- Ticking time bombs
Trump seems to want the next Nobel Peace Prize with all his might. After achieving a ceasefire and the return of hostages in Israel, he now wants to talk to Putin about a ceasefire in Ukraine, and we can only hope that Trump will be successful there too. However, the EU has now launched its 19th package of sanctions against Russia and could cause Putin more concern than Trump.
Trump will also meet with Xi at the end of October to defuse or escalate the conflict with China over the export control of ‘rare earths’, which remains to be seen. In the US, citizens are now taking to the streets en masse to protest against Trump’s authoritarian leadership style. Is there a threat of civil war in the future? In France, too, there are protests against the desolate government, which has not yet passed a budget. But Trump has also been unable to present a new budget, so the government shutdown continues. In the US, some regional banks are once again in financial difficulties.
So far, the stock markets have been relatively unimpressed by the ‘ticking time bombs’. We will have to wait and see how the next important political negotiations unfold. So far, all investors can be very satisfied with this year. In addition to the stock markets, precious metal prices also skyrocketed from September onwards, while cryptocurrencies corrected slightly at a high level. Investors should also pay more attention to the opportunities for outperformance in Eastern Europe. Once again this year, 10 stock exchanges from Eastern Europe are among the 20 best-performing stock exchanges in the world, with 6 even outperforming the very well-performing DAX. There are now also new opportunities in Romania (ROTX index +28%). If Trump manages to bring about a ceasefire in Ukraine, shares in Ukraine and Poland would also have even more potential.
It is therefore still worth taking a look at Eastern Europe, including countries such as Georgia and Kazakhstan with the highest GDP growth rates. Andreas Männicke also shares his assessments of the new opportunities in Eastern Europe in his stock market newsletter EAST STOCK TRENDS (www.eaststock.de) and in his new EastStockTV video, episode 258, at www.YouTube.com.
Trump first brings about a ceasefire in Israel…
US President Donald Trump continues to keep the world’s stock markets on tenterhooks. First, he threatens China with a tariff increase to 100% from 1 November, as China wants to introduce export controls on ‘rare earths’, which are so important for the high-tech and defence industries. On the other hand, he is celebrated as a hero in Israel for managing to free the hostages and initiate a peace process in Israel.
… and now he wants to be successful in Ukraine too
Now he has further important negotiations with Putin in Budapest ahead of him. Trump also wants to bring about a ceasefire there, but this will be difficult. In order not to anger Putin, he decided not to send the Tomahawk missiles Selinskyi was hoping for (yet). Trump realises that this could lead to unnecessary escalation and even the danger of a Third World War. However, the negotiations with Putin will not be easy. Putin wants to claim the Donetsk region for himself in any case, in exchange for ceding other areas in eastern Ukraine. Putin is also prepared to enshrine a law in Russia that he will never wage a war of aggression against the EU or NATO. The EU remains sceptical and has now decided on the 19th package of sanctions against Russia.
Trump also has battles to fight in the US
In the US, Trump has not yet managed to pass a budget, meaning that the government shutdown continues. Seven million US citizens took to the streets over the weekend to protest against the authoritarian leadership style of ‘King’ Trump. Trump wants to deploy the army to ward off a possible civil war at home. Trump is now fighting on several fronts. The meeting with Chinese President Xi in South Korea at the end of October, where the trade conflict with China is to be resolved, will also be of great importance.
It will also be important for Trump to see how much the Fed will lower interest rates to stimulate the economy. Mortgage rates are still far too high in the US. Some American regional banks are already facing high write-offs again due to corporate bankruptcies and excessively high interest rates.
France is becoming a problem for the EU
Budget concerns are not limited to the US, but also exist in France. The planned austerity budget has not yet been approved. France is too heavily indebted and must therefore make savings, but this will lead to protests on the streets. The government is very unstable and does not have a majority, so the reinstated old and new Prime Minister Lecornu will now have a difficult time finding a majority for the budget. The rating agency S&P has already downgraded the bonds, causing yields to rise. The CAC 40 index of the Paris Stock Exchange has remained calm so far, with a gain of 10% since the beginning of the year, as the companies in it are globally positioned. Nevertheless, French banks could soon come under pressure because they have large volumes of French government bonds in their portfolios, where yields are now rising.
Equity and commodity markets remain bullish: gold and silver reach new all-time highs!
