Trillion-dollar booms in 2024

The global economy in 2024 witnessed unprecedented changes in human history. At the beginning of 2024, ChatGPT shook the world after more than a year of quiet launch, without fanfare or world-changing pronouncements.

ChatGPT ( Chat Generative Pre-training Transformer ) is a chatbot developed by OpenAI based on Google's Transformer model, an artificial intelligence (AI) product that helps people create automated conversations and answer questions on a wide range of topics and fields.

ChatGPT immediately became a huge sensation in the tech world, more popular than Netscape bringing the internet, Facebook creating personal spaces, or the iPhone putting the world at everyone's fingertips...

Since ChatGPT sparked the AI ​​wave, in 2024 alone, the market capitalization of Nvidia, the AI ​​chip manufacturer led by CEO Jensen Huang, increased by several trillion USD, reaching $3.5 trillion and becoming the most valuable company globally, surpassing Apple and Microsoft.

AIfever thefuturefactory.gif
How long will the artificial intelligence (AI) craze last? Photo: FF

Microsoft and Apple themselves also saw their market capitalization increase by trillions of dong. Elon Musk's Tesla also doubled, reaching $1.45 trillion.

The global BigTech sector is soaring thanks to the AI ​​wave.

Along with the surge in technology stocks, the US stock market had an impressive year. The broad S&P 500, the technology Nasdaq Composite, and the industrial Dow Jones indices reached dozens of new all-time highs in 2024, gaining 20-40%. The S&P 500's market capitalization alone increased by approximately $15 trillion.

The cryptocurrency market is also booming, but the focus is primarily on Bitcoin. This cryptocurrency has increased 2.5 times since the beginning of the year, from around $40,000 to its current level of $106,000/BTC. Its market capitalization is now nearly $2.09 trillion.

US stocks and digital assets have also surged this year, driven by the shares of Jensen Huang, Elon Musk, and others, as well as statements from Donald Trump and the monetary policy reversal by Fed Chairman Jerome Powell.

Gold prices also had a breakout year of 30-35%, setting more than 40 records in 2024, at one point reaching nearly $2,790 per ounce. The total market capitalization, calculated based on the gold reserves of countries around the world, reached approximately $18 trillion. The increase in 2024 was about $5.4 trillion.

ElonMuskHuang BI.gif
Billionaire Elon Musk and Jensen Huang. Photo: BI

Asset bubble risk

The US stock market fell for the ninth consecutive session on December 17th (closing early morning December 18th in Vietnam time), with the Dow Jones index experiencing its longest losing streak since 1978. Coupled with the sharp decline in the share price of the high-profile Nvidia stock in the final trading sessions of the year, this signal is causing concern among many investors.

As we can see, no asset can increase continuously forever, especially when US stocks, cryptocurrencies, gold, etc., have exploded, reaching dozens of peaks in 2024. In fact, in December, Nasdaq Composite stocks continued to rise, but the Dow Jones and S&P 500 were falling sharply.

A decline in the US stock market during the first few months of Donald Trump's presidency (from January 20, 2025) or throughout the next year is something the 47th president of the United States certainly does not want. During his first term, Trump consistently sought to boost the stock market, including pressuring the Fed to change its monetary policy.

Bitcoin2024Dec18.gif
Bitcoin price fluctuations over the past year. Total market capitalization reached nearly $2.1 trillion.

The influx of capital into the AI ​​sector over the past few years, especially in 2024, has been massive, but the commercial profitability has been limited.

Investors are worried about a rather uncertain global economy, with unpredictable policies from the 47th US President Donald Trump, regarding trade tariffs, or the race to burn money in the AI ​​sector.

Risks to the global economy also include a tendency for inflation to rise again, the Fed potentially being more cautious with the pace of this interest rate reduction cycle; and signals that China's massive stimulus package is not yet positive...

However, on the other hand, many organizations have a positive outlook. Major banks like Barclays and JPMorgan believe that although US stocks may fluctuate, they will rise by about 10% in 2025 thanks to the resilience of the economy, strong US income and spending, and corporate profits boosted by Trump's tax cuts.

The possibility of President Trump implementing policies to boost oil and gas production could drive down energy prices, thereby curbing inflation and stimulating consumption.

Buying VinBrain, wanting to open an AI school, drinking beer with the Prime Minister : What are Nvidia CEO's ambitions? Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang caused a media frenzy during his second visit to Vietnam, establishing the world's third artificial intelligence center, inaugurating Nvidia Vietnam, acquiring VinBrain, receiving the VinFuture award, and drinking beer with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh...