Hi John, Carl, VP Content, here. With everything thatâs been going on this year, it mightâve been hard to keep track of everything that went on in the markets. So I asked each of the Finimize analysts to remind you about some of the biggest trends â and a few under-the-radar ones â that shaped the year. Carl Hazeley âIâll start with the obvious: the year was dominated by a pandemic that caused lockdowns, shutdowns, and economic disarray. It felt like life was on hold until Pfizer and BioNTech, Moderna, and AstraZeneca announced vaccines in November. But while that sounded like great news for those companiesâ investors, I wasnât convinced: between the rock-bottom profits drugmakers usually earn from vaccines and the cost of focusing on them at the expense of other medicines, I figured these pharma firms might actually lose out.â Check out my Insight: Three Reasons A Coronavirus Vaccine Isnât Actually Good News For Pharma Investors Milou Beunk, CFA âSpeaking of the pandemic: major governments have been boosting their economies by cutting taxes, which has made it a lot cheaper to buy real estate. Mix in record-low interest rates and housing shortages, and home prices in the richest countries â which normally fall during economic downturns â actually accelerated this year. And since homes tend to tie up 50% of their ownersâ overall wealth, that had me worried thereâs a collapse on the horizon â and that it could really hurt.â Check out Milouâs Insight: Why The Worldâs Soaring Home Prices Could Be Poised To Tumble Andrew Rummer âI was obsessed with bitcoin this year: the cryptocurrencyâs price jumped over 200%, shooting past its 2017 high to hit the $23,000 mark. Bitcoinâs most enthusiastic backers have called it a safe haven for investors in times of turmoil, a hedge against inflation, and a future payment method. But when I dug into historical and current trading patterns, I couldnât see any evidence itâll serve a useful purpose any time soonâŠâ Check out Andrewâs Insight: Why Bitcoinâs Reputation As A âSafe-Havenâ Investment Is Seriously Flawed Reda Farran, CFA âThis year, electric vehicle-maker Tesla grabbed the attention of everyone from investing newbies to stock market veterans when its share price rocketed almost 700%, taking the company from niche moonshot to S&P 500-listed giant. And all that hype got me thinking: if the key to the best EV is the best battery, the Holy Grail must be any company that can build a near-mythical âsolid-state batteryâ. So when one firm released data proving theyâd done exactly that, it made me sit up and take notice.â Check out Redaâs Insight: How One Secretive Bill Gates-Backed Company Has Left Tesla Looking Out-Of-Date StĂ©phane Renevier, CFA âYou probably donât need me to tell you that stock and bond prices hit record high after record high towards the end of this year. That made a few investors nervous â not least legendary hedge fund manager Bill Ackman. So Bill did what Bill does best: he replicated the strategy that earned him a 9,500% profit earlier this year and could do so again if things turn sour. And turns out, itâs a strategy you can copy pretty easily too.â Check out StĂ©phaneâs Insight: What Does Bill Ackman Know That We Donât? Itâs been an exciting year for all of us at Finimize, and thereâs a lot more to come. Keep your eyes peeled: weâll be back next year with even more analysis to help you become a smarter, more informed investor. All the best for 2021, VP Content | 