As Americans prepare for Thanksgiving, investors have their own reasons to be grateful this year – despite a year marked by dramatic twists in geopolitical scenario, technological sphere and Fed policy changes.
Wall Street’s 2025 journey has been nothing short of turbulent, with sharp downturns in April followed by powerful rebounds from May. Despite the volatility, SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY has added about 12.7% so far this year (as of Nov. 21, 2025).
A Volatile Year for Wall Street
Stocks swung sharply in the early phase of the year as markets digested a series of unexpected developments. Stocks experienced massive volatility thanks to trade uncertainty under the new Trump administration, and a less dovish Fed.
Meanwhile, the artificial intelligence (AI) sector has seen the emergence of low-investment innovations from Chinese tech companies like DeepSeek and Alibaba, putting pressure on Wall Street’s Magnificent Seven stocks in the first quarter of 2025 (read: Top ETF Areas of Q1 of 2025).
Then April brought intense volatility to the U.S. stock market, largely due to President Donald Trump’s aggressive tariff measures. The most notable of these was the announcement of “Liberation Day” tariffs, which sent shockwaves through financial markets.
The Rebound: Easing Trade Tensions & Fed Rate Cuts
Markets initially slumped in April as investors braced for tighter trade conditions and higher import costs. However, subsequent trade negotiations and easing tensions steadied the markets later on. Then the Fed initiated its first rate cut of the year in September. Lower borrowing costs revived risk appetite. The high-growth tech sector received a much-needed boost.
AI Stocks Facing Overvaluation Threats
However, the trade and Fed-led boost proved short-lived, as Wall Street soon faced threats from overvaluation and circular-financing fears in the AI space during the second half of the year. Even ChatGPT-maker OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman thinks the artificial intelligence market is in a bubble, according to a report from The Verge published in August, as mentioned on CNBC.
ETF Winners of 2025
Against this backdrop, several exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have stood out as resilient performers. Here are the ETFs that deserve thanks this year (as of Nov. 21, 2025).
Breakwave Tanker Shipping ETF BWET
The ETF provides long exposure to the crude oil tanker shipping market through a portfolio of near-dated futures contracts on indices that measure the cost of shipping crude oil.
YTD performance: Up 134.4%
One-month Performance: Up 46.6%
One-week Performance: Up 3.6%
Sprott Lithium Miners ETF LITP
The underlying Nasdaq Sprott Lithium Miners Index seeks to track the performance of companies that derive at least 50% of their revenue and assets from mining, exploration, development, or production of lithium.
YTD performance: Up 72.6%
One-month Performance: Up 19.9%
One-week Performance: Up 3.9%
Simplify Health Care ETF PINK
Healthcare has emerged a winner this year. Several healthcare ETFs hit the top positions of the winners’ list. The PINK ETF looks to offer long term capital appreciation by providing investors with multi-cap exposure to groundbreaking and innovative companies in biotech, medtech, gene therapy, and other fast growing health care-related sectors.
YTD performance: Up 24.9%
One-month Performance: Up 11.2%
One-week Performance: Up 2.53%
Tema Oncology ETF CANC
The Tema Oncology ETF seeks to provide long-term growth by investing in companies operating in the oncology industry.
YTD performance: Up 41.9%
One-month Performance: Up 13.9%
One-week Performance: Up 3.9%
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SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY): ETF Research Reports Simplify Health Care ETF (PINK): ETF Research Reports Sprott Lithium Miners ETF (LITP): ETF Research ReportsThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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