According to Reuters, a review of the most-read financial commentary from its Breakingviews team in 2025 reveals a year dominated by geopolitical anxiety and corporate drama. For financial clients accessing the service through LSEG platforms, the top column examined how conflict in the Middle East could tilt global power, especially after former President Donald Trump joined the war on Israel’s side. Geopolitics ruled for this group, with U.S.-China decoupling and the health of the U.S. economy—a topic making up almost half of their top ten—being major obsessions. Meanwhile, subscribers to the Breakingviews website were drawn to corporate stories, with a piece on a rare slowdown for Chinese EV maker BYD leading the pack, followed by tales on Glencore, Databricks, and hedge fund Millennium Management. For general Reuters.com readers, a speculative column on a potential Barclays and Santander UK tie-up was the top performer.
Two audiences, two worldviews
Here’s the thing that’s really interesting: the split in what people read tells you exactly who they are and what they’re worried about. The LSEG platform users? Those are traders, analysts, and fund managers sitting at Bloomberg or Refinitiv terminals. Their top reads are all about macro risks that move markets now—global power shifts, U.S. debt, and the dollar’s strength. A piece arguing Russia’s economy would struggle with peace is a perfect example. It’s a counterintuitive, tradeable idea. They’re not just reading for fun; they’re reading for an edge.
But the website subscribers? They’re bankers, executives, and investors with a longer time horizon. They’re diving into corporate strategy and governance meltdowns. The BYD article, “BYD gives an inch to Beijing on production glut,” isn’t just a stock tip. It’s a story about China Inc., state influence, and the EV war. Same with the piece on Glencore and Rio Tinto or the one calling Databricks the private market’s AI lynchpin. This is about dealmaking, valuation, and competitive threats. Two different lenses on the same chaotic year.
The unavoidable Trump factor
And then there’s the elephant in the room, which in 2025 was back in the Oval Office. Trump’s return was the “familiar subject” that topped everything. But the coverage wasn’t just political gossip. The analysis that resonated dealt with the tangible financial ramifications: his policies tilting global alliances, the “America First” impact on trade and arbitrage, and even the specific chilling message of “Trump Mobile” to big business. It’s a shift from the shock of 2016-2020 to a grim, calculated analysis of his second-term mechanics. The market pros on LSEG wanted to know how his actions affect the dollar and debt. The corporate readers wanted to know how to navigate the new tariff and policy landscape. Everyone, it seems, was trying to price in the Trump risk.
Podcasts for the deep dive
So where do you go when a 700-word column isn’t enough? The podcasts. The most-downloaded episodes show an appetite for even deeper context. The top Big View interview was with Nissan’s CFO on surviving “carmageddon”—a direct link to the auto industry turmoil readers followed. Others dove into the future of money, stablecoins, and, yes, the U.S. dollar’s throne. The Viewsroom series, where columnists spar, saw high interest in China’s AI catch-up and the scarring of global markets by Trump’s tariffs. It’s like the readers used the articles for the daily intelligence brief and turned to the podcasts for the weekly strategy seminar. They’re building a fuller picture, and the themes—geopolitical tension, U.S.-China friction, market fragility—are all set to rumble right into 2026. Basically, buckle up.
