Stocks, Crypto, AI:
The Best And Worst Of 2024 So Far

Halfway through 2024, Nvidia and other major AI darlings are having a great year, along with quirky meme cryptocurrencies like “dogwifhat”—but it’s a bumpier road for Boeing investors, remote workers and Elon Musk.

By Forbes Staff

With 2024 half-over, the big economic news shows a continued booming marketplace, Nvidia’s colossal ascent and a long-awaited inflation slowdown. But there are more surprises under the hood: Artificial intelligence turned old-school power companies into some of Wall Street’s hottest stocks (even as Intel fails to strike AI gold), meme tokens beat Bitcoin and Elon Musk took a surprising hit to his sky-high net worth. It’s also a rough year for remote workers—unless you live in Louisiana.

It shouldn't be much of a surprise that Nvidia was the S&P 500's best stock.S OPA IMAGES/LIGHTROCKET VIA GETTY IMAGES

Nvidia And These Surprise AI Darlings Are 2024’s Best Stocks

Belle of the ball Nvidia was the S&P 500’s best-performing stock during the first half of 2024, but there were several perhaps less predictable winners as the S&P rose to a record high. But, several notable companies glumly watched from the sidelines.

These Meme Coins Outperformed Bitcoin In 2024 First Half’s $600 Billion Crypto Rally

The first half of 2024 will likely be best remembered in the land of digital assets for the debut of spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), but there were several, lesser known cryptocurrencies that stole the spotlight.

Still the world's richest man, Elon Musk did see a major drop in his net worth this year.GETTY IMAGES

Elon Musk Is 2024’s Biggest Billionaire Loser So Far—Pending His Big Bonus

The net worth of Tesla’s headline-grabbing CEO Elon Musk fell by more than any other billionaire on the planet over the first six months of the year.

Remote Jobs Disappeared Nationwide This Year—Here’s Where They Fell Fastest

Almost every state faces declines in remote job listings as companies nationwide move away from remote work, but some states and employers are harder hit than others.

Food inflation is finally easing up after a few tough years for shoppers—as long as you stay away from eggs and BLTs. AP

Eggflation Is Back: These Foods Have Faced 2024’s Biggest Price Hikes

Lettuce and eggs have seen the highest price increases among all food and drink items through the start of 2024, according to the latest six-month data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.