Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Silver prices have punched through $60 per ounce for the first time amid a historic rally driven by a scarcity of supply and a surge in demand from investors.
The metal has more than doubled in price since January, as years of undersupply, compounded by strong demand from industrial users and investors, led to shortages and a severe supply squeeze in October.
Silver jumped 4 per cent on Tuesday to reach $60.4 per ounce, a fresh record high. Gold also rose 0.7 per cent to reach $4,216 per troy ounce, slightly below the record set in October.
This week expectations of a rate cut by the US Federal Reserve, which meets Wednesday, have boosted precious metals.
“In the very near term, the focus is on the Fed rate meeting,” said Suki Cooper, analyst at Standard Chartered.
“Underlying the move is the fact that we have a market that has been undersupplied for the past five years, and we still have regional stocks dislocation,” she added.
Silver is used in jewellery and coins, but demand has also boomed for industrial uses, such as in electronics and solar panels.
Unlike gold, silver is mainly produced as a byproduct of other minerals, so miners have not been able to easily respond to the rising demand in recent years.
In recent months, a huge stockpile of silver has built up in the US, as a result of fears of potential US tariffs on silver, compounding a shortage elsewhere.
Although the stockpile has started to dwindle slightly in recent weeks, silver inventories on the Comex are still about 456mn ounces, three times their historic average.
The US is expected to publish its Section 232 review on critical minerals in coming weeks, which may outline fresh commodity tariffs, including potentially on silver.
This year the US added silver to its list of critical minerals. The country is already a significant silver producer.
“Whilst the market is in deficit, we expect regional tightness to persist,” said Helen Amos, commodity analyst at BMO, pointing out low stocks in China.
Retail investors have also chased silver higher, particularly in North America, where the metal is often referred to as the “poor man’s gold”, Amos added.
Move over, China. Vietnam appears to be taking some of the shine away from Asia’s largest market. Propelled by stock market growth, domestic reforms and trade developments, Vietnam has garnered massive popularity in 2025, with the VanEck Vietnam ETF (VNM) surging around 62%. The iShares MSCI China ETF (MCHI) has lagged behind that, climbing almost 31%. Vietnamese stocks have even outpaced emerging market countries more broadly. VNM’s year-to-date gain is more than double the approximately 30% jump posted by the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (EEM) – a fund that tracks large- and mid-cap emerging market equities. Vietnam’s domestic benchmark, the VN Index, has soared a whopping 38% year to date. “Vietnam is truly moving on its own,” Thea Jamison, managing director at Change Global, said in an interview with CNBC. “There’s so much more in emerging markets than China,” she continued, deeming Vietnam a “shining, up-and-coming superstar.” VNM YTD mountain VNM, year-to-date A recovering market Vietnam regained its footing after suffering big losses in 2022 and now trades well above pre-pandemic levels. Driven largely by domestic retail investors, the stock market – which is “still super, super cheap” relative to the U.S. – has seen increasing liquidity, so much so that its average daily trading value has reached $2 billion at times this year, Jamison noted. “Foreigners have completely missed out [on] this rally,” she said. “This market is becoming less dependent on fickle foreign flows. It’s really growing on its own merit by its own investor base.” Sentiment was strengthened after FTSE Russell announced in October that it will upgrade Vietnam to a secondary emerging market from frontier market status, effective Sept. 21, 2026. The move came as a result of a number of reforms made by the Southeast Asian nation, including removing the prefunding requirement for foreign investors. Thu Nguyen, managing director and head of investments at VinaCapital, projects the upgrade could bring an additional $5 billion to $6 billion in capital inflows to the country. “We are reasonably confident that Vietnamese authorities will be able to effectively address remaining issues and Vietnam’s upgrade will proceed as planned in September 2026,” she said. “Achieving emerging market status is a notable milestone for Vietnam. The more critical challenge, however, lies in securing and consolidating this position over the long term.” To maintain that status, Nguyen thinks more comprehensive reforms must be made to “further deepen, modernize, and enhance the resilience of the capital markets.” That includes improving accessibility for foreign investors and sector diversification as well as seeing more high-quality initial public offerings. Although Vietnam’s domestic index performance this year already makes it a top performer, its run-up has been “narrow,” Nguyen said, as it has been spurred mostly by the real estate sector. When excluding Vingroup, Vinhomes and Vincom Retail, the VN Index’s year-to-date gains would be reduced to roughly 10%, according to Nguyen. 