Stocks had a great run in 2025. Here's what powered the market

A version of this article originally appeared in Quartz’s members-only Markets newsletter. Quartz members get access to exclusive newsletters and more. Sign up here. Let's start with the obvious: If you own stocks, 2025 was good to you. If you were sitting in broad index funds — the kind of set-it-and-forget-it holdings many upper-income-tier types automatically reach for — you're likely up about 16% for the year, roughly in line with the S&P 500. If you tilted toward tech or held Nasdaq-heavy funds, you ...