FeelPic/iStock via Getty Images Key Takeaways Precious and Base Metals Markets: Gold (+11.9%, to $4,319 per troy ounce) and silver (+53.6%, to $71.66 an ounce) reached all-time inflation-adjusted highs during the fourth quarter of 2025 (4Q25). Both metals delivered impressive returns relative to the broader markets, posting their best yearly results since 1979, supported by investor demand for per...
FeelPic/iStock via Getty Images Key Takeaways Precious and Base Metals Markets: Gold (+11.9%, to $4,319 per troy ounce) and silver (+53.6%, to $71.66 an ounce) reached all-time inflation-adjusted highs during the fourth quarter of 2025 (4Q25). Both metals delivered impressive returns relative to the broader markets, posting their best yearly results since 1979, supported by investor demand for perceived “haven” assets. Other precious metals delivered stronger returns, with platinum setting a new all-time high in December, closing 4Q25 up 30.8% to cap an annual gain of 127.0%, while palladium rose 28.4% in 4Q25 and 77.5% in 2025, to levels not seen since early 2022. In the industrial metals complex, copper prices saw continued momentum over December (+11.0%), 4Q25 (+21.0%) and 2025 as a whole (+41.7%), reaching multiyear highs above $12,000 per metric ton as industrial demand tied to electrification, green energy buildouts and power grid expansions intensified, creating supply bottlenecks. Despite softening underlying demand from key buyer China, copper had its best year since 2009, fueled by near-term supply tightness from mine outages and expectations that future demand could outpace production growth. Rallying metals and mining stocks—including gold-focused equities—generally outperformed the global materials sector average by a wide margin, much as they did earlier in 2025. Contributors: Effective stock selection in the gold industry and, to a lesser extent, impressive rallies for several off-index allocations to miners focused on silver, copper and other industrial metals as they topped the pure-play gold miners tracked by the benchmark FTSE Gold Mines Index. Detractors: Several holdings in the off-benchmark precious metals and minerals industry and some overweight or off-index gold miners that missed out on the rally. Outlook: We believe many gold-focused miners are likely to report record earnings and free cash flow growth with their upcoming 4Q25 financial re...
Blue States Are Still Facing A Mass Taxpayer Exodus Long After COVID Remember when blues state Democrats tried to enforce sweeping pandemic mandates for years after it became clear that covid was not the "mass killer" that the supposed experts claimed it would be? Remember when they called for people to be jailed for publicly speaking about scientific facts that contradicted the narrative? Remembe...
Blue States Are Still Facing A Mass Taxpayer Exodus Long After COVID Remember when blues state Democrats tried to enforce sweeping pandemic mandates for years after it became clear that covid was not the "mass killer" that the supposed experts claimed it would be? Remember when they called for people to be jailed for publicly speaking about scientific facts that contradicted the narrative? Remember when they called for people's children to be taken away if they refused to vaccinate? Remember how millions of people left blue states in response to the far-left madness? Well, Democrats are now pretending that none of that ever happened, but they can't hide the continuing consequences of their draconian policies. The historic population shift that escalated during the pandemic era is still well underway, though the causes are now more economic than political. We recently covered New York Governor Kathy Hochul's sad attempt to beg wealthy NY taxpayers to stop leaving her state. However, New York is only one of multiple blue regions being crushed by an ongoing wealth exodus. New York Gov Kathy Hochul is begging wealthy people who have moved to Florida and Texas to come back to New York and pay taxes. 🤣 "I need people who are high net worth to support the generous social programs that we want to have in our state. Now, there are some patriotic… pic.twitter.com/B4ql1ktcq6 — Based Jessica (@RealJessica) March 18, 2026 New data from states like Massachusetts indicate that Democrat efforts to institute state level "wealth taxes" are driving out business owners and corporations, and these residents are taking billions in tax revenues with them. Massachusetts was hit with loss of $4.2 billion in adjusted gross income in 2023, one of the largest totals in the country, after passing a tax on millionaires. The amount was an 8% year-over-year increase, according to the Internal Revenue Service. The state witnessed a net loss of over 41,000 residents in 2022-2023. Keep in mind, this ...
TORONTO, March 31, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Base Carbon Inc. (Cboe CA: BCBN) (OTCQX: BCBNF) with operations through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Base Carbon Capital Partners Corp. (“ BCCPC ”, together, with affiliates, “ Base Carbon ”, or the “ Company ”), is pleased to announce its year-end 2025 consolidated financial results and operational highlights. All financial references are denominated in...
TORONTO, March 31, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Base Carbon Inc. (Cboe CA: BCBN) (OTCQX: BCBNF) with operations through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Base Carbon Capital Partners Corp. (“ BCCPC ”, together, with affiliates, “ Base Carbon ”, or the “ Company ”), is pleased to announce its year-end 2025 consolidated financial results and operational highlights. All financial references are denominated in U.S. dollars, unless otherwise noted.
