After 387 days (I'm a slow learner) I passed a 50K eval with Apex. Thank you @Kyle Henris and the work of all your awesome coaches for your amazing course and encouragement. Hoping the next 50K takes much less time, but I am not putting any artificial time line on it. Thanks also to the amazing community that has been built here for your encouragement as well. To any one recently starting out: Don't ever give up, don't get frustrated, just follow the good habits and suggestions taught by Kyle, you'll do just fine. On to a payout, and passing another EA.

The Year in One Sentence… “2025 was the year markets rewarded adaptability — and punished anyone who assumed the old playbook still worked.” If you were flexible, selective, and patient → you probably did well. If you chased narratives without respecting price → the market reminded you who’s in charge. ✅ 2025 Market Recap (The Big Picture) Stocks - Large-cap tech and AI-linked names dominated headlines again — but this year came with more pullbacks, more skepticism, and more “prove it” moments. - Indexes finished strong overall, but returns were uneven. A few names did the heavy lifting. Many stocks went nowhere. 💡 Key lesson: Indexes going up ≠ most people making money. Crypto - Bitcoin spent much of the year consolidating, frustrating both bulls and bears. - Institutional interest quietly increased, even while price action stayed boring. 💡Key lesson: Boring accumulation phases are where future volatility is born. ✅ What Actually Mattered in 2025 (Not the Noise) 🤖 AI Grew Up 2025 was the year AI stopped being a buzzword and started being a business conversation. Markets moved from “AI will change everything” to: ➡️ Who’s profitable? Who’s spending too much? Who actually wins? Why this matters: The easy money phase is over. The selective money phase has begun. 🏦 The Fed Lost Its Scare Power Rates still mattered — but they didn’t dominate every single week like prior years. Markets learned to live with uncertainty instead of waiting for perfect clarity. Why this matters: The market doesn’t need certainty to move. It needs direction. 💰 Liquidity Was the Real Driver When liquidity expanded → risk assets breathed. When liquidity tightened → volatility snapped back fast. Why this matters: Narratives follow liquidity. Always. ✅ The Biggest Mistakes Traders Made in 2025 ❌ Overtrading chop So many accounts died not from big losses — but from death by boredom. ❌ Confusing conviction with stubbornness Holding losers “because the thesis is right” was expensive.

🚨 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.

To our very own Coach @Stephen Gerald Onyia! From student to mentor, and an awesome member of our community!