2026 should bring a “more stable” environment for the market, Nguyen said. She anticipates that corporate earnings could grow by around 15%, which could mean between 15% and 20% in stock market returns. “The market valuation is still reasonable, suggesting further upside from earnings growth realization,” she added. ‘The cranes are working’ The stock market isn’t the only thing that has been seeing growth. Seeking to create a more business-friendly environment, the Vietnamese government has recently implemented a number of structural reforms to significantly boost economic development. A centerpiece of this agenda is Resolution 68. Enacted by the country’s ruling Communist Party in May, the policy focuses on bolstering the private sector by providing incentives to companies such as reduced bureaucratic hurdles and better access to things like capital. On top of that, the government is working on amending the country’s Land Law — which went into effect in 2024 — to streamline land acquisition for investors and ultimately facilitate real estate and infrastructure projects, especially those that may have stalled. But this isn’t the first time Vietnam has launched ambitious economic reforms. Dan Kritenbrink, partner at The Asia Group and former U.S. ambassador to Vietnam, underscored that its growth story actually begins years before these new reforms, specifically with the landmark “doi moi” policies initiated in 1986 . From there, it really took off in the mid-1990s, with the U.S. trade embargo on Vietnam being lifted in 1994 and the normalizing of U.S.-Vietnam trade relations in 1995. Those years, not to mention the country joining the World Trade Organization in 2007, marked a “huge” shift in its economic opening. “Vietnam’s economic development over the last two, three, four decades has really been miraculous, just one of the best stories in Southeast Asia,” Kritenbrink said. “Now, they’re at this new stage in their development, and I think [Vietnam’s Communist Party general secretary, To Lam] has laid out a program to try to take them to the next level.” That seems to be paying off, as foreign investors have been pouring money into Vietnam. Disbursed foreign direct investment during the first 10 months of the year was $21.3 billion, the highest level the country has recorded for the January-October period in the last five years, Vietnam’s National Statistics Office reported. “The cranes are working,” Change Global’s Jamison said. “This economy is on fire.” This all wouldn’t be without the strength of Vietnam’s labor force, which gives it an advantage over other emerging markets, Dragon Capital’s chief economist, Dang Thanh Tung, told CNBC. In terms of standout characteristics, he emphasized that the country has “a large and still relatively young working‑age population, high labor force participation and low open unemployment” with a work culture that centers around traits like a “strong willingness to work in manufacturing and services” as well as an “adaptability to new technologies and processes.” Tung cited those characteristics as crucial enablers of the nation’s swift integration into global production networks in various industries, including garments and electronics. “The authorities are focusing on upgrading human capital through continued investment in education, digital skills and vocational training, and on improving labor market institutions,” he also said. “If these efforts are sustained, Vietnam’s combination of demographic profile, skill development and work culture should continue to differentiate it from many peers and remain an important driver of the country’s growth and attractiveness for foreign investors.” Hammering away Along with progress in its stock market and economy, trade has been a focal point for Vietnam, especially in the wake of President Donald Trump ‘s “reciprocal” tariff rates that he first announced on April 2. As one of the most export dependent economies in the world and with the U.S. being its largest export market, the nation has made it a point to secure trade deals with other nations while it works on one with the U.S. as a way to further diversify its global trade relationships. “Vietnam is actively pursuing new and upgraded trade agreements with other partners, including in Asia, Europe and the Middle East, to reduce dependence on any single market,” Tung said. “The emerging framework for a more balanced and rules‑based trade relationship with the U.S., if implemented effectively, could in time help rebuild business confidence and support higher‑quality investment flows.” Vietnam was one of the first countries to reach a deal with the U.S. , doing so in July. The agreement includes a 20% tariff rate on Vietnamese imports, which is down from the initial 46% rate Trump announced in early April. The U.S. has also said that some goods from Vietnam might receive zero tariffs . Jamison thinks the estimated U.S. average tariff rate on goods from Vietnam “fares quite well with immediate neighbors and competitors.” “With the current trade deal, their competitive edge actually widens relative to their immediate competition. For that, you want to look at not just the tariffs but also the underlying wages, the cost of land, the cost of power,” she said. “Those are very attractive.” Even if the deal is implemented soon, other factors related to trade may still stymie bullish sentiment toward Vietnam. “Geopolitical tensions — particularly those involving U.S.-China relations, persistent foreign outflows, currency devaluation pressures — are likely to keep investor sentiment cautious,” VinaCapital’s Nguyen said. There aren’t many ways for U.S. investors to gain exposure to the Vietnamese market. However, they can obtain that through the VNM. It charges 0.68% in fees and has more than $580 million in assets.
