In 2023, global military expenditure rose for the ninth consecutive year, exceeding $2.4 trillion. This surge, fueled by the ongoing Russia–Ukraine war and escalating geopolitical tensions, marked a 6.8% increase—the largest annual rise since 2009. This pushed world military spending to its highest level recorded by SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute). The global military burden, defined as military expenditure as a share of GDP, reached 2.3%, with governments dedicating an average of 6.9% of their budgets to defence or approximately $306 per person.
This week’s top stories
This week saw some interesting market developments and forecasts and we have picked several of them for our weekly review:
RBC Sees S&P 500 Rising to 6,600 by End of 2025
Which altcoins did the best in 2024?
Bitcoin’s recent all-time highs, driven by market hopes and optimism that the new Donald Trump administration will take a pro-crypto stance and investor interest, has put the spotlight on the cryptocurrency sector once again. In the past 12 months, Bitcoin’s price has risen almost 153% and in November alone, when it nearly touched the $100,000 milestone, bitcoin has grown almost 37%.
Bitcoin’s rise and the overall bullish sentiment has revitalised the interest in some much smaller and cheaper altcoins, some of which can boast spectacular performances in the past 12 months and this November alone. Let’s take a look at several of them!
Changes to Trading Hours over Thanksgiving (Nov. 28-29, 2024)
Dear clients,
Please be advised that due to Thanksgiving in the U.S., the trading hours of some CFD markets will be changed on 28 and 29 November 2024.
Could Tesla’s Market Cap Soar to $2 Trillion by 2025?
EV maker Tesla has been through its ups and downs, but has consistently defied expectations and some analysts now predict that its market cap could hit $2 trillion by 2025. It is hard to tell whether this is achievable, but Tesla has performed rather well recently.
Changes to trading hours Oct. 28 – Nov. 3, 2024
Dear clients,
Please be advised that due to the shift from Daylight Saving Time (DST) to standard time in Europe, trading hours of some CFD markets will be changed during the period Oct. 28 – Nov. 3, 2024. This temporary adjustment is needed as the U.S. switches to standard time one week later than European countries, which means that in the aforementioned period: