Good Morning,
Global stocks continued to trade near record highs in the penultimate trading day of 2025.
Let's dive in.
Before The Bell
As of 12/30/2025 market close.
Learn more about the Litquidity portfolios and subscribe to the strategies on Autopilot.*
Markets
US stocks finished near ATHs in a low-volume penultimate trading day of 2025
Europe's Stoxx 600 hit a fresh ATH to gain 16% in its best year since 2021
Banks sub-index gained 65% for its best year since 1997
UK's FTSE 100 hit a fresh ATH to cap its best year since 2009 and top-five year ever
Japan's TOPIX index gained 22% this year as Japan stocks finally recovered all losses from the 1991 bubble burst
MSCI China index gained 28% in its best year since 2017
Platinum hit an ATH high in its best month in forty years after EU reversed its 2035 combustion engine ban
The metal gained 146% this year
Nickel hit a nine-month high as Indonesia cut supply
Copper rose for an eighth-straight day to an ATH for its longest win streak since 2017
Dollar dropped 9.5% in its worst year since 2017
Earnings
Full calendar here
Prediction Markets
FWIW: Gold has been outperforming stocks since the start of this century.
Trade your prediction on markets for 2026 on Polymarket.
Headline Roundup
Fed minutes show officials in tight split over December rate cut (CNBC)
One-fifth of PE deals this year were firms selling assets to themselves (FT)
IPOs that minted billionaires this year are down 23% (BBG)
AI chip makers are expecting an even bigger 2026 (WSJ)
AI has fueled $70B in data center M&A talks this year (BBG)
US stocks defy 'Sell America' warnings to end 2025 at ATHs (WSJ)
Global stocks beat US this year as investors diversify (FT)
Tariffs set US materials sector up for best earnings in five years (BBG)
Activist investors are circling US banks (WSJ)
Hopes dim for Covid-era VC funds (WSJ)
China's reawakening boosts Asia M&A optimism for 2026 (BBG)
Wealth management is one of this year's hottest deal drivers (WSJ)
China's PBOC delivered fewest rate cuts since 2021 (BBG)
Asia's wealthy turn to Switzerland to park assets (FT)
Top US law firms handed associates $300k+ bonuses (FT)
CME raised margins on precious metal futures for a second time (BBG)
Deal Flow
M&A / Investments
Warner Bros. Discovery plans to reject Paramount Skydance's amended $108.4B hostile bid in favor of Netflix's, despite Oracle-founder Larry Ellison personally offering an equity backstop
Nvidia is in advanced talks to buy Israel-based AI startup AI21 Labs for $3B
Meta agreed to acquire Chinese-led agentic AI startup Manus for over $2B
Citigroup's board approved Renaissance Capital's acquisition of its Russian unit AO Citibank to that will see a $1.2B pre-tax loss
Australia's Macquarie will invest $330M of equity into UK utility Southern Water
VC
SoftBank completed its $40B investment in OpenAI, marking one of the largest private funding rounds ever
French rad-hard FPGA developer NanoXplore raised a $23.5M round from MBDA and Bpifrance's Defence Innovation Fund
Get real-time updates on any startup, VC, or sector on Fundable.
IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades
Six Chinese firms including InSilico Medicine, Digital Twin Technology, USAS Building System, Shanghai Forest Cabin Cosmetics, Xunce Technology, and OneRobotics gained an average 40% in their trading debuts after raising a combined $900M in Hong Kong IPOs
Four Chinese tech firms including MiniMax, Knowledge Atlas Technology, Iluvatar CoreX Semiconductor, and Edge Medical are seeking to raise a combined $1.5B-$2B in Hong Kong IPOs next week
UK renewable energy startup Octopus Energy will spinoff its utility management platform Kraken Technologies at an $8.65B valuation
Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed
Hedge fund Arini Capital is contesting the inclusion of Irish packaging firm Ardagh's senior unsecured bonds as deliverable obligations in a CDS auction that will determine default protection payouts
Crypto Sum Snapshot
David Beckham-backed biotech Prenetics paused Bitcoin treasury plans
Koreans cling to Ether hoarder BitMine despite 80% drop
Netflix announced a crypto-themed comedy film
Crypto Sum compiles the most important stories on everything crypto. Read it here.
Exec’s Picks
WSJ did a profile on Ralf Etienne: the BofA IB associate seeking to represent Haiti in the Winter Paralympics.
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*DISCLAIMER: Investment advice provided by Autopilot Advisers, LLC ("Autopilot"), an SEC-registered investment adviser. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investing carries risks, including loss of principal. As always, be smart out there. Litquidity is compensated to promote AutoPilot. Compensation details available upon request.