Crypto. Gold. Silver. AI. Cybersecurity. Banks. Housing. Energy. Health Care. Kohl’s.

Crypto. Gold. Silver. AI. Cybersecurity. Banks. Housing. Energy. Health Care. Kohl’s.
Which industries are soaring, and which are sinking?
 
In this midyear checkup, we’ll see which sectors performed well in the 2nd quarter of 2025, and which were the Dogs of the Dow. We will also discuss where the money is flowing from.
 
As you can see in the chart below, the best performers of the year (so far) are silver, gold, Bitcoin, copper (Peru), industrials, utilities, information technology (Microsoft, Apple, Nvidia), and communication services (Google, Meta), in that order. Health care, energy, consumer discretionary, consumer staples, and real estate dragged down the index performance.
 
 

The S&P500 hit a new high today. The previous high was in February 2025, before the announcement of the tariffs.
 
Stocks plunged -19% in early April. Who did the selling? According to S&P Global, institutional and retail investors sold, while hedge funds, ETFs and index funds purchased (at the low). It’s easy for Main Street to be swallowed up by the whales of Wall Street, which is why it is so important to have a time-proven investing strategy rather than rely upon headlines or let FUD* guide our actions. Emotions typically put us on the wrong side of the trade.
 
*Fear, uncertainty, doubt
 
Here are the sectors we’ll discuss in this blog.
 
Gold & Silver
Crypto
Copper
Industrials & Utilities
AI, Information Technology,  Cybersecurity and Communication Services
Financials
Real Estate
Consumer Staples and Discretionary
Energy: Oil & Gas and Clean Energy
Health Care
Kohl’s Meme stock
 
And here is more information on each sector.

Gold & Silver
It’s interesting that the top performers this year are “safe havens” – gold, silver, and crypto. Silver hasn’t been receiving the headlines of gold or bitcoin. However, it is the silent superstar, as you can see in the chart above. We’ve been leaning harder into silver because it still hasn’t achieved the Apex of $50 a coin that it saw back in 2011, at the previous high. My thinking was that it was a better value, and had more room to run.
 
If you are a gold or silver bug, it’s also important to understand that this industry is more volatile than people recognize. Our pie chart system, with gold, silver or crypto as a hot slice or two prompts us to capture gains when they hit their all-time highs. It’s never a question of all or nothing, but rather that we have a strategy of claiming and keeping our wealth, rather than just riding a rollercoaster through the quite long periods when investors desert the asset. In 1980, when gold hit an all-time high, it took a quarter of a century to return to that value. In 2011, the pre-pandemic high, gold dropped from $2,000 in August to $1,200 in 2015 (-40%). It didn’t stay above $2,000 again until late 2023. Learn more in my Safe Haven blog.

Crypto
Bitcoin has been on fire the past few years. It doubled in 2023 and then again in 2024 and is still holding strong in 2025.

I listed bitcoin as our Investment of the Year in March 2024, and it certainly has performed well enough to deserve that designation. However, crypto is another asset that experiences extreme volatility.
 
After the last two halving events, we saw a trend worth noting. Bitcoin hit a high one year after halving, and then sank into a severe Crypto Winter at the 2nd year anniversary. That means that between now and April 2026 (the 2nd anniversary of the April 2024 halving), there could be greater volatility than cryptophiles are counting on. Remember, it’s always the whales who send the HODLs into these long periods of lack.
*Hold On for Dear Life
 
Here again, if crypto is a hot slice of an age-appropriate, properly diversified plan that we rebalance 1-3 times a year, we have a “capture gains” strategy in place and can buy low when the price tanks rather than shivering (or perishing) during the long Crypto Winters.

I discuss crypto and stablecoins in greater detail in my blog, videoconference and podcast. (Click to access.)

Copper
Materials was one of the weaker sectors in the U.S. this year. However, when we move over to a country like Peru, that has been one of the superior performers, largely due to the strength of copper. As you can see in the chart above, the iShares Peru Index (symbol: EPU) is up 25.6% year to date. Check out my Peru blog from last November for additional information. (Click on the blue-highlighted words.)

Copper prices are at all-time highs. Peru is the 2nd largest exporter of copper in the world. Copper is a building block of new energy and was dubbed “The New Oil” by Goldman Sachs years ago.

We’ve been using EPU as our mid value replacement fund for years. Not only has it been a super performer in share price, but it also provides double the dividends of most US-based mid cap value funds.
 
Industrials & Utilities
Planes, trains, and automobiles, and all the widgets that make things run, along with utilities, are considered to be less volatile industries. When we see strength in these sectors, it’s considered to be a flight to safety, buoyancy and income for risk-averse investors. As I mentioned in my Utilities blog, utilities are a lot more volatile in a world full of natural disasters that people believe are caused by powerlines. Industrials tend to be older, slow growth, high debt companies with low profit margins and high leverage. We’re underweighting both sectors in our sample wealth plan pie charts. Check out my Utilities blog for additional information and join us live online at the Oct. 11-13, 2025 Financial Freedom Retreat.

AI, Information Technology,  Cybersecurity and Communication Services
By now you’ve probably heard of the Magnificent 7, those multi trillion-dollar technology companies that have been responsible for most of the gains on Wall Street over the past 2 1/2 years. Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Apple, Meta (Facebook), Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla were responsible for over half of the impressive stock market gains in 2023 and 2024. At the same time, those same companies were the biggest losers in the April 2025 and the 2022 corrections.
 

This is another reminder of the importance of rebalancing 1-3 times a year. It helps us to protect our wealth (keep our money). When rebalancing, always mock up a pie chart of what we do have and compare it to the sample pie charts of what we should have. Email [email protected] for a link to our free web app, where you can personalize your own sample pie chart. Take our Rebalancing IQ Test.

Conservative investors have lost out on the spectacular performance of the Magnificent 7 if their plan did not include a large cap growth fund. A well-diversified plan is going to help us to outperform the general market.
 
Another problem for conservative investors is paper losses on the fixed-income side. People who use our strategies for safety are not experiencing that loss of wealth and liquidity. We spend one full day on what’s safe at our online Financial Freedom Retreat. (Click to learn more.)
 
Financials
It’s earning season, so we’re hearing all about the strength of U.S. banks. However, most of us are also aware of the extraordinary amount of debt in the United States, with $36.7 trillion in public debt. We might not be as cognizant that banks, corporations, and US consumers bring the total tally of debt and loans in the U.S. to $103 trillion.

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Also, the U.S. is no longer a AAA sovereign. Some U.S. banks are at the lowest rung of investment grade. There is more leverage in insurance companies and banks in the United States than many people are aware of – until you look back at the bank failures in 2023. For that reason, we are underweighting U.S. financials and have been for many years, including before the very high-profile bank failures. Again, by going outside the U.S. to a country that has a higher sovereign rating and lower debt, with banks that take on less risk (and are rated higher), we can get more yield and better credit quality all in one.
 
Real Estate
Housing prices are at an all-time high. Meanwhile, commercial real estate is one of the bigger problems in the United States, with half-empty office buildings and vacant mini-malls in many cities. Most investors are going to find it very difficult to navigate the risk in real estate.
 
Be very careful reaching for yield in a Debt World, in any industry. We see marketing campaigns that encourage investors to lean into high-yield (a euphemism for high risk) real estate for the “income,” while downplaying the risk of capital loss. This is another sector that we are underweighting in our sample pie charts. We discuss this at our online Financial Freedom Retreat as well.
 
Consumer Staples and Discretionary
People will still buy toilet paper and basic needs during a recession. However, the challenge for using consumer staples for buoyancy is that the share prices of many of the companies in this sector are elevated. You’re buying high. Also, there has been a retail Apocalypse that makes brick-and-mortar companies vulnerable. Margins are always low (3% range), with revenue plunging in the more traditional companies that haven’t been able to compete with Amazon for price and convenience.
 
