The Trading Post | 12.09.25

December 09, 2025

Good morning,

Paramount went hostile on Warner Bros. with a $78B bid, IBM is buying Confluent for $11B, Carvana officially joined the S&P 500, Morgan Stanley finally downgraded Tesla, Todd Combs ditched Buffett for JPMorgan, and Nvidia is shipping chips to China again…classic.

Want to follow a proven options system with a 70%+ win rate? Robert Roy's Power Option Plays delivers twice-weekly trade alerts with clear entry and exit plans. 

Let’s jump in.

Pre-Market Performance

As of 12.08.25 market close.

Market News

  • Paramount launches hostile $78B bid for Warner Bros. Media M&A season refuses to die; traders now watching for Netflix to counter. WSJ

  • IBM buys Confluent for $11B. Legacy tech keeps shopping for cloud-native infrastructure to fuel AI buildouts. Nasdaq

  • Tesla downgraded by Morgan Stanley. Adam Jonas steps back, valuation concerns step in. Shares down pre-market. CNBC

  • Carvana joins the S&P 500. A textbook index-inclusion pop—now watch for the classic unwind. Yahoo Finance

  • Nvidia approved to export H200 chips to China. A major geopolitical overhang lifted for the entire semiconductor complex. TheStreet

  • Fed meeting begins today. Expect low-volume chop until Wednesday’s rate decision. Bloomberg

A Message From Wealth Builders HQ

Power Option Plays (POP) isn't just another options alert service—it's a complete trading education wrapped around real-time trade opportunities. 

Here's what makes POP different: 

Rob Roy personally analyzes hundreds of stocks every week, selecting only the highest-probability setups based on his Fibonacci and moving average system. You get twice-weekly recorded trainings that walk you through exactly why each trade setup works, so you're learning the methodology while following along. 

Since its founding, POP has maintained an average success rate above 70%, generating millions in profit in simulated trading accounts. The system focuses on repeatable patterns using the same core stock candidates, which means you're building pattern recognition with every alert. 

What You Get: 

  • Biweekly recorded training videos breaking down current market setups 

  • Trade alerts with specific entry points, position sizing, and exit strategies 

  • A proven tracking system that shows you exactly when to scale in and out 

  • Quarterly live Q&A sessions ("Mastering The Trade") to refine your approach 

  • Access to Rob's complete watchlist with bias indicators (bullish, bearish, or neutral) 

Whether you're swing trading or day trading, POP teaches you how to fish while giving you the best fishing spots. You'll learn to identify your own setups using Rob's Fibonacci-based system while following his alerts on proven candidates. 

Ready to trade with a plan? Check out Power Option Plays and start building your options trading confidence with a system that actually works. 

Earnings We’re Watching

  • Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. (ASO) - Tuesday (BMO) 

  • AutoZone, Inc. (AZO) - Tuesday (BMO) 

  • Campbell Soup Co. (CPB) - Tuesday (BMO) 

  • Ferguson plc (FERG) - Tuesday (BMO) 

Trade Ideas

Shopify, Inc (SHOP), Sherwin-Williams (SHW), Seagate Technology (STX), Vulcan Materials Company (VMC)

GraniteShares 1.5x Long (NVDL), Pinduoduo Inc (PDD), Philip Morris International (PM),
Sea Limited (SE)

Linde plc - Ordinary Shares (LIN), Cheniere Energy, Inc (LNG), Lowe’s Companies (LOW),
Micron Technology, Inc (MU)

Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc (DKS), Robinhood Markets, Inc (HOOD), International Business Machine (IBM), Kkr (KKR)

Broadcom Inc (AVGO), Becton, Dickinson and Company (BDX), Ciena Corporation (CIEN), Credo Technology Group Holding (CRDO)

Apple Inc (AAPL), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), American Tower Corporation (AMT), Amazon.com, Inc (AMZN)

Want to learn how we trade these? Learn the setup we call the “High Volatility Switchback” trade.

Get these ideas delivered to your inbox daily with Trade With Rob. It’s 100% free. Sign up here.

Daily Moment of Zen

❝

I think investment psychology is by far the more important element, followed by risk control, with the least important consideration being the question of where you buy and sell.

Tom Basso

Why It Matters:

This is the polite way of saying: your chart setup matters a lot less than your brain does. Most traders obsess over finding the “perfect” entry—fib levels, golden ratios, moon phases—while completely ignoring the two things that actually determine survival: psychology and risk.

Your mindset decides whether you follow your plan or improvise your way into disaster. Your risk control decides whether a bad trade costs you lunch money or your entire account. Entries and exits? Those are just coordinates. A disciplined trader with a mediocre entry can still make money. An undisciplined trader with the perfect entry will still find a way to torch the account.

In short: protect your capital, control your head, and stop treating entries like they’re sacred geometry. The market rewards emotional stability, not artistic chart placements.