The Week Ahead : 15th - 19th December 2025

Highlights: New Themes and Santa's last Stand

The Week Ahead

Coming into last week I was looking for IWM ATH. We got that but Friday left us with a nice cliff hanger on the market into the end of year. I’m still bullish on individual names but we could see some tax loss selling pressure. QQQ closed below 20EMA for the first time since this rally started in mid November. Weekly is still intact however for now. Essentially tech is range bound which should not be a surprise to anyone. Biotechs continue to perform well and I am seeing some potential small cap themes emerging - Space, Cannabis, Prediction Markets. This is why I truly love Catalyst trading. If you’re open minded and patient there’s always a theme developing. You can see below how Financials, Healthcare, Industrials and Materials were strong this week while tech continued to churn.

On the macro front we have US Jobs Report for Nov & Sales Report on Tuesday @ 08:30am, US PMIs Tuesday @ 09:45am and finally US CPI Thursday at 08:30am ET.

All of the above will likely cause some volatility next week so good to be aware of them.

Not a huge earnings week however LEN will be a housing name to report on Tuesday evening. Powell was discussing housing this week so that will be watched. JBL Wednesday morning and MU on Wednesday evening for AI narrative. FDX & NKE on Thursday night for consumer.

Cannabis could be a major narrative next week if Trump does indeed sign the executive order as outline Friday. We might see some follow through if he does and likely plenty of stock offerings from all these companies. For me MSOS is the play here as it’s the small OTCs that benefit the most from this change not actually the TLRY, CGC etc. MSOS holds a complex list of Swaps and Derivatives in many of the OTCs.

Biotech - I’ve added a new section of stocks that are expected* to have Biotech catalysts before year end. I’m taking this data from BPIQ. This is a new process update for me. Biotech data readouts are always estimates but if it proves to be reasonably accurate on timing then for me it’s a benefit to go through the relevant charts in advance and highlight just like I do with earnings. It’s essentially an added efficiency in my daily routine and familiarity with the stocks in question. This weeks list is below.

Biotechs - AUTL, BEAM, XENE, CGON, RAPP, TLPH, FDMT, ALXO, NAMS, EWTX, SLGL, TRAW, LIXT, ORKA, OVID

Please note: I would NEVER try to front run an anticipated Biotech catalyst. I’m always waiting for it to hit then deciding if the reaction is tradable. Catalyst dates are estimates and can vary widely.

This will be my final week publishing of the year. I have never enjoyed the period between Christmas & New Years. I prefer to take time with the family while all the big players are doing the same. I will be doing a reduced daily process from Christmas until New Years and if something does pop up that I think is worthwhile I will get a newsletter out.

The last thing I want to mention this week is that I’m always interested in hearing from people who are putting in a lot of work themselves and would like to discuss ideas in the mornings or get some feedback whether by DM, Discord or Email. So always feel free to reach out.

Theme Watch

This weeks major Theme movers were GLP-1, Cannabis and AI Space Data Centers. We managed to catch all of them. With MSOS, PL, WVE & GPCR. I’m adding more lists regularly and have begun breaking out the AI Theme into sub groups as I think that is going to be more important going forward like Optics and Edge AI. I’m mainly looking to see if we can get some follow through next week on the themes we picked up this week.

Earnings Highlights

BLACK - Chart

GOLD - Market Importance

Monday :

(Before Market Open) -HYFT, OPTT

(After Market Close) - CSBR

Tuesday:

(Before Market Open) - DLTH, OGI

(After Market Close) - WOR, LEN

Wednesday :

(Before Market Open) - JBL, SPIR

(After Market Close) - WS

Thursday :

(Before Market Open) - ACN, FDS, FCEL

(After Market Close) - BB, KBH, SCHL, AVO, HEI

Friday:

(Before Market Open) - LW

Biotechs with Potential Catalysts -

Next weeks full earnings watchlist on TradingView can be accessed here.

Macro Events (Eastern Time)

Delayed Reaction Watchlist:

U,TROX,GPCR,SGML,FROG,MDB,OCUL,YOU,BW,AMTM,KSS,FULC,WVE,PRAX,ULTA

This may adjust over time. I’m always looking to improve my process and refine it.

Delayed Reaction Watchlist (click here Tradingview)

If you find this article and my other work helpful then feel free to Buy me a Coffee. It’s the thought that counts.

Have a Great Week!

Born Investor

Sources & Services I Use in my Trading:

• Finviz - Short Interest, Float, Articles, Fundamentals (Free)

• Benzinga Pro - News Source + News Squawk (Paid)

• Tradingview - Charting & Scanning (Paid)

• Koyfin - Fundamental Data (Paid)

• EarningsWhispers - Earnings Calendar (Free)

• Tradersync - Trade Journal (Paid)

_{PS: There are many ways to trade stocks in play. It does not have to be the one that keeps going straight up and sometimes it doesn’t even have to be day one of the catalyst. Everyone must find a setup, timeframe and method that works for them. This list is supposed to educate on the criteria I use and the methods in which I find Stocks in Play. Yours may differ and that is completely okay.}