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AI and Wegovy Power Record Christmas Eve Rally · The SPY Trader

• 0:00
  Welcome back to Spy Trader .
• 0:02
  I'm your host , Maximus Market , and it is 5 am on Wednesday , December 24th , 2025 , Pacific time .
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  We are heading into a Christmas Eve early market close today , so activity is light , but the mood is certainly festive .
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  The market is enjoying a strong uptrend , and the Santa Claus rally seems to be delivering gifts early this year .
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  The S&P 500 closed yesterday at a fresh record high , extending a powerful foursession winning streak .
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  The broad indexes are loving this perceived ' Goldilocks' scenario : strong economic growth paired with cooling inflation expectations .
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  Yesterday's positive action saw the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite both climb roughly 0.5% to 0.6% .
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  The main driver continues to be the massive technological shift underway .
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  The Technology Select Sector ETF , XLK , is the clear market leader , boasting a yeartodate gain of nearly 26% .
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  Communication Services , tracked by XLC , is also surging , up over 20% yeartodate .
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  In contrast , defensive sectors like Consumer Staples , XLP , are struggling , actually showing a small negative performance for the year , down about 1.11% .
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  Looking at specific company news , the artificial intelligence narrative remains dominant .
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  NVIDIA , NVDA , was the single biggest driver of S&P 500 gains , jumping around 3.0% , while Broadcom , AVGO , also rose 2.3% .
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  On the healthcare front , there was major news : Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk , NVO , surged about 7.3% following FDA approval for the oral version of its blockbuster weightloss drug , Wegovy .
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  However , not all tech news was green ; software giant ServiceNow , NOW , slipped slightly after announcing a massive 7.75 billion cash acquisition of the cybersecurity startup Armis .
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  The big macroeconomic insight is the resilience of the U.S.
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  consumer .
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  Thirdquarter GDP was revised upward to a whopping 4.3% annual rate , signaling surprisingly strong growth .
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  This resilience has slightly dampened hopes for immediate Fed rate cuts , pushing shortterm bond yields higher .
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  However , inflation , measured by the Fed's preferred PCE index , remains stubborn at a 2.8% annual pace in Q3 , still above the central bank's 2% target .
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  So , how do we trade this strong but narrowlyled market ?
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  Our core longterm advice remains simple : Stay invested in the broad market through lowcost funds like the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF , VOO .
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  It offers diversified exposure to the companies driving these record highs .
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  For tactical growth , you absolutely must maintain exposure to the sector driving the market .
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  We favor the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund , XLK , for its concentrated focus on AI and megacap leaders like NVIDIA .
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  The sector is up nearly 26% this year for a reason .
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  Finally , while equities look strong , smart traders hedge .
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  Despite the sticky inflation data , the longterm expectation for 2026 is still Fed easing .
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  A position in the Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF , BND , provides stability now and will benefit from potential rate cuts next year .
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  Keep your eyes on the short trading session today , enjoy the holidays , and we'll catch you on the flip side .