BlackRock Inc. has emerged as the biggest winner from the expanding alternatives portfolio of Australia ’s sovereign wealth fund, with its mandate growing 74% over two years. BlackRock manages about A$7.5 billion ($5.2 billion) of The Future Fund’s alternatives portfolio — which is primarily hedge funds — making it the largest mandate in that asset class, according to a Bloomberg analysis of the f...
BlackRock Inc. has emerged as the biggest winner from the expanding alternatives portfolio of Australia ’s sovereign wealth fund, with its mandate growing 74% over two years. BlackRock manages about A$7.5 billion ($5.2 billion) of The Future Fund’s alternatives portfolio — which is primarily hedge funds — making it the largest mandate in that asset class, according to a Bloomberg analysis of the fund’s latest filings as of Dec. 31. The A$267 billion sovereign fund doesn’t disclose the underlying investments within those agreements. The filings also reveal a new A$1.1 billion allocation to London-based JJJ Capital Management, a hedge fund that spun out of billionaire Louis Bacon’s investment firm in 2023. The firm was seeking fresh capital in the second half of last year through a share class charging a 35% performance fee, aiming to lift its assets above $6 billion, Bloomberg reported. The Future Fund has long championed a hefty allocation to hedge funds, with alternatives making up about 15% of its portfolio, alongside sizable investments in venture capital, private equity, private debt and infrastructure. It has argued that as the correlation between stocks and bonds rises, hedge funds can provide a valuable ballast during periods of market volatility. “We adjust allocations and strategies across managers in response to our overall risk settings as well as the specific opportunities and strategies that we identify in the market,” a Future Fund spokesman said in an emailed statement, while declining to comment on specific investments or managers. BlackRock declined to comment and JJJ Capital didn’t reply to a request for comment. Private Markets Chiefs Quit Australia’s Sovereign Wealth Fund Wealth Fund’s Conflict Warnings Proves Prescient as Bets Pay Off CIO of $168 Billion Australia Fund Quits for Abu Dhabi Rival The jump in BlackRock’s allocation may reflect both the performance of its underlying funds and shifts in how the sovereign fund distributes capital. Bla...
Editor's note: Seeking Alpha is proud to welcome ZK Research as a new contributing analyst. You can become one too! Share your best investment idea by submitting your article for review to our editors. Get published, earn money, and unlock exclusive SA Premium access. Click here to find out more » Getty Images Introduction Sandisk ( SNDK ) has soared since its spinoff from Western Digital last yea...
Editor's note: Seeking Alpha is proud to welcome ZK Research as a new contributing analyst. You can become one too! Share your best investment idea by submitting your article for review to our editors. Get published, earn money, and unlock exclusive SA Premium access. Click here to find out more » Getty Images Introduction Sandisk ( SNDK ) has soared since its spinoff from Western Digital last year, climbing as much as 1,851% by March 24th. After a run like that, investors naturally get cautious and start jumping at every piece of concerning news. Throw in a macro crisis and a sensational blog post hyping a shiny new technology, and you've got the perfect recipe for an eye-popping 11% single-day drawdown. Sure, you could say we shouldn't read too much into one day's price action - and you'd be right. Still, after wading through the investor reactions, I felt it was worth stepping back to clarify a few things. Without a solid grasp of the fundamentals and the bigger picture in the memory market, it's easy to draw the wrong conclusions. I rate Sandisk a Strong Buy. The company is exceptionally well-positioned in the NAND flash market at a time when the other dominant NAND Flash producers are deliberately constraining NAND wafer output to prioritize higher-margin HBM capacity. Combined with Sandisk's locked-in, low-cost wafer supply through its extended joint venture with Kioxia, this dynamic should drive both margin expansion and market share gains. Meanwhile, Google's TurboQuant announcement poses zero threat to NAND demand; on the contrary, more efficient AI models are likely to accelerate data generation and storage needs. At current levels, the risk/reward strongly favors the upside. In this article, I'll walk you through the memory market, Sandisk's place in it, and what Google's TurboQuant algorithm might actually mean for memory stocks. Main Product We can divide computer memory into two main segments: primary and secondary memory. Primary memory is used for im...
Drivers refuel their vehicles at a China Petroleum and Chemical Corp. gas station on Wanping Road in Shanghai on the evening of March 23, 2026. Photo: VCG As the Iran war enters its fifth week, the navigation crisis in the Strait of Hormuz remains unresolved. Although three Asian countries have announced agreements with Iran to allow their vessels to pass, traffic through the strait is still runni...
Drivers refuel their vehicles at a China Petroleum and Chemical Corp. gas station on Wanping Road in Shanghai on the evening of March 23, 2026. Photo: VCG As the Iran war enters its fifth week, the navigation crisis in the Strait of Hormuz remains unresolved. Although three Asian countries have announced agreements with Iran to allow their vessels to pass, traffic through the strait is still running far below normal levels. Meanwhile, international oil prices are approaching the $110 a barrel mark. Elevated oil prices are weighing on economic growth worldwide, exerting particularly heavy pressure on small, open economies.