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Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

Novo Nordisk, one of Europe’s largest companies, lost more than a quarter of its value on Friday after its latest obesity drug missed the drugmaker’s goal for an average of 25 per cent weight loss.

CagriSema helped patients lose an average of 22.7 per cent of their body weight in a late-stage trial, Novo Nordisk said on Friday, only marginally beating the results of Mounjaro, a rival treatment from Eli Lilly.

Martin Holst Lange, executive vice-president for development at Novo Nordisk, said that only 57 per cent of patients had received the highest dose of the drug. “We are encouraged by the weight-loss profile of CagriSema,” he said.

The company’s shares were down as much as 27 per cent in mid-morning trading in Denmark.

Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly are competing for dominance in a market that grew sevenfold in just three years to $24bn in 2023, according to data analytics firm Iqvia.

Novo Nordisk had hoped its “next generation” weight-loss drug could lead the field, after its shares had struggled to keep pace with Eli Lilly and it suffered a setback from disappointing results for an experimental weight-loss pill in September.

“CagriSema is really important for us,” chief executive Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen told the Financial Times in November. “It’s a next-generation product and it has the potential to be best in class.”

Patients receiving Mounjaro lost an average of 22.5 per cent of their weight in phase 3 trials when taken as part of a regime of improved diet and exercise. Those on Wegovy, also made by Novo Nordisk, lost an average of about 15 per cent in similar conditions.

About 40 per cent of patients in the CagriSema trial achieved 25 per cent weight loss over the 68 weeks.

CagriSema combines semaglutide, the active ingredient in Wegovy and Ozempic, with cagrilintide, another hormone that makes people feel fuller for longer.

The trial of 3,417 people taking a weekly injection found that the most common side effects were gastrointestinal, the vast majority of which were mild and moderate and diminished over time.

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Saturday is the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere. It’s not only the shortest day of the year, but the official arrival of astronomical winter.

“At 4:20 a.m. EST, the solstice marks the beginning of winter in the Northern Hemisphere and summer in the Southern Hemisphere,” NASA says on its website.

That means from now until the end of June, each day will get a little bit longer — and brighter (no matter what any famous animal prognosticators may predict).

In the meantime, there’s plenty to cherish during the cold season, and we’re not just talking about the December holidays.

Here are some ideas for how to celebrate the solstice and welcome winter:

Try out traditions from around the world 

The winter solstice has long symbolized a time of renewal and ritual for people all over the world, as NPR has reported.

In Iran and many Central Asian countries, people gather to eat (especially red fruits like pomegranates and watermelons), drink and read poetry through the night. Some Japanese traditions include taking a hot bath with the citrus fruit yuzu and eating foods that contain the “n” sound (like udon) for good luck.

To learn more about winter solstice celebrations from both hemispheres, click here.

Stream the sunrise at Stonehenge 

Each December and June, visitors flock to the ancient monument in England to celebrate the solstice.

The rock formation was built to align with the sun on those days, making for a dramatic view. On the winter solstice, the sun sets to the southwest of the stone circle (as opposed to the summer solstice, when the sun’s first rays shine into the heart of the monument).

The site allows entry — free of charge — for several hours on Saturday morning. If you can’t make the trip in person, you can catch a free livestream of the sunrise on the English Heritage YouTube and Facebook pages. It’s best suited for night owls or early birds, since it starts around 2:30 a.m. ET.

Enjoy the best of the Paul Winter Consort’s solstice concerts 

Fittingly named saxophone player Paul Winter has been ushering in the winter solstice with a special concert for decades.

Since 1980, the Grammy winner and a slew of special guests have gathered in New York’s Cathedral of St. John the Divine to mark the occasion with music and dance. The event has found new homes since the COVID-19 pandemic, this year touring 10 acoustic venues throughout New England.

The sun rises over a snow-covered landscape in Denderhoutem, Belgium.