In an individual-patient pooled analysis reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Raimondi et al found that neoadjuvant treatment with dual CTLA-4/PD-(L)1 immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) was associated with higher pathologic response rates vs perioperative FLOT (fluorouracil, leucovorin, oxaliplatin, and docetaxel) in patients with deficient mismatch repair (dMMR)/microsatellite instability–high (MSI-H) resectable gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma.
Study Details
The study included 197 patients from seven clinical trials who received: neoadjuvant dual CTLA-4/PD-(L)1 ICIs with or without surgery, perioperative FLOT and surgery, and surgery with or without older perioperative/adjuvant chemotherapy regimens. Primary outcome measures included pathologic complete response and major pathologic response.
Key Findings
Among the 197 patients, 49 received ICIs, 27 received FLOT, 33 received surgery alone, and 88 received older chemotherapy regimens.
Among 69 patients who underwent surgery after ICIs or FLOT, those receiving ICIs had significantly higher pathologic complete response rates (61.9% vs 3.7%; odds ratio [OR] = 54.8; P = .002) and major pathologic response rates (78.6% vs 10.0%; OR = 39.3; P < .001), as well as higher rates of pN0 (OR = 4.2; P = .015) and pT0-2 (OR = 16.4; P < .001).
No significant differences in event-free survival or overall survival were observed.
Among all patients, residual nodal disease (ypN1) or ypT4 status after neoadjuvant ICIs or FLOT and an absence of pathologic response were associated with poorer progression-free and overall survival.
The investigators, including corresponding author Filippo Pietrantonio, MD, of the Department of Medical Oncology, Istituto Nazionale Tumori IRCCS, Milan, Italy, concluded: “In resectable dMMR/MSI-H [gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma], neoadjuvant ICIs significantly increase pathologic response and downstaging vs FLOT, with comparable [event-free survival/overall survival] with surgery with or without chemotherapy. The higher proportion of ypN0 and lack of ypT4 after neoadjuvant ICIs vs FLOT should drive preoperative treatment choices in clinical high-risk disease. The high proportion of [pathological complete responses/major pathological responses] with ICIs provides rationale for exploring organ-sparing surgery or nonoperative management.”
Raimondi A, et al: J Clin Oncol 43:3457-3467, 2025.
The online card service Moonpig has reported a bump in sales thanks in part to its increased use of AI to help design cards, personalise customers’ messages and answer queries.
The company said sales rose 6.7% to £169m in the six months to 31 October and had remained strong in the weeks since then, largely as as result of increased orders and spend per order at its main Moonpig brand.
“AI is now designing a lot of cards for us,” said its chief executive, Nickyl Raithatha. He said technology had helped create everything from baby and birthday cards to corporate greetings linked to a particular business.
“It is still being managed by our in-house team. We make sure a person will look at it and it is relevant and exciting for customers. We don’t want to fill our site with generic design. We are treading carefully.”