But the bullish trend remains fully intact on other global stock markets as well. The S&P Index in the US has risen by 13.6% since the beginning of the year, the NASDAQ Comp. Index by 17.6% due to AI speculation, and the DAX40 Index by as much as 19%, with new all-time highs even being reached in October. Precious metals remain in demand, with gold and silver also rising to new all-time highs. Since the beginning of September, gold has risen by 25% from 3400 to 4250 USD/ounce and silver by as much as 35% from 39 to 54 USD/ounce. Most recently, palladium also rose sharply by 45% from USD 1,100 to USD 1,600 per tonne, and platinum by 21% from USD 1,400 to USD 1,700 per tonne. Even copper rose by 5% from USD 10,000 to USD 10,500 per tonne. In contrast, the price of Brent crude oil fell from $68 to $61 per barrel due to the oil oversupply. The crypto markets recently corrected sharply at a high level. Bitcoin fell from 122,000 to 107,000 BTC/USD and XRP from 3.1 to 2.37 XRP/USD.
Shares in Eastern Europe are receiving too little attention
The stock markets in Eastern Europe, which had already impressed in previous months with their outperformance, also held their own recently. The Ljubljana Stock Exchange in Slovenia performed best, with a gain of 46% on the SBI Index, followed by the Prague Stock Exchange with a gain of 38% in euros on the PTX Index. The CECE Index, which includes Czechia, Poland and Hungary, also rose by 36.5%, while the DAX rose by ‘only’ 21%. However, the Baltic states also performed very well.
Shares from South-Eastern Europe are booming
The BTX Index for shares from Bulgaria also rose by 23.7%, and the ROTX Index for shares from Romania also rose by 28.1%, significantly outperforming the DAX, which rose by 19%. Since March, five Romanian blue chips have been tradable on German stock exchanges for the first time. Romanian shares were featured in a special report in the latest edition of East Stock Trend (www.eaststock.de). With Bulgaria, a new country from Eastern Europe will join the eurozone next year. The prices of Eastern European banks are developing particularly well. The CROX index for shares from Croatia has also risen by 18.5% since the beginning of the year.
Warsaw Stock Exchange stable despite drone attacks and new tax on banks
Despite Russian drone attacks on Poland, which triggered Article 4 of the NATO Treaty, i.e. consultations, the Warsaw Stock Exchange remained relatively stable. Even the major Polish banks, which dominate the index, performed well despite higher tax burdens. The PTX index declined only slightly. However, even after the correction, the PTX index for Polish shares was still up 34.5% since the beginning of the year. The Budapest and Prague stock exchanges also performed similarly well this year. The CTX index for shares from the Czechia rose by 40.5% and the HTX index for shares from Hungary by 32.7%, all far better than the DAX with +19%. However, the Eastern European stock markets are given very little attention in the media, which is why hardly anyone has them in their portfolios.
First inform yourself, then invest
Find out more about the background and development of the Ukraine/Russia crisis, as well as the future recovery potential of undervalued shares from Eastern Europe. There are also new opportunities in the Baltic States, South-Eastern Europe and the CIS republics (Kazakhstan, Georgia), with all the respective stock indices showing gains in 2023. In 2023, 12 stock exchanges from Eastern Europe were among the 30 best-performing stock markets in the world, with five clearly outperforming the DAX. In 2024, nine stock exchanges from Eastern Europe once again outperformed with strong gains. And since the beginning of the year, six stock exchanges from Eastern Europe have once again clearly outperformed the DAX. It is therefore still worth looking beyond the horizon to Eastern Europe.
Order a trial subscription now (3 issues by e-mail for only £15) to the monthly stock market newsletter EAST STOCK TRENDS (EST) with another Romania special and a dividend special, as well as lots of background information and new investment suggestions such as the ‘Stock of the Month’ and lucrative certificates at www.eaststock.de, under ‘Stock Market Newsletter’. The latest EST was published on 29 September 2025 with a special on shares from Romania.
TV/radio notes: On 19 July 2025, Andreas Männicke was interviewed by Michael Mross as part of the MMnews club about the top shares in Eastern Europe. On 6 October 2025, Andreas Männicke was also interviewed by Andreas Gross on Börsenradio Networks about new opportunities in Eastern Europe. All radio and TV interviews can be downloaded from the video archive at www.eaststock.de, including the latest video on EastStockTV, episode 257. By the way: have you already subscribed to the new YouTube channel BRICS-TV in addition to the YouTube channel EastStockTV ? If you are interested in in-depth coaching from Andreas Männicke via the Tribe platform and also want to change the world, then take a look at Tribe at https://tribe.de/free/about?ref=2002482 and let me know what you think at info@eaststock.de
Seminar note: If you are interested in new Eastern stock exchange seminars ‘Go East’ or a BRICS seminar in Frankfurt/M or other cities, please contact the EST editorial team (www.eaststock.de). If you are interested in East Stock Exchange webinars and BRICS webinars, please also get in touch.
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