Despite plenty of dips and wrong turns, especially across the first few months, the bulk of 2025 was characterized by an orderly march higher for stocks.
What an interesting year! Not a newsflash that a lot can happen in a year of presidential turnover and shifting economic winds, but it feels like 2025 brought even more curveballs.
AI setback
In late January, a single bad headline about a Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) model disrupted a relatively quick start to a market year driven by AI and related stocks. Nvidia alone, one of AI’s brightest stars, erased $600 billion of market cap – a reminder that investors should monitor their concentration in any one idea.
Tariff tantrums
Learn more
Seeking deeper meaning from one sell-off, by Kyle Tetting
Tariff volatility: Investor questions, by Kyle Tetting
One thing that’s certain: Uncertainty, by Joel Dresang
Markets surprise. What should investors do? by Steve Giles
Shutdown fogs moment of clarity, by Kyle Tetting
Mid-2025: Foggy outlook, balance rules, by Adam Baley
Heads Up: Don’t panic. Scam aftermath, by Jason Scuglik
2025 Investment Outlook Seminar, a Money Talk Video with Kyle Tetting
The rally in AI regained traction through late winter, but then the April 2 “Liberation Day” launch of tariff hikes renewed uncertainty. Amid questions on global trade, the S&P 500 surrendered nearly 19% from its prior peak and was down 15% from the start of the year.
During that sell-off, my colleagues Joel Dresang and Steve Giles reminded us about humility and the importance of having strategies to navigate inevitable volatility. One of the most important lessons from the early days of the tariff disputes: Have a plan and stick to it.
Foggy outlook
Sure enough, as my colleague Adam Baley wrote mid-year, tariff talk had spread to the broader view on the economy. Tariff’s might have been paused, but businesses were forced to adjust expectations, and the broader economic picture became cloudier.
Despite uncertainty, though, investors largely returned to stocks. Markets resumed their march higher. Our messaging through much of that stretch was a constant call for the need to rebalance. Rising stock prices drove portfolio balances higher, but they also led to some outsized positioning in stocks for many portfolios, prompting an opportunity for conversations and reviews.
Shutdown
One more moment of meaningful uncertainty came as the federal government shut down in October, further clouding the outlook and diminishing our ability to even measure the impact. We still haven’t recovered lost data and likely never will. Yet, stocks have gone marching on.
Despite no shortage of headlines – those I’ve mentioned are just some highlights – the final market numbers for 2025 will hide the consternation felt in the immediacy of each event. That is the reality of being an investor. The good days typically outweigh the bad, and yet the bad ones tend to weigh more heavily in the moment.
I’m happy to report that we entered 2025 prepared for anything. Much of what we saw wasn’t on my bingo card for the year, but we had a plan and we executed it. The result: A strong year for balanced investors.
Scams
But, in the spirit of a resolution for the new year, there is one item for which we all must be prepared. As much as 2025 was a strong year for stocks, it also was a turning point for how vigilant we must be in protecting ourselves. My colleagues and I have spent far too much of the year warning about scams, including a piece from my colleague Jason Scuglik providing some useful tips on what to do in the aftermath.
It won’t be easy to steel ourselves against the onslaught of scams, made easier by AI and an increasingly connected digital world. Nevertheless, we need to do our part to ensure that 2026 is not the year we spend recovering from fraud. That means more conversations on what we’re seeing, who it’s impacting and how we can help.
Most importantly, as we get set to embark upon another trip around the sun, I am immensely grateful for the continued trust and confidence placed in us each day. I am continually honored to hear how you share these messages with those that you hold dear. I wish you a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year!
Kyle Tetting is president of Landaas & Company, LLC.