The strong sales helped lift the company, which also operates Greetz elsewhere in Europe and sells vouchers for experiences such as spa days and cinema trips, back into the black with a pre-tax profit of £26.6m for the half year compared with a £33.3m loss a year before.
About half of purchases involve shoppers using AI-led features to help add a creative spin to their messages, whether that is a sticker, photo or personalised handwriting, up from only about 2% two years ago.
Recent developments in the technology allow a shopper to automatically adapt a broad range of designs to fit certain requirements, such as targeting a particular age or relative.
The company said its new AI chat system already resolves about a third of all queries and said: “customers consistently rate these interactions far more highly than human-handled ones”.
Raithatha said the company was “not looking at this as a threat or reduction in jobs” but it could step up productivity by suggesting 50 or more designs that a person could edit, adapt or curate rather than designing just one or two cards in a day.
“We still need that creativity,” said the CEO, who is stepping down at the end of this month and will be replaced by Catherine Faiers, the chief operating officer of the secondhand car marketplace AutoTrader.
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Raithatha said that the tax and spending changes announced in the chancellor’s budget last month had not led to any noticeable change in customer behaviour but recent trading had been “very encouraging” with a “great start to peak trading” over the festive period.
He added that there was “hopefully less uncertainty” now the measures had been announced, which made “businesses more able to make decisions”.
Translations: L’engorgement des chaînes d’approvisionnement en aérospatiale continue de freiner les compagnies aériennes (pdf)
Las aerolíneas continúan sufriendo las consecuencias de los cuellos de botella de la cadena de suministro aeroespacial (pdf)
国际航协：供应链瓶颈继续制约航空业发展 (pdf)
(pdf) اختناقات سلاسل التوريد في قطاع الصناعات الجوية والفضائية تواصل فرض قيودها على شركات الطيران
Geneva – The International Air Transport Association (IATA) updated its analysis of aerospace supply chain bottlenecks noting that aircraft availability remains one of the most significant constraints on industry growth in its just released global outlook.
While deliveries of new aircraft began to pick up in late 2025 and production is expected to accelerate in 2026, demand is forecast to outstrip the availability of aircraft and engines. The normalization of the structural mismatch between airline requirements and production capacity is unlikely before 2031-2034 due to irreversible losses on deliveries over the past five years and a record-high order backlog.
Notable points on the current situation include:
Delivery shortfalls now total at least 5,300 aircraft.
The order backlog has surpassed 17,000 aircraft, a number equal to almost 60% of the active fleet. Historically, this ratio was steady at around 30-40%. This backlog is equivalent to nearly 12 years of the current production capacity.
The average fleet age has risen to 15.1 years (12.8 years for aircraft in the passenger fleet, 19.6 years for cargo aircraft, and 14.5 years for the wide-body fleet).
Aircraft in storage (for all reasons) exceed 5,000 aircraft, one of the highest levels in history despite the severe shortage of new aircraft.
“Airlines are feeling the impact of the aerospace supply chain challenges across their business. Higher leasing costs, reduced scheduling flexibility, delayed sustainability gains, and increased reliance on suboptimal aircraft types are the most obvious challenges. Airlines are missing opportunities to strengthen their top-line, improve their environmental performance, and serve customers. Meanwhile, travelers are seeing higher costs from the resulting tighter demand/supply conditions. No effort should be spared to accelerate solutions before the impact becomes even more acute,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General.
As production bottlenecks continue, new challenges and impacts are being revealed:
Delivery delays are compounded by several factors, including:
Airframe production is outpacing engine production (which is constrained due to issues with existing engines). This is resulting in newly completed airframes being parked until engines are available.
Longer timelines for new aircraft certification (from 12-24 months to four or even five years) are delaying entry into production/service, particularly impacting long-haul fleet renewal.
Tariffs on metals and electronics resulting from US-China trade tensions have worsened some supply bottlenecks and raised some maintenance costs.
A shortage of skilled labor, especially in engine and component manufacturing, is constraining production ramp-up plans.
