank was liquidated. Silver prices rocketed a new all-time high of $84, then flash crashed by 12% to below $74. A report is circulating that one of the biggest players in the silver futures market was liquidated last night at 2 AM; some people predict that it was UBS.
Part of the reason for silver’s initial spike: China, which controls up to 70% of global output, will implement new export controls on January 1, prompting a blunt warning from Elon Musk: "This is not good."
Nvidia is spending $20 billion to get top talent from Groq, the AI hardware company, in a “non-exclusive licensing agreement.” The move essentially looks like an acqui-hire framed as “non-exclusive” so as to maintain the “fiction of competition alive,” according to Bernstein’s Stacy Rasgon.
Nvidia (NVDA) just bought $5 billion in Intel (INTC) shares, completing a transaction it announced in September. The deal is “seen as a major financial lifeline for” Intel, according to CNBC.
China's private space race heated up after rocket startup LandSpace announced plans to go public to fund its challenge to SpaceX. The company recently attempted its first reusable rocket test, a clear signal of Beijing's push to build a competitive commercial space industry.
Detroit’s Big Three reversed course on EVs as Ford, GM, and Stellantis all scaled back electric vehicle plans in December. Ford took a $19.5 billion charge to pivot toward hybrids, scrapping the Lightning pickup and a planned electric van. The shift follows the end of US federal EV tax credits and the EU dropping its 2025 EV mandate, leaving automakers exposed if demand rebounds.
Gold's historic run looks set to continue after the metal climbed more than 50% in 2025. Analysts at Bank of America and HSBC now predict gold will reach $5,000 per ounce by the end of 2026, citing ongoing geopolitical tension and heavy central bank buying.
😱 Fear & Greed Index
🤖 AI/Future/Tech News
China proposed new draft rules to govern human-like AI, requiring providers to inform users they are interacting with AI upon login and at two-hour intervals.
OpenAI posted a job for a new "Head of Preparedness" to study emerging AI-related risks.
Waymo's SF outage during a power failure snarled its fleet, stoking fresh doubts over robotaxi readiness in a crisis.
New York’s governor signed a new AI safety law covering developers with over $500 million in revenue.
🪙 Crypto
Spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded five straight days of net outflows, totaling $825 million.
But one analysis calls the recent outflow headlines deceptive, since crypto products absorbed $46.7 billion in 2025.
BTC futures open interest hit an 8-month low of $42 billion, seen more as a leverage flush than a bearish signal, according to Cointelegraph.
The first arrest was made in India related to Coinbase's insider data breach. The incident cost the company $307 million and affected over 69,000 users.
🤫 Insider Trading
❓Market Trivia Corner
Which of these assets performed the best in the 2010s?
🎤️ What you said last time
Overall, our readers think that the top 3 assets of 2025 will be:
Gold
NVDA
Silver
“Google surges in all business lines in 2026 and takes lead in AI deployment.”
🧠 The Missing (Market) Links
Number 33 on Kanye West’s alleged bucket list is “Learn to Invest.”
Looking to make more money but don’t have/want a college degree? Here are 15 of the highest-paying jobs that don’t require one.
Former IBM CEO and chairman Louis Gerstner just passed away at 83. He is known for turning IBM around when it was at the brink of bankruptcy.
Nearly 71% of women said they'd chip in for their engagement ring, with 19% willing to cover the full $5,200 average cost.
Americans were muscling through an affordability crisis where 70% said living costs weren't affordable for average families.
📜 Quote of the Day
A lot of people with high IQs are terrible investors because they’ve got terrible temperaments.”
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Cheers,
Brandon & Blake of Invested Inc
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