The Trading Post | 12.31.25

Good morning,

Stocks slipped for a third straight session as the year-end rally quietly died in the corner, Boeing popped on a massive defense win, Nvidia threw Intel a lifeline, Meta went shopping for AI brains, and silver decided it was 1980 again. Time to wrap up 2025.

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 12.30.25 market close.

Market News

• Year-End Rally Fades: US equities drifted lower for a third straight session as light volume and profit-taking capped upside. The S&P 500 slipped ~0.1%, confirming that Santa packed it in early. CNBC

• Boeing Wins Big Defense Contract: Boeing shares jumped ~2% after locking in an $8.6B fighter jet contract, giving industrials a rare pulse while tech naps. Reuters

• Nvidia Takes Strategic Stake in Intel: Intel surged ~3% after Nvidia confirmed a $5B strategic investment, putting a temporary floor under INTC and sparking catch-up speculation. Investing

• Meta Buys AI Startup Manus: Meta acquired AI agent startup Manus for ~$2B as it races to keep up in autonomous AI tools. Translation: the AI arms race just got louder. Wall Street Journal

• Commodities Flex While Stocks Nap: Silver ripped ~11% and copper jumped ~4% as commodities outperformed equities, fueled by volatility, positioning, and year-end chaos. Bloomberg

A Message From Wealth Builders HQ

Trade Options with Confidence Using a Proven System 

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. 

Trade Ideas

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

Why It Matters:

If markets were purely rational, meme stocks wouldn’t exist, blow-off tops wouldn’t happen, and panic bottoms wouldn’t form five minutes after the open. Price moves because humans are greedy, scared, impatient, euphoric, and occasionally unhinged—not because a spreadsheet said so.

Animal spirits show up as FOMO chases at highs, puke-selling at lows, and perfectly good setups getting ignored because Twitter got loud. The edge isn’t predicting emotions—it’s recognizing when they’re in control and trading around them with structure, risk management, and a short memory.

Reason explains markets. Emotion moves them. Trade accordingly.