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1. Experts project strong stock market in 2026
Buoyed by the artificial intelligence segment, stock market experts say 2026 should be a strong year for growth in the U.S., as 2025 ends as the third consecutive year with double-digit growth, CNBC reports.
“Certainly we’re at a point where we’ve had incredibly strong performance from U.S. equity markets over the last three years. We don’t think that that means that we can’t have another good year next year,” Kristy Akullian, head of iShares investment strategy for the Americas at BlackRock, told the news outlet. “We are still pretty optimistic in terms of our outlook for U.S. equities. We’re pretty upbeat, relatively bullish.”
Data analytics firm LSEG averaged out analyst projections to show a consensus opinion of 15.% growth for the new year, compared to 13.2% in 2025 and 12.1% in 2024.
2. Hyatt completes Playa real estate sales
Hyatt Hotels Corp. is closing out 2025 by completing its deals involving real estate acquired from Playa Hotels & Resorts, CoStar News' Trevor Simpson reports. Hyatt closed its sale of 14 properties to Tortuga Resorts for $2 billion Tuesday, after the company had purchased all of Playa, including its 15 owned resorts and operating platform, earlier in the year.
Hyatt had sold the one other resort in September for $22 million.
“This closing is the culmination of a transformative transaction for Hyatt’s Inclusive Collection,” said Javier Águila, president of Hyatt's Inclusive Collection. “With this transaction, we’ve secured long-term management agreements for a portfolio of exceptional resorts that reflect our commitment to excellence."
3. European hotel companies lean on partnerships for growth
Hotel firms, particularly those in Europe, leaned heavily on partnerships as a growth vehicle in 2025, CoStar News' Terence Baker reports, and many of those deals focused on expanding growth prospects in India.
The deal that kicked off the year was Wyndham Hotels & Resorts' deal to operate 5,000 rooms over the next five years for Indian firm Signum Hotels & Resorts. The new rooms will be under Wyndham's Trademark Collection soft brand.
"Wyndham and Signum said the partnership would open and convert hotels in India, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates, the three most key markets for Indian travelers," Baker reports. "Currently, Signum has 12 hotels in India, 50 serviced apartments in the UAE and more than 850 serviced apartments in 39 U.K. destinations, while Wyndham has approximately 9,200 hotels and 893,000 rooms in 95 countries."
4. Fed minutes show path to further rate cuts murky
Recently released minutes from the December Federal Reserve reveal deep divides over the path to further interest rate cuts, The New York Times reports.
The two sides of debate in the Fed seem to revolve around concerns over inflation versus the overall health of the economy and labor market.
"Most officials thought that further interest rate cuts would most likely be appropriate as long as inflation continued to decline, the minutes said," the newspaper reports. "A majority argued that cuts would help 'forestall the possibility of a major deterioration in labor market conditions,' especially when there was less concern that President Trump’s tariffs would stoke a persistent inflation problem."
5. Hyatt scales back outlook based on hurricane damage
Damage to hotels in Jamaica from Hurricane Melissa was severe enough for Hyatt to scale back its full-year expectations for 2025, The Wall Street Journal reports. Hyatt now expects adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization to be the low end of the $1.09 billion to $1.11 billion range previously projected, excluding the impacts of the company's Playa Hotels & Resorts deals.
Hyatt expects seven properties in Jamaica to remain closed until the fourth quarter of 2026 due to hurricane damage.