On December 24, the Financial Association reported (Editor Zhao Hao) that in 2024, the global economy and financial markets experienced dramatic fluctuations and innovations, including the surge of Cryptos, breakthroughs in the Technology Industry, and the reshaping of traditional industries.

We will use ten iconic numbers to review the most shocking financial news of the year, exploring the deeper economic and social significance behind them.

1. Nasdaq historically breaks through the 20,000 point barrier.

On December 11, the Nasdaq Composite Index historically broke through the 20,000 point barrier, with the index having increased nearly 32% year-to-date. The AI boom and expectations for interest rate declines stimulated a surge in Technology stocks, helping the Nasdaq to continue writing this remarkable year.

It is worth mentioning that as early as the beginning of this year, investment bank Wedbush's star Analyst Dan Ives predicted that in 2024, US Technology stocks are expected to rise further by 25%, and the Nasdaq Index may reach the 20,000 point barrier.

2. Bitcoin stands at $0.1 million.

On December 5, Bitcoin's price first surged past $0.1 million, reaching a high of $0.108 million. Similar to Musk's recently rising wealth, the market widely believes that Bitcoin's market conditions are also related to Trump, who repeatedly expressed support for Bitcoin during his campaign.

Trump also stated the intention to establish a 'National Strategic Bitcoin Reserve' and nominated several Bitcoin supporters for key positions in the next government, including nominating Paul Atkins as the chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to replace the crypto-unfriendly Gary Gensler.

3. Trump claimed to impose a 25% tariff on goods from Mexico and Canada.

Trump declared on Social Media that he would sign a series of executive orders after taking office in January next year, which includes imposing a 25% tariff on all products entering the USA from Mexico and Canada. This indicates that Global protectionism might resurface next year.

In response, the Japan External Trade Organization's Asia Economic Research Institute conducted estimates. The results showed that compared to a situation without tariffs, the US GDP is expected to decline by 1.1%. Mining and Agriculture will decline by 1.5% each, facing significant impacts.

4. Musk 'demands payment' of 56 billion dollars.

Earlier this month, a Delaware district court again rejected Tesla’s massive compensation plan for CEO Musk. It is reported that when the compensation plan was approved in 2018, it was valued at 2.6 billion dollars, but by the end of the year, when the judge canceled it, it had risen to 56 billion dollars.

In response to this ruling, Musk himself stated, 'The company should be controlled by shareholders, not a judge.' As Trump's 'golden donor', Musk's net worth has soared since the US election, becoming the first person in history to surpass the 400 billion dollar mark.

5. Ford loses 0.13 million dollars for every electric vehicle sold.

On April 24, Ford announced its first quarter earnings for 2024, revealing that its electric vehicle division "Model e" sold only 0.01 million vehicles in the quarter, with losses skyrocketing to 1.3 billion dollars, a loss of 0.132 million dollars per vehicle sold, impacting the company's overall profitability.

Due to slowing demand leading to lower-than-expected sales, several auto manufacturers in Europe and the USA have announced cuts or delays to their electric vehicle production targets this year. This may indicate that the transition from RBOB Gasoline vehicles to electric vehicles may take longer than anticipated.

China's stock funds saw a record inflow of 39.1 billion dollars in a single week.

At the end of September, China announced a package of stimulus policies that effectively boosted social confidence. According to EPFR Global data, investors injected a record 39.1 billion dollars into Chinese stock funds during the week ending October 9.

Hedge fund legend David Tepper stated in a show, "I didn’t expect them to pull such a big move. This is a complete shift." When asked what Chinese assets he bought, he replied, "I bought everything, I will buy ETFs, I will buy Futures, I will buy all of it."

For the first time in human history, a commercial spacewalk has reached an altitude of 1400 kilometers from Earth.

On September 11, Eastern Time, the crew of the "Polaris Dawn" mission, launched aboard the SpaceX crewed "Dragon" spacecraft, reached an orbit approximately 1400 kilometers from Earth, surpassing the previous record of approximately 1370 kilometers set by the Gemini mission in 1966.

According to SpaceX, the four astronauts exited the spacecraft to conduct a series of mobility demonstrations to test the performance of their spacesuits in the vacuum of space environment. It should be noted that all four passengers in the "Polaris Dawn" mission were non-professional participants.

8. The fiscal deficit of the USA reached 1.8 trillion dollars.

According to forecasts from the U.S. Congressional Budget Office, the federal budget deficit of the USA will reach 1.8 trillion dollars in the fiscal year ending September 30, 2024, an increase of 139 billion dollars compared to the fiscal year 2023, which is the highest level except for the period during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This budget gap represents 6.4% of the USA's GDP, and the massive fiscal deficit is the main reason for the rise in the total national debt of the USA. Data released by the U.S. Treasury Department on November 24 shows that the total federal government debt has reached 36.035 trillion dollars, a historic high.

9. Japan's birth population this year may fall below 0.7 million.

Data released by Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare in November shows that the number of new births in Japan in the first half of the year has decreased by 6.3% compared to the same period last year, totaling 329,998 people, and it is expected that the total number of births for the year may fall below 0.7 million for the first time. In 2023, Japan's total fertility rate dropped to 1.2, a historic low.

Meanwhile, South Korea's total fertility rate dropped to 0.72 in 2023, also a new low. On June 19, Yoon Suk-yeol announced that South Korea had entered a 'population emergency' and stated that the nation would make every effort to address South Korea's low birth rate issue.

10. This year will become the hottest year in at least 174 years.

On November 7, the EU's climate monitoring agency Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) stated that temperature data for the first ten months of 2024 indicate that this year will become the hottest year on record since 1850. Prior to this, 2023 had already been the 'hottest year in human history on record.'

The institution also predicts that the global average temperature in 2024 will be 1.5 degrees Celsius higher than the temperature levels from 1850 to 1900, even exceeding 1.55 degrees Celsius. This means that this year's temperature may surpass the threshold set by the Paris Agreement.

Affected by climate, the output of Agricultural Products such as cocoa, coffee, orange juice, and olive oil has encountered shocks, and prices have significantly soared. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations previously warned that climate change continues to disrupt traditional agricultural production patterns, and its impact on the economy is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.

编辑/jayden