2025 is almost wrapped up and The Daily Breakdown takes a closer look at some of this year’s biggest assets: Gold, bitcoin, and the S&P 500.
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What’s Happening?
Precious metals like copper, silver, and gold have taken center stage as 2025 comes to a close. That performance raises an important question about diversification as we head into the new year.
As we enter the final trading day of 2025, gold is up nearly 65% for the year. That would mark the metal’s third consecutive annual gain and its fifth year of outperformance versus the S&P 500 over the last eight years. By comparison, the S&P 500 is up nearly 19% this year (including dividends), while Bitcoin is down roughly 5%.
Zooming out, the longer-term picture looks like this:
- Gold: +109% over the last two years, +127% over the last five years
- S&P 500: +45% over the last two years, +83% over the last five years
- Bitcoin: +110% over the last two years, +203% over the last five years
Of course, these are far from the only assets investors can consider. Silver, Ethereum, and the Nasdaq 100 offer similar points of comparison, while international equities, bonds, and real estate add further dimensions to portfolio construction. Still, as the year wraps up, these widely followed assets provide a useful snapshot — highlighting both the power of diversification and the importance of maintaining a longer-term perspective as we move into 2026.
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The Setup — GLD
The GLD ETF is the most popular gold ETF by volume and assets — and it’s had a great year. However, it has not tested its 50-day moving average since August.
While GLD is pulling back to test its current uptrend support level (blue line), a break below this area would not necessarily derail the broader rally. In fact, some traders may argue that a test of the ETF’s 50-day moving average would be healthy after several months of trading above that measure. If support fails — both at the uptrend line and the 50-day — additional downside momentum could develop. However, if these levels hold and buoy GLD, bulls may look for a rebound in 2026.
Options
As of December 30th, the options with the highest open interest for GLD stock — meaning the contracts with the largest open positions in the options market — were the January $420 calls, followed by the January 30th $425 calls and the January $435 calls.
Investors who are bullish could consider calls or call spreads as one way to speculate on further upside, while bearish investors could consider puts or put spreads to speculate on a further move to the downside. For options traders, it may be advantageous to have adequate time until the option’s expiration.
To learn more about options, consider visiting the eToro Academy.
What Wall Street’s Watching
Tesla expects Q4 vehicle deliveries to decline 15% year over year, a steeper drop than Bloomberg’s projected 10% decrease. Despite production adjustments and the introduction of lower-priced models, the company’s annual sales are on pace to fall for a second consecutive year. Even so, Tesla shares are up 12.5% in 2025, though they continue to lag the broader S&P 500. Check out the chart for TSLA.
Up ~66% coming into the last trading day of the year and Alphabet is on pace to be the best-performing Magnificent 7 holding of 2025. Shares swooned earlier in the year amid worries that AI would disrupt the company’s core search business. However, Alphabet proved to have its own AI catalysts as well. Will its momentum keep pace in 2026? Dig into the fundamentals.
Disclaimer:
Please note that due to market volatility, some of the prices may have already been reached and scenarios played out.