Stocks, Bonds, and Crypto This Week Ending December 5 2025

Michael Thompson

Hey everybody, it's Michael here on Radio Pete's Wealth Talk, joined as always by the man whose career outlasted the dot-com bubble and then some—Pete Williams! We're diving right into the big news this week. Let's start with stocks: The S&P 500, Dow Jones, and NASDAQ all had, uh, let’s call it a "mixed bag" of a week. S&P’s up a touch week-to-date, I think about half a percent, but it’s still hanging near record highs for the year. The Dow was flat—give or take—and the NASDAQ, well, the tech names bounced around a bit more than usual but overall held onto most of their gains from earlier this year.

Pete 2

It’s funny, Michael, every week folks ask if “this is it”—is this the week the market finally tumbles? But the reality is it takes much more than one jobs report or earnings miss to throw these indices. Speaking of which, we did have some economic reports move things around: CPI inflation data came in just a tick hotter than expected, which spooked investors for, I don’t know, maybe seven hours? Then you get a couple of strong earnings—Apple, for instance—suddenly everyone’s back in a risk-on mood by Thursday afternoon. Same old dance.

Pete 2

Meanwhile, if you zoom out—all these up-and-down weeks, S&P is still, what, double what it was five years ago? Investors have short memories, but patterns repeat. Always good to remember that when the headlines get noisy.

Pete 2

Alright, let’s switch lanes and check in on bonds. Treasurys saw yields climb again this week—10-year’s bouncing around, what, 4.4% now? When those yields climb, regular folks owning bond funds see prices go down, which always feels backwards when you first get into investing. But that's the reality—yields up, prices down.

Michael Thompson

It is definitely one of those, uh, counterintuitive things. And this week, a lot of the movement was tied to—you guessed it—rate expectations. The market keeps hoping for rate cuts, but with sticky inflation numbers, the Fed, well, they aren’t budging just yet. That’s keeping short-term Treasury yields solid, which means money market funds are yielding more than 5%… still, can’t believe I’m saying that in 2024. And longer-term bonds, they’ve been choppier, especially corporates. The spreads narrowed a bit, but not enough that I’d call it “cheap.”

Michael Thompson

So many individual investors are in a standard 60/40 stock to bond portfolio and the fixed income portion has been hit recently. Most people just wanna know: “Am I going to be okay if rates or inflation creep up a bit more?” And honestly, for bonds, what matters most is your time horizon and making sure you’re not forced to sell when prices dip. It’s the old don’t-panic rule. Hard to follow, but it works.

Michael Thompson

Let’s not forget what’s probably the buzziest corner of finance this week—crypto. Bitcoin, last I checked, is holding close to $90,00 after dipping a bit Monday.

Pete 2

You know, Michael, four years ago, if you'd told me we’d be talking Bitcoin and Ethereum like mainstay portfolio pieces on this podcast, I would’ve laughed. Back in 2020, my clients started asking—no, insisting—that I give ‘em the real scoop on crypto. And I’ll admit it, I was skeptical, probably too much so. Old habits, you know? But enough folks asked that I started digging in, and you realize, hey, this thing isn’t just for techies and speculators anymore. There’s a spot for digital assets in wealth management—maybe not a huge spot, but it’s real.

Michael Thompson

Yeah, and this week, most of the volatility’s been around regulatory rumblings—nothing new there. Bit of noise about stablecoin legislation moving through Congress, and, well, those ETF flows keep shifting. Every whisper from DC or a tech upgrade—like, ah, what’s the word, “network forks”—seems to move prices by 5% overnight. If folks are betting on crypto for short-term gains, good luck. But long-term holders? These kinds of weeks just come with the territory.

Pete 2

Exactly right. There is also some old-fashioned profit taking as crypto has had a good two year run. I’ve come around to the idea that crypto’s just another tool along with gold and other alternatives. Does it belong everywhere? No. But it’s also not the fringe thing it used to be. I tell my clients: Start tiny if you start at all, expect swings, and don’t pretend you’re smarter than the entire market. It’s still the Wild West out there.

Michael Thompson

Couldn’t agree more, Pete. Alright, I think that’s a good place to wrap for today. Whether you’re into stocks, bonds, or—even now—crypto, it’s all about keeping perspective, tuning out the noise, and making a plan that actually lets you sleep at night.

Pete 2

Thanks for tuning in to Radio Pete’s Wealth Talk. Michael, always a pleasure talking with you. And to our listeners, remember: Markets will move, but smart planning lasts. We’ll see you next time.

Michael Thompson

Take care, Pete. See ya, everyone—looking forward to our next chat!