Many consumer discretionary funds include businesses that really are staples, such as Amazon. However, the same challenge arises here too. Prices are very, very lofty on Wall Street. Amazon’s price-earnings ratio is 38.
 
Energy: Oil & Gas and Clean Energy
Oil prices are below the threshold that would entice oil companies to “Drill Baby Drill.” So, supply is not expected to dramatically increase in the mid term. At the same time, the dramatic shift to electric vehicles has caused a plunge in demand, particularly in China. Check out my blog on Oil and Gas for additional information. This is an industry we’re underweighting.

As someone who cares about renewable energy, my heart is with the clean energy sector. However, the current U.S. administration has stripped away incentives for businesses and consumers. The solar tax credit ends December 31, 2025, while the electric vehicle tax credit ends September 30, 2025. This is all negative for the industry. There has also been a very aggressive misinformation campaign on solar and EV‘s, (and plastic) sponsored by, wait for it, the oil industry. As a result, clean energy is out of favor and trading near an all-time low. Of course, if things change moving forward, you’ll be buying low if you keep this sector in your wealth plan. (Fair warning that there could be more challenges, including bankruptcies, before the turnaround.)

Health Care
Healthcare has been a perennial favorite historically. With an aging developed world population, more people are going to need healthcare, hip replacements and pharmaceuticals. The reason that healthcare has done so poorly over the past few years is that we’re no longer in a pandemic, with panic buying of COVID tests and vaccines.
 
ETFs allow us to get very specific about our area of focus, ranging from biotechnology, medical devices or pharmaceuticals. The iShares Medical Devices ETF (symbol: IHI) is trading near an all-time high. Now might be a good time to dollar-cost average into this sector, particularly if you’re looking for a utility replacement.
 
Kohl’s Meme Stock
We are still seeing retail investors leap into get-rich-quick meme stock schemes. Yesterday, Kohl’s stock soared by 50%. However, like Blackberry, AMC Theaters, Gamestop and more, Main Street is often on the wrong side of these trades. Kohl’s is part of the retail Apocalypse and is struggling with low revenue, cash bleed, very high debt, and a low market value. The current leap in share price is likely to be short-lived once investors discover that the real estate leaseback plan that Kohl’s is considering didn’t save Bed Bath and Beyond – another meme stock darling that went bankrupt. Be careful chasing headlines and social media sensations.
 
Bottom Line
Safe havens are performing the best so far in 2025, while sectors that do poorly in recessions, such as real estate, consumer discretionary and oil, are suffering the most. Our best strategy will be an age-appropriate, diversified wealth plan that we rebalance 1-3 times a year. That keeps us capturing gains on the super performers at the high, while having a strategy to buy low if we get another correction. In our sample pie charts we are overweighting safe for a variety of reasons that add up to heightened risk on Wall Street.
 
One other tip, when prices are at an all-time high, nothing is on sale. In our sample pie charts, we are using value fund substitutions, which also allow us to experience international diversification. Many of the funds pay double the dividend of the U.S. based value funds, while some offer us lower risk with higher performance.
 

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Register now to join us at our online Financial Freedom Retreat Oct. 11-13 2025 where you'll learn how to protect your wealth, save thousands annually in your budget and how to hedge in a volatile Debt World. If you'd like a life-changing adventure of a lifetime, be our guest at a royal manor house in Cornwall, England, March 12-19, 2027. (With just eight rooms available, this exclusive, private, bucket-list adventure sells out a year in advance!) Call 310-430-2397 or email [email protected] to learn more. The 2025 Restormel Retreat was a magical and royal experience. Click to learn more. 

Receive the best price when you register for the Financial Freedom Retreat Oct. 11-13 2025 by July 31, 2025. Request testimonials at [email protected]. You can also view some on the flyer page of the retreat. 