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NPR’s broadcast of Winter’s concerts has become a beloved seasonal tradition in itself. Last year, Winter combed through the archives and picked out his favorite moments from four decades of solstice celebrations. You can listen to them here.

Read The Shortest Day and hear an interview with its award-winning author

Susan Cooper’s children’s book The Shortest Day, released in 2019, is a celebration of light returning after the winter solstice.

The text of the book is actually a poem she wrote in the 1970s for The Christmas Revels (an annual celebration of the solstice), and it has been read at such events for more than four decades. Cooper, herself a Newbery Medal winner, partnered with Caldecott-honor illustrator Carson Ellis to bring its colorful imagery and wintry atmospherics to life.

Read or listen to NPR’s story on the beautiful book, and hear snippets of Cooper reading it out loud.

Prepare to do some “wintering”

Several recent works offer sage advice on how to “winter” — which essentially means embracing the season, not just weathering it.

This year, health psychologist Kari Leibowitz published How to Winter: Harness Your Mindset to Thrive on Cold, Dark, or Difficult Days. It examines how people in places with extreme winters — from Scandinavia to northern Japan — have positive attitudes about the season, and the book offers practical tips for those who want a warmer outlook.

As Leibowitz told NPR, those tips include bundling up to reclaim a summer activity in the winter (like a beach barbecue or park picnic), making a list of winter things you look forward to and trading your home’s “big light” for cozier candles and lamps.

Another helpful manual is Katherine May’s 2020 book, Wintering. The English author acknowledges that winter can be a painful and isolating time — but also one of transformation. Her book, which involved traveling to far-flung, freezing destinations, explores how to confront the season head-on.

“Every time we winter, we develop a new knowledge about how to go back into the world,” May told Morning Edition that year. “We learn about our tastes and preferences. We learn about what makes us happy.”

The sun shines between snow-covered branches at the Hareskoven forested area near Copenhagen, Denmark.

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Cozy up with the year’s best books, shows and films 

With winter weather closing in, it’s a great time to pick out your next entertainment obsession, from a TV series to binge with your family to an album you can play on loop while defrosting in the car.

NPR has you covered with recommendations in every category, thanks to staff members who consumed culture in every possible form all year long. They’ve put together a complete guide to the best of 2024.

NPR’s annual book recommendations engine is back with over 350 new titles (plus all of those from years past, going back over a decade). Critics compiled their favorite shows and movies of the year — searchable by both genre and where to watch it.

NPR Music has pulled together a few lists of its own, including the 124 best songs and 50 best albums of the year. Plus, check out NPR’s favorite games of the year, sortable by platform and genre.

Take care of yourself 

Maybe darker days are making you crave better sleep or have you feeling stuck in a rut. Perhaps you’re looking for tips on protecting your home from winter weather, your car from icy roads and your family from COVID-19. You could be curious about the benefits of cold plunging or how to dress for a winter workout.

Enter NPR’s Life Kit, with expert advice for all sorts of physical and mental health topics. Whether you’re looking to get a head start on your New Year’s resolutions or just taking winter day by day, here are some resources that can help:

A version of this story originally published in 2021.

A clutch of cryptocurrency-focused hedge funds has made a windfall in recent weeks as Donald Trump’s election win fuelled a powerful rally that propelled bitcoin above the $100,000 milestone.

Funds employing crypto strategies posted gains of 46 per cent in November, bringing their year-to-date returns to 76 per cent, according to data provider Hedge Fund Research. The returns have outpaced the broader industry, with the average hedge fund gaining 10 per cent in the first 11 months of this year, HFR said.

Brevan Howard Asset Management and Galaxy Digital, the cryptocurrency investment manager founded by billionaire Mike Novogratz, have been among the biggest winners from the recent surge in digital assets.

Crypto funds’ outsized gains come after Trump’s election victory in November added a fresh jolt of enthusiasm to this year’s rally in bitcoin, the biggest cryptocurrency, which has also sent smaller tokens soaring.

