🚨 The Money Memo (working title)
Edition: Week Ending Dec 17, 2025
Vibe: Markets are spicy, but your plan should be boring.
✅ The 60-Second Market Snapshot
Stocks (risk-on, but with a weird limp):
• SPY (S&P 500 ETF): ~$673.90
• QQQ (Nasdaq 100 ETF): ~$603.75
• DIA (Dow ETF): ~$481.02
• IWM (Small caps): ~$248.56
Crypto (still acting like crypto):
• Bitcoin: ~$86,569
• Ethereum: ~$2,845.57
🤓 Kyle’s read: We’re not in “everything is broken” mode… we’re in “stop paying any price for the shiny AI stuff” mode.
⸻
✅ What Mattered Last Week (and why it moved price)
A) AI stocks stopped getting a free pass.
Markets have been sliding for multiple sessions largely because big AI names have been taking heat—bubble talk, capex worries, and “how soon is the payoff?”
B) Data-center reality check = “show me the money.”
Reuters flagged a big snag around an Oracle-linked data center financing situation, which poured gasoline on the “AI spending is getting expensive” narrative.
C) Crypto: year-end vibes + macro nerves.
BTC has been drifting lower in cautious trade. And markets are eyeing big expirations (“triple witching” + options expiries) as potential volatility fuel.
✅ The Week Ahead: Your “Don’t Get Surprised” Calendar
The big one: November CPI drops Thursday, Dec 18 (delayed schedule).
Translation: liquidity is thinner into the holidays, so a “normal” inflation print can still create an abnormal move.
🧐 Kyle’s playbook (simple):
- If CPI surprises hot → yields up, growth/AI could feel it first.
- If CPI surprises cool → risk assets breathe, but watch for “one good print doesn’t fix everything” whiplash.
✅ Setups & Watchlist (how I’m thinking, not what you “must” do)
Theme 1: “AI ≠ automatic wins.”
This isn’t anti-AI. It’s pro-price. When the crowd gets emotional, I get selective.
Theme 2: Small caps = sneaky tell.
IWM matters because it hints at risk appetite beyond the megacaps. If small caps can’t hold bids, the “broad rally” story gets weaker.
Theme 3: BTC = volatility with a schedule.
Into options expiries, treat BTC like a coiled spring: it can do nothing all day… then erase a week’s patience in 15 minutes.
✅ World Headlines That Actually Matter (for markets + real life)
Oil / geopolitics: The U.S. announced a blockade of sanctioned oil tankers entering/leaving Venezuela, pushing oil attention higher and adding geopolitical risk back into the inflation conversation.
Global growth pockets: Sri Lanka forecasted ~5%+ growth in 2026 tied to post-cyclone reconstruction and international financing—one example of how “the world economy” is never one story at a time.
✅ The Fun Corner (because money shouldn’t be miserable)
This week’s market translation…🥁
- “AI bubble fears” = people finally looked at the price tag.
- “Thin holiday liquidity” = your stop-loss just got jump-scared.
🔥 Dad-joke indicator:
“If your portfolio feels like a rollercoaster… congrats, you bought the “Unlimited Emotions” package.”
🏆 Tiny challenge (keeps you profitable):
Before your next trade: write one sentence on what would prove you wrong. If you can’t… you’re not trading, you’re hoping.
✅ The Freedom Plug
👉Real financial freedom isn’t “I nailed one trade.” It’s: I have choices.
If your system doesn’t protect your time, your sleep, and your relationships—then the account growth is just an expensive hobby.