Glittering Finish. A volatile week for stocks ended with the major indexes essentially flat. The S&P 500 finished the week down 0.4% while the Nasdaq Composite was off 0.1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which swung 1,179 points from its low on Tuesday to its high on Thursday, finished the week down 260 points, or 0.5%.

On the year, the three indexes are still up at least 1% each.

While stocks ended where they began, the real action came in precious metals, with investors rushing to gold and silver amid an increasingly uncertain geopolitical environment. Both of the metals had their largest ever weekly dollar gains on record, with gold up $388 an ounce to $4,976.20 and silver rising nearly $13 to $100.93.

Ed Yardeni, president and chief investment strategist at Yardeni Research, thinks the precious metals rally can continue. He has a $6,000 target on gold, and he sees structural reasons that silver’s rally could continue, as well:

If equity markets are feeling left behind, next week’s 100 or so earnings reports from S&P 500 companies could bring the focus back to stocks. Among the scheduled reporters are four of the seven Mag 7 companies, including Tesla, Microsoft, and Meta Platforms all on Wednesday alone. Apple reports Thursday.

All four stocks are down significantly from their recent highs, suggesting expectations might be lower than usual heading into the results. Investors will be looking for updates on capital expenditures, returns on AI initiatives, and overseas sales.

For those of you in the path of this weekend’s storm, stay warm and safe. We’ll see you next week.

Watch our TV show on Fox Business Saturday and Sunday at 9:30 a.m. or 10:30 a.m. ET. This week, Schwab’s Liz Ann Sonders on the market’s new phase. Plus, stock picks from the Barron’s annual Roundtable and the fifth anniversary of the meme-stock revolt.

The Hot Stock: Live Nation Entertainment +6.4%
The Biggest Loser: Intel -17.0%

Best Sector: Materials +0.9%
Worst Sector: Financials -1.4%

With the Greenland crisis sidelined for now, investors can look ahead to earnings with about a fifth of S&P 500 companies reporting next week, including four of the Magnificent Seven.

Boeing and General Motors report results on Tuesday, followed by Meta Platforms, Microsoft, and Tesla on Wednesday. Apple, Mastercard, and Visa announce their earnings on Thursday, and two oil giants Chevron and Exxon Mobil close out the week on Friday.

The Federal Open Market Committee announces its monetary-policy decision on Wednesday. The anticipation is muted for this FOMC meeting as the central bank is widely expected to keep the federal-funds rate unchanged. Nevertheless Wall Street will be eager to hear from Jerome Powell, in his last few months as Fed Chair, for clues about how long the Federal Reserve plans to hold rates steady.

• Trump’s Greenland Gambit Signals a New World Order for Markets

• AIG Dropped Sharply in January. The Stock Is a Buy.

• Powell’s Term as Fed Chief Ends Soon. His Words Carry More Weight Than Ever.

• Silver Has Gone Ballistic. How to Play the Metal’s Next Move.

• And this weekend’s Barron’s cover story: Meme Stocks Turn 5. Will There Ever Be Another GameStop?

Join Barron’s Live on Monday at noon. Warren Buffett stepped down as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway at the end of 2025, a mere 95 years young, and longtime Berkshire executive Greg Abel stepped up. What does the leadership transition mean for Buffett’s incomparable creation and its shares? Barron’s Lauren Rublin speaks with Barron’s Andrew Bary and Cathy Seifert, a senior vice president at CFRA Research, both of whom have followed Berkshire’s evolution and the stock’s performance for many years. We will also have a look at other insurance and financial stocks, and what’s moving in the markets.

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