Bitcoin has risen 130 per cent this year to around $100,000, helping push the market value of major crypto tokens up by $1.8tn to $3.5tn, according to the FT Wiltshire Digital Assets Dashboard. The crypto market pulled back from recent highs this week after the Federal Reserve said it would cut rates less than expected next year, hitting risky assets.

Investors are betting that Trump’s crypto-friendly nominees for top government jobs will contrast with Joe Biden’s administration, which has generally taken a more sceptical approach.

“Trump’s election is great news for digital assets because it’s going to bring more clarity on the regulatory side,” said Damien Miller, managing partner at macro hedge fund MP Alpha Capital. “There will be an environment that is more friendly and collaborative towards bitcoin and blockchain.”

Brevan Howard’s main crypto fund gained 33 per cent in November, and is now up 51 per cent in the first 11 months of the year, according to investors. Brevan Howard, which has $35bn in assets, is one of the biggest hedge fund managers to have a devoted crypto business, which it launched in 2021.

Galaxy’s hedge fund strategy gained 43 per cent in November, and is up 90 per cent in 2024, according to investors. The New York-based group has more than doubled its assets under management in the past two years, to $4.8bn, in part by buying up assets from bankrupt crypto companies.

Galaxy and Brevan Howard declined to comment on their performance.

The recent surge in digital assets marks a staggering reversal in fortunes for a sector that was mired in a deep crisis beginning in 2022.

Bitcoin hit a low of around $15,500 when Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX exchange collapsed in November 2022. Galaxy, which has sought to position itself as a full-service crypto financial services firm, posted a $1bn net loss that year.

The cryptocurrency industry received a fillip in January 2024 when the US Securities and Exchange Commission approved 11 exchange traded bitcoin funds, opening the door to cryptocurrencies for new institutional and retail investors. BlackRock, the world’s biggest asset manager, said last week it sees a “case for including bitcoin in multi-asset portfolios”.

NextGen Digital Venture, a $120mn crypto equity fund, is up 330 per cent from its launch in March 2023 to the end of November, according to investors. It has benefited from positions in some bitcoin ETFs, as well as cryptocurrency exchange platform Coinbase and software provider turned bitcoin investor MicroStrategy.

“After the bitcoin ETF was approved we felt that crypto stocks would become another opportunity for institutional investors because they already had access to bitcoin,” said Jason Huang, founding partner of NextGen Digital Venture.

Coinbase is up almost 60 per cent since the end of 2023, while MicroStrategy is up more than 400 per cent.

Some macro hedge funds — which trade macroeconomic trends in currencies, commodities, bonds and stocks — have also boosted exposure to digital assets in anticipation of a favourable market environment. MP Alpha Capital’s $20mn global macro hedge fund is up over 30 per cent this year, according to investors.

“We’ve had a good run on digital assets: bitcoin, ethereum and bitcoin miners,” said Miller, referring to firms that complete complex calculations in exchange for tokens. “Over the past 18 months, our whole thesis was around the institutional adoption of digital assets and the macro backdrop of looser monetary policy, a weaker dollar and a liquidity-rich environment.”

Trump has signalled that crypto regulation is among his most pressing priorities, and has named venture capitalist and Elon Musk confidant David Sacks as the White House’s cryptocurrency tsar.

A change in leadership at the SEC, the top American securities regulator, has also been welcomed by crypto enthusiasts.

Gary Gensler, the current chair who branded crypto a “wild west” rife with unlawfulness and investor risk, will step down when Trump takes office. He had refused to craft rules catered to digital assets, arguing that many tokens are securities and that existing securities law is enough guidance.

Gensler will be replaced by cryptocurrency advocate Paul Atkins.

Still, several managers warned that the surge in bitcoin should cause investors to pause and take stock. Huang at NextGen Digital Venture said that, while he is long-term bullish on bitcoin and crypto, “no asset rises in a straight line without volatility.”