The fragility of the aerospace supply chain network (often reliant on a limited number of suppliers for critical parts) can become an acute constraint amid economic uncertainty, changing tariff regimes, and tight labor markets. As a result, even small disruptions can be difficult to resolve and balloon to significant production delays.
Fuel efficiency improvements are slowing as the fleet ages. Historically, fuel efficiency improved by 2.0% per year, but this slowed to 0.3% in 2025 and is projected at 1.0% for 2026.
The situation for the air cargo fleet risks evolving:
Converted aircraft from passenger operations are in short supply as airlines keep them in use for passenger operations longer.
New-build wide bodies face production delays.
Older cargo aircraft which have been kept flying longer to compensate for slower fleet renewal will eventually reach hard limits on their useful life.
A recent study by IATA and Oliver Wymann estimated that the cost to the airline industry of supply chain bottlenecks will be more than USD 11 billion in 2025, driven by four main factors:
Excess fuel costs (~USD 4.2 billion): Airlines are operating older, less fuel-efficient aircraft because new aircraft deliveries are delayed, leading to higher fuel costs.
Additional maintenance costs (USD 3.1 billion): The global fleet is aging, and older aircraft require more frequent and expensive maintenance.
Increased engine leasing costs (USD 2.6 billion): Airlines need to lease more engines since engines spend longer on the ground during maintenance. Aircraft lease rates have also risen by 20–30% since 2019.
Surplus inventory holding costs (USD 1.4 billion): Airlines are stocking more spare parts to mitigate unpredictable supply chain disruptions, increasing inventory costs.
To help expedite solutions, the study pointed to several considerations:
Open up aftermarket best practices by supporting Maintenance, Repair and Operations (MRO) to be less dependent on OEM-driven commercial licensing models, as well as facilitating access to alternative sourcing for materials and services.
Enhance supply chain visibility by creating clearer visibility across all supplier levels to spot risks early, reduce bottlenecks and inefficiencies, and use better data and tools to make the whole chain more resilient and reliable.
Use data more extensively in leveraging predictive maintenance insights, pooling spare parts, and creating shared maintenance data platforms to optimize inventory and reduce downtime.
Expand repair and parts capacity to accelerate repair approvals, support alternative parts and Used Serviceable Material (USM) solutions, and adopt advanced manufacturing to ease bottlenecks.
> More on aviation supply chain
For more information, please contact:
Corporate Communications
Tel: +41 22 770 2967
Email: corpcomms@iata.org
Notes for Editors:
IATA (International Air Transport Association) represents some 360 airlines comprising over 80% of global air traffic.
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More than two-thirds (69%) of European shoppers reveal they’ve discovered a hidden present before the big day, and almost the same number ( 67%) feel guilty about packaging waste at Christmas.
Four in ten (40%)* European consumers have hidden Christmas presents so well they couldn’t find them again until after Christmas Day, according to new research commissioned by Amazon. The survey of more than 10,000 adults in the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy reveals the creative lengths shoppers go to when hiding gifts, with some using suitcases (17%), sock drawers (14%), and even washing machines or tumble dryers (3%) as secret hiding spots. Meanwhile, more than two thirds (69%) of respondents admit to discovering their own Christmas gift before the 25th of December.
With the festive season approaching, Amazon has shared the findings with a reminder to customers. One in two Amazon orders now comes in reduced packaging or the product’s original box. This means less packaging for customers to recycle and it has helped the company avoid more than 4 million metric tons of packaging since 2015.
For some popular gifts, this may mean they arrive without additional Amazon packaging, revealing what’s inside. So if you’re buying a present for someone you live with and they might be home when it’s delivered, simply tick the box at checkout to add Amazon packaging and keep the surprise.
Thais Blumer, Head of Sustainable Packaging, Amazon Europe said: “We’re proud that over half of Amazon orders in Europe now ship with reduced, recyclable packaging, or without anything but a shipping label added by us – helping customers reduce clutter and cut waste. But for those special surprises that need a bit more discretion, there’s always the option to add extra packaging at checkout.”
Key research findings:
Hiding habits: The most common hiding places for Christmas gifts in Europe according to survey respondents are wardrobes/cupboards (48%), under the bed (31%), in the attic or loft (18%), in a suitcase (17%) or in a sock drawer (14%) with other spots including behind books on a shelf (15%), in a toolbox (7%), in the laundry bin (5%) and in a washing machines or tumble dryer (3%).
Lost and found: 40% of European shoppers surveyed have hidden gifts so well they couldn’t find them again until after Christmas Day.
Surprise spoilers: While 69% of respondents admit to discovering a present early, 42% of European consumers surveyed say this made them feel disappointed or guilty.
Festive waste: 67% of European respondents feel guilty about excess packaging waste at Christmas.
Reusing wrapping: European shoppers have used more sustainable alternatives to wrap their gifts with four in ten (41%) of respondents reusing delivery boxes or brown paper, 29% using newspapers or magazines and 16% using swatches of fabric, handkerchiefs or old scarves. Twelve per cent of respondents admit to wrapping gifts tin foil!
For those who want to maintain the surprise without adding additional packaging, Prime members can also select Amazon Day Delivery to choose a specific day when they know gift recipients won’t be home.
Amazon’s Ships in Product Packaging programme is part of the company’s wider efforts to reduce waste across its operations. By shipping items in right-sized packaging – or, where possible, in just the manufacturer’s box – Amazon helps to reduce unnecessary materials and the amount of packaging customers need to recycle at home. Since 2019, more than 1 billion shipments have been sent without added Amazon packaging, arriving in the product’s original box with only a shipping label attached.
Read more about how Amazon continues to improve its packaging.
*Figures taken from a survey of 10,398 consumers in the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, conducted by Kantar between 23rd October and 3rd November 202
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla talks during a press conference with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen after a visit to oversee the production of the Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine at the factory of U.S. pharmaceutical company Pfizer in Puurs, Belgium April 23, 2021.
John Thys | Reuters
Pfizer on Tuesday said it has struck an up to $2.1 billion licensing deal with YaoPharma to develop and commercialize its obesity pill, furthering the pharmaceutical company’s push into the weight loss space.
Pfizer will pay YaoPharma, a subsidiary of Chinese drugmaker Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical, an upfront payment of $150 million. YaoPharma could also receive up to $1.94 billion in milestone payments, along with tiered royalties on sales if the drug is approved.
YaoPharma’s drug works by targeting the same gut hormone, GLP-1, as Novo Nordisk‘s blockbuster weight loss injection Wegovy. But the pill is still in early-stage development, which means it will take several years before it reaches patients.
The deal will help Pfizer beef up and diversify its obesity drug pipeline after a string of setbacks, including its decisions to scrap two different pills over the last two years. The drugmaker boosted its prospects in the competitive space with its up to $10 billion acquisition of the obesity biotech Metsera last month, following a fierce bidding war with Novo Nordisk.
“We look forward to contributing our expertise and resources to continue the development of this investigational GLP-1 small molecule which complements and strengthens our growing portfolio of novel candidates for treating obesity and its adjacent diseases,” said Chris Boshoff, Pfizer’s chief scientific officer, in a statement.
Under the terms of the agreement, YaoPharma will conduct a phase one trial on its drug, while Pfizer will take control of later development. Pfizer also plans to conduct studies combining YaoPharma’s treatment with its own drug targeting another gut hormone receptor called GIP, which is currently in mid-stage development.
That combination isn’t new in the space: Eli Lilly‘s weight loss injection Zepbound and diabetes drug Mounjaro use a dual approach of targeting both GLP-1 and GIP.
In a note on Tuesday, BMO Capital Markets analyst Evan Seigerman said limited information is available on YaoPharma’s drug, called YP05002. But Seigerman said he views “obesity diversification as promising in the short term” for Pfizer.
He added that Pfizer’s $150 million upfront payment reflects “prudent capital conservation in light of the recent Metsera bidding war.”
The opportunity to enter the booming weight loss drug market could be huge for Pfizer. Some analysts expect the weight loss drug space could be worth roughly $100 billion by the 2030s.
