Which is a better investment: buying a home or investing in stocks?
Since 1995, stock prices have outperformed home prices by a factor of four, but which is actually the better investment for building wealth?
U.S. markets got off to a strong start in 2026, with the S&P 500 and the blue-chip Dow index closing at new records as investors avoided the Venezuela incident and other potential geopolitical risks and focused on economic and corporate news.
“It’s early in the year, but so far the market doesn’t seem to be too concerned about developments in South America,” said Brett Kenwell, a U.S. investment analyst at online brokerage eToro.
The S&P 500 rose 0.62% (42.77 points) to close at a record high of 6,944.82. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.99% (484.90 points) to close at $49,462.08, marking the first time in history it had closed above $49,000. The tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 0.65% (151.351 points) to close at 23,547.173.
“The calendar says 2026, but the theme for 2025 is still in progress,” said Chris Larkin, managing director of E*TRADE trading and investments at Morgan Stanley. “The market is on track with geopolitics so far, and the first trading week of the new year could revolve around whether the tech industry gains a foothold from its year-end stumbles.”
Technology gets stronger at CES
Memory and storage technology stocks rose after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang gave details about upcoming artificial intelligence processors, including a new storage technology layer, at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
SanDisk rose 27.56%, Western Digital rose 16.77%, Seagate Technology rose 14%, and Micron Technology rose 10.04%, with all four stocks hitting new all-time highs.
“I think it’s going to be a very strong earnings season for Big Tech,” said Jed Ellerbrook, portfolio manager at Argent Capital in St. Louis. Ellerbrook expects companies to announce plans to invest more money in upcoming earnings calls.
The next earnings season begins next week, when activity for the last three months of 2025 will be reported.
Oil prices fall, but energy stocks rise
Crude oil prices fell, dropping 2.38% to close at $56.93 per barrel. Venezuela’s share of global oil production is less than 1%, limiting downside risks to the energy market.
But Adrian Herfeldt, chief investment officer of multi-asset strategies at Westwood, said oil refiners and energy services companies on Mexico’s Gulf Coast will have a meaningful opportunity to rebuild their infrastructure once the political situation stabilizes.
Companies like Chevron and Exxon Mobil soared on these expectations, but gave back some of their gains on January 6th.
No recession expected
Economists say there are many expectations for the U.S. economy.
“We expect the economy to benefit in early 2026 from a surge in government refunds from the personal tax cuts included in the One Big Beautiful Bill,” said Stephen Ricciuto, chief U.S. economist at Mizuho Securities. He also said the economy should begin to feel the full benefits of last year’s Federal Reserve interest rate cuts.
(Reuters contributed to this article.)
Medora Lee is USA TODAY’s money, markets and personal finance reporter. Please contact us at mjlee@usatoday.com. Subscribe to our free Daily Money newsletter for personal finance tips and business news every Monday through Friday morning.