Learn how to:

* Invest in hot industries, such as cryptocurrency, Nvidia, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing,
* Hedge against a weaker dollar,
* Invest and compound your gains,
* Green your retirement plan,
* Easy and efficacious nest egg strategies,
* Get hot and diversified (including in artificial intelligence, quantum computing and crypto),
* Evaluate stocks,
* Avoid capital gains and financial predators,
* Keep an age-appropriate amount safe, and,
* Know what's safe in a Debt World.

You'll even discover how to save thousands annually with smarter big-ticket choices. Yes, it's a complete money makeover. 
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Email [email protected] or call 310-430-2397 to learn more and register. Learn the 15+ things you'll master and read testimonials in the flyer on the home page at NataliePace.com. Register with friends and family to receive the best price. ​

"Ten minutes into the first day I was already much smarter about investing than I ever thought I would be in my life and I knew I was in exactly the right place at this retreat. I am amazed at how EASY and FUN it is to make my money work for me and those I love. I think this kind of information should be compulsory in schools. I wish I'd learned this sooner." CM

If you’d like an unbiased 2nd opinion on your current wealth plan, email [email protected] for pricing and information.

Receive the best price when you register by July 31, 2025. Visit NataliePace.com to learn more. Call 310-430-2397 or email [email protected] for pricing, additional information and to register.

Join us for our Restormel Royal Immersive Adventure Retreat. March 2027. Email [email protected] to learn more. Click for testimonials, pricing, hours & details. Register now to receive the best price, the best room and eight private, prosperity coaching sessions. There are only 8 rooms available. This retreat includes an all-access pass to all of our online training for a full year for two. Considering the perks, you're receiving a 65% discount to learn the life math that we all should have received in high school, and the room is free! Email [email protected] to learn more. The best rooms at the 2025 retreat were sold out in 2024! Yes, it's a great idea to register and start transforming our lives now!

Natalie Wynne Pace is an Advocate for Sustainability, Financial Literacy & Women's Empowerment. Natalie is the bestselling author of The ABCs of Money (6th edition) and The Power of 8 Billion: It's Up to Us, and is the co-creator of the Earth Gratitude Project. She has been ranked as a No. 1 stock picker, above over 835 A-list pundits, by an independent tracking agency (TipsTraders). Her book The ABCs of Money remained at or near the #1 Investing Basics e-book on Amazon for over 3 years (in its vertical), with over 120,000 downloads and a mean 5-star ranking. The 6th edition of The ABCs of Money and the 2nd edition of Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is (2nd edition) are the most recent releases of these books. Follow her on Instagram. 
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Natalie Pace's easy as a pie chart nest egg strategies earned gains in the last two recessions and have outperformed the bull markets in between. That is why her Investor Educational Retreats, books and private coaching are enthusiastically recommended by Nobel Prize winning economist Gary S. Becker, TD AMERITRADE chairman Joe Moglia, Kay Koplovitz and many Main Street investors who have transformed their lives using her Thrive Budget and investing strategies. Click to view a video testimonial from Nilo Bolden.​​

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Important Disclaimers
Please note: Natalie Pace does not act or operate like a broker. She reports on financial news, and is one of the most trusted sources of financial literacy, education and forensic analysis in the world. Natalie Pace educates and informs individual investors to give investors a competitive edge in their personal decision-making. Any publicly-traded companies, funds or projects mentioned by Natalie Pace are not intended to be buy or sell recommendations.

ALWAYS do your research and consult an experienced, reputable financial professional before buying or selling any security, and consider your long-term goals and strategies. Investors should NOT be all in on any asset class or individual stocks. Your retirement plan should reflect an age-appropriate, diversified wealth plan, which has been designed strategically, with the assistance of financial professionals who are familiar with your goals, risk tolerance, tax needs and more. The "trading" portion of your portfolio should be a very small part of your investment strategy, and the amount of money you invest into individual companies should never be greater than your experience, wisdom, knowledge, patience and diversified strategy.  
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Information has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. However, NataliePace.com does not warrant its completeness or accuracy. Opinions constitute our judgment as of the date of this publication and are subject to change without notice. This material is not intended as an offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any financial instrument.