The last full trading week of the year is behind us, and what a year it’s been. We’ve seen long, steady rallies, sharp pullbacks, and plenty of choppy, sideways action along the way. Throughout it all, 2025 reminded us just how dynamic and unpredictable the market can be.

Next week, we enter the Santa Claus Rally — the last five trading days of December and the first two trading days of January. Historically, the S&P 500 has averaged a gain of about 1.3% during this stretch.

But if the rally doesn’t show up? “If Santa Claus should fail to call, bears may come to Broad and Wall.”

From Preparation to Action

There are no guarantees in the stock market, and we can’t control what prices will do. What we can do is observe, adapt, and respond.

By now, we hope you’ve checked off the first two goals — building a daily routine and getting organized. Now it’s time to roll up your sleeves.

This week’s focus is Goal #3: Scanning for Stocks and ETFs. 

Start With Your Own Criteria

Begin by asking yourself a few foundational questions, such as your investment time horizon, the capital you're comfortable investing, and the level