Good morning,

What a year it has been, from a crisis at Boeing to a presidential election and a potential ban on one of the most popular social media apps in the U.S.

For today’s edition, we wanted to take a look back at some of Forbes’ best stories on the biggest topics this year, highlight this year’s best performing stock on the S&P 500, plus cover one more major acquisition for 2024 as well as our annual Cost of Living Extremely Well Index.

Thank you to all of our readers for being along for the ride in 2024. Happy holidays and Forbes Daily will return to your inbox with the day’s top stories on January 3.

Photo by FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images

The best performing stock on the S&P 500 this year isn’t a big name like Nvidia or Tesla: It’s Palantir Technologies, a defense contractor benefitting from the rise of AI. Plus, Palantir has enjoyed a massive boost from optimism about increased defense spending under the incoming Trump Administration, with its shares up 58% since Election Day.

Saks Global finalized its acquisition of Neiman Marcus on Monday, bringing the luxury department store chain into its fold through a $2.7 billion deal backed by e-commerce giant Amazon and other large companies. Amazon will work with Saks “to innovate on behalf of customers and brand partners,” according to the deal’s announcement, which means the e-commerce company will gain access to more luxury items.

illustration by yunjia yuan for forbes; photos by powerofforever/getty images; ilbusca/getty images

After a deadly listeria outbreak linked to a Boar’s Head factory in Virginia rocked the food industry, the families behind the 119-year-old deli meat purveyor remained oddly silent, Forbes reported in September, indicative of how secretive the company has become. The brand is facing an existential crisis, including multiple lawsuits, but the two warring families who own the company seem more preoccupied about a series of petty legal battles.

As private equity has become more embedded in the U.S. economy, Forbes in February covered the increasingly global ambitions of Blackstone, which at the time had already doubled its global headcount over the last five years in preparation for what it estimated was an $80 trillion opportunity. Billionaire founder and CEO Steve Schwarzman, who at 77 is worth just over $50 billion today and will likely never retire, insisted the move had nothing to do with money. “I look at anything and say, ‘What’s the maximum we can make this?’ ” he says of his life’s........

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