- Profit-taking on precious metals –
The longest government shutdown in US history lasted 42 days. Now, US President Donald Trump can finally announce a transitional budget. The question is whether he will succeed next year in reducing the budget deficit, which is still far too high at well over USD 1 trillion. It remains to be seen whether the seemingly endless negotiations between Republicans and Democrats over Obamacare, i.e. health insurance subsidies for the less well-off, will be followed by a year-end rally.
But it is already clear that in this ‘historic’ stock market year of 2025, it was not only AI stocks that inspired enthusiasm, but also many value stocks from Eastern Europe. Six stock market indices from Eastern Europe once again clearly outperformed the DAX and S&P indices, as they did last year. The CECE index – an artificial product of the Vienna Stock Exchange with shares from Poland, Hungary and Czechia on board – achieved a gain of 44.8%, while the DAX ‘only’ gained 19.3%. Precious metals and cryptocurrencies also achieved above-average performance results, although they have recently undergone a sharp correction.
It is therefore still worth taking a look at Eastern Europe, including countries such as Poland, Georgia and Kazakhstan, which have 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 259, at www.YouTube.com.
By the way: If, like Andreas Männicke, you want to change the crazy world a little, create more harmony in the world and are looking for a new energy source with like-minded people, you should register now on the new social network ‘Tribe’ at https://tribe.de/free/about?ref=2002482. On Monday, there will be another exciting presentation and workshop by Tribe in a Zoom call, where ways to financial freedom will also be presented. If you are interested, please contact info@eaststock.de and register with Tribe now, because Andreas Männicke is also planning a new online stock market round table there, which you can join.
The end of the government shutdown is not a liberation
The end of the government shutdown in the USA is finally here. After tough negotiations, another transitional budget has now been agreed. This means that the USA remains heavily indebted with national debt of over USD 37 trillion and continues to have excessive budget deficits. It is unlikely that Trump’s ambitious and aggressive tariff policy will improve this situation next year. It remains exciting to see when and by how much the Fed will initiate the next interest rate cut process, which is important for all asset classes. This is because interest expenses are the largest cost item in the US budget after defence spending due to persistently high interest rates.
France facing new elections in 2026?
France also has similar budgetary problems to the US, but the dispute there could escalate if Macron’s minority government is not supported by the right or left wing. In that case, new elections could be held next year, which could become a problem for the EU if the right wing gains votes. France is also too heavily indebted. In addition to excessively high defence spending, high interest payments are now also weighing on the budget – as in the US. Germany could also face similar problems next year if the economy continues to stagnate as it has done so far, because then planned tax revenues will fall away. Pensions in Germany are also in danger of becoming unsustainable if the retirement age is not raised.
Trump is fighting on various fronts with varying degrees of success
Trump has now officially ordered a fight against the drug cartel in Venezuela, although many experts believe that he only wants to bring down President Maduro in order to gain access to Venezuela’s abundant oil reserves. Trump has recently scored highly abroad as a peacemaker, but is facing problems at home – and not just with the budget. Trump is now increasingly being linked to the Epstein affair. It will be interesting to see whether Trump will now release the Epstein papers if the US Congress decides to do so. Trump is currently not very popular in the US. His approval rating has fallen to just 42% of the vote, which is a new low. It is still unclear what impact his aggressive tariff policy will have on the US economy. So far, inflation has remained relatively low. However, consumer confidence is also at a low ebb. It will be interesting to see how Christmas sales in the US turn out.
AI stocks such as Nvidia come under pressure
Wall Street has hardly reacted so far. The S&P index remained close to its new all-time high of 6734 index points, which represents an increase of 14.7% since the beginning of the year. Previously, however, some AI stocks such as Nvidia came under pressure as there were doubts about the high valuation of AI stocks. Nvidia’s share price fell slightly from over $200 to $190, but this is within the range of a normal correction. Market capitalisation thus fell from over $5 trillion to $4.62 trillion, a decline of around $400 billion. However, this will also be a risk next year, as AI stocks are relatively highly weighted in both the NASDAQ index and the S&P index. AI companies such as the seven ‘magical’ US stocks, led by Nvidia and Microsoft, are now investing record amounts, primarily in new data centres and the expansion of AI infrastructure. Google also plans to invest USD 5 billion in Germany over the next few years to expand its data centres. This is also Trump’s great hope that AI investments will further increase productivity and growth in the US.
DAX in euros far better than all US indices
The DAX closed at 23,876 index points on Friday, which still represents an increase of 19.3% since the beginning of the year. However, since the summer, it has been trending sideways in the range of 23,500 to 24,500 index points. DAX companies are still performing quite well with high order backlogs, as was recently the case with Siemens Energy, where the share price rose by as much as 10% on Friday due to new record order backlogs. On the other hand, the insolvency rate in Germany rose by 6% to a new record high in October because energy costs are too high. Industry is now receiving support from politicians, but small and medium-sized enterprises are not, as they continue to suffer from high energy costs, and private households even more so. In euro terms, however, the DAX has performed far better than all US indices this year, as the US dollar has lost more than 10% of its value against the euro this year and now stands at EUR 1.16/USD.
Precious metals correct slightly at a high level
Gold remained stable at USD 4080/ounce on Friday, but the other precious metals corrected sharply on Friday due to profit-taking, with silver falling by 3.9% to USD 50.6/ounce, platinum by 3.6% to USD 1562 and palladium by as much as 4.7% to USD 1898. Previously, however, there was also a lot of money to be made with BNP Paribas’ ETCs for precious metals, as gold rose by 56% in USD in one year, silver by as much as 62%, platinum by 59% and palladium by 37.7%, although performance in euros was significantly lower due to the weak US dollar.
Cryptocurrencies in a tailspin since their October high
Cryptocurrencies have corrected sharply since the beginning of October, in line with AI stocks in recent weeks, but this does not necessarily mean the end of the bull market. We are used to higher volatility in this area as well. Nevertheless, it is advisable to continue taking some profits for the time being. Bitcoin (BTC) fell from over £124,000 to below £95,000, Ethereum (ETH) fell from over 4,500 to almost 3,000 USD, Ripple (XRP) from 3.0 to 2.17 USD and Solana (SOL) from 220 to 140 USD. This means that BTC is now roughly at the same level as it was a year ago, as is ETN. While the price of XRP doubled in one year, the price of SOL fell by 42% in the same period.
Eastern European indices clearly outperform: CECE index up 45%!
Not as volatile as AI stocks and cryptocurrencies, stocks from Eastern Europe, which are largely ignored by the Western media, performed well. Few people know that six stock market indices from Eastern Europe clearly outperformed both the DAX and the S&P index, as they did last year. The CECE Index, an artificial product of the Vienna Stock Exchange with Czechia, Poland and Hungary on board, has risen by 44.8% in euros since the beginning of the year, while the DAX has ‘only’ gained 19.3% and the S&P Index 14.7% in US dollars. The SETX Index, an artificial product of the Vienna Stock Exchange for shares from South-Eastern Europe, also performed very well, with a gain of 38.1% since the beginning of the year, with shares from Romania also proving very popular recently (ROTX Index +37.7%!) , which are also tradable on German stock exchanges. Romanian shares are also a key topic in the new stock market newsletter EAST STOCK TRNDS (www.eaststock.de),
Selinskyi under pressure after corruption scandal
Even the UTX Index for Ukrainian shares is still up 47.9%, although Selinskyi is now embroiled in a corruption scandal. Over €100 million is said to have been embezzled from the energy company Energoatom . Both the energy minister and the justice minister had to step down. Selinskyi should also step down, especially since some of his friends are involved in the incident. This shows where German taxpayers’ money ultimately ends up. Russia is now advancing almost unstoppably in many cities, and Ukraine is struggling to hold its ground in cities such as Prokowsk. Russia is now deliberately bombing energy facilities in large cities, often causing power outages in many cities, including Kiev.
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 last EST was published on 29 October 2025 with a special on shares from Romania.
TV/radio references: 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 259. 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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