Snooze Fest Day – Tech Drags, Metals Bounce Back

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[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com]

  1. Moving the market

The market was in full “where do we go from here?” mode all morning—wandering aimlessly after the S&P 500 just posted back-to-back losses, mostly thanks to tech getting hammered again.

Investors kept trimming some of this year’s big winners, with Nvidia down over 1% and Palantir sliding 2.4%.

By the close, the major indexes all settled modestly lower, with small caps feeling the most pain.

The bright spot (as usual lately) was the metals sector. They bounced right back into the green: silver led with a strong +4.5% rebound, copper posted a solid +3.2%, and gold edged a little higher.

Bond yields basically yawned and went nowhere—the Fed Minutes dropped without much fanfare, and 2026 rate-cut bets stayed pretty steady.

Bitcoin squeezed out a small gain but couldn’t hold its intraday highs around $89K—faded a bit in the afternoon, classic crypto.

Just one more trading day left in 2025 before we flip the calendar and see what fresh surprises the new year brings.

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Tech Drags Stocks Lower – Silver & Gold Take A Breather Too

Ulli Market Commentary Contact

[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com]

  1. Moving the market

After last week’s record highs and Santa Claus vibes, the market woke up grumpy.

Stocks opened lower and stayed that way, with tech taking the biggest beating. The AI trade cooled off again: Nvidia dropped almost 2% (giving back a chunk of last week’s 5%+ pop), and Palantir, Meta, Oracle, and AMD all bled too.

The real drama was in the shiny stuff. Silver had touched $80/oz overnight for the first time ever but got absolutely smacked today—down about 7% in the SLV ETF, erasing most of Friday’s gains.

Gold fared a little better: hit $4,550 overnight, then fell 4.4% to around $4,350. Both pulled back to levels we saw just 3-4 days ago—not catastrophic given their monster 2025 runs (silver +150%, gold +62%).

Bitcoin did its classic weekend pump-and-dump: spiked to $90K, then plunged below $87K in hours.

The major indexes all closed red, wiping out a good chunk of that late-December “Santa Claus” rally for now. Bond yields eased, and the dollar perked up a touch.

ZeroHedge dropped an interesting stat: every time silver has fallen more than -6% from a 1-year high, it’s been higher a week later—6 out of 6 times.

Hmm…

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ETF Tracker Newsletter For December 26, 2025

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ETF Tracker StatSheet          

You can view the latest version here.

STOCKS TRED WATER; METALS EXPLODE – PORTFOLIO SMILES ANYWAY

[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com]

  1. Moving the market

Traders came back from Christmas ready to buy, pushing the S&P 500 to a fresh record high in early trading.

The day itself was pretty sleepy—major indexes basically trod water and closed little changed—but the week told a happier story.

The S&P gained over 1%, the Dow and Nasdaq both up more than 1% too, putting us on track for the fourth weekly win in five. Classic post-Christmas quiet, but still grinding higher.

We’re smack in the middle of that historically sweet seasonal window, so everyone’s keeping an eye out for the famous “Santa Claus rally” (the last five trading days of the year plus the first two of January).

Bond yields finished the week flat, but the dollar had its worst week since June and closed at October lows. Today’s real fireworks? Once again in the metals corner:

– Gold ETF up a “modest” 1.16% 

– Copper ripped +4.71% to a new record 

– Silver stole the show with a massive +9.05% surge—another all-time high 

That combo gave our portfolios a nice lift even while stocks took a nap. Bitcoin did its usual pump-and-dump routine and ended the week around $87K.

Next week we wrap up December and 2025 with another four-day session (New Year’s Day off). Key data on deck: FOMC minutes, a bunch of housing reports, and Chicago PMI.

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Nasdaq Leads Rebound, Metals Go Wild – Gold Nears $4,500

Ulli Market Commentary Contact

[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com]

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The day started a little wobbly—delayed Q3 GDP data finally dropped and came in hot at 4.3% (way above the 3.2% guess).

That had everyone pausing to wonder if the Fed might slow-walk those early-2026 rate cuts. Futures traders nudged up the odds of steady rates in January and March a touch, but they’re still betting on two cuts by year-end.

Early nerves turned into afternoon buying, though. The indexes shook off the slump, with the Nasdaq leading the charge. The S&P 500 hit a fresh record high, and all the majors locked in their fourth straight green day. Nice way to head into the holidays.

Bond yields crept higher (but backed off the peaks), the dollar sank to October lows, and that was rocket fuel for metals:

Gold got within a whisker of $4,500, silver blasted through $71 (though it stopped shy of $72), and copper punched another record high. Bitcoin lagged a bit and couldn’t crack $88K.

Uncertainty’s still hanging around—it’s just been shoved to the back burner while seasonal tailwinds take the wheel.

We’re enjoying the calm ride for now, but volatility’s always lurking in the shadows.

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Dollar Slides, Gold & Silver Soar – Risk-On Vibes Return

Ulli Market Commentary Contact

[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com]

  1. Moving the market

We started the day on a cheerful note, with the major indexes pushing higher right out of the gate—mostly thanks to tech and AI names getting their groove back.

Nvidia climbed over 1% on news they’re eyeing mid-February shipments of H200 chips to China. Micron and Oracle each added about 2%, giving the whole AI crew a nice lift after last week’s solid rebound.

Investors are still rotating into cheaper corners of the market (value, cyclicals) amid all the “are tech valuations too crazy?” chatter, so everyone’s watching to see if AI can hang onto leadership into year-end.

There’s been some doubt about a real Santa Claus rally kicking in—the S&P’s been flirting with a key technical level—but today eased a lot of those worries. Breadth was strong, and pretty much every asset class got in on the fun.

Even rising bond yields couldn’t spoil the mood (though they did knock the dollar lower all session).

That weakness was rocket fuel for precious metals: gold and silver both blasted to new record highs. Bitcoin started strong but gave it all back late and closed flat.

Quick question for you: when stocks grind higher, but metals are the ones smashing all-time highs, does it feel like pure risk-on harmony across the board… or a subtle sign some folks are quietly hedging just in case?

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ETFs On The Cutline – Updated Through 12/19/2025

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Do you want to know which ETFs are hot and which ones are not? Then you need my High-Volume ETF Cutline report. It tells you how close or far each of the 311 ETFs I follow is from its long-term trend line (39-week SMA). These are the ETFs that trade more than $5 million a day, so they are not some obscure funds that nobody cares about.

The report is split into two parts: The winners that are above their trend line (%M/A), and the losers that are below it. The yellow line is the line of shame that separates them. You can see how many ETFs are in each group and how they have changed since the last report (270 vs. 259 current).

Take a peek:

The HV ETF Master Cutline Report

If you are confused by some of the terms we use, don’t panic. I have a helpful Glossary of Terms for you.

If you want to learn more about the Cutline method and how it can make you rich (or at least less poor), read my original post here.