- Russian economy flounders, ruble ends the year considerably lower against western currencies than it is now

- Crypto actually ends the year higher, because Russian and Chinese oligarchs use it to try to get their money out of their home countries

- inflation pressures prevent US interest rates from going more than half a point lower; may even start raising again

- AI hype bubble will continue, but OpenAI will still not have a positive cash flow by end of year, and neither will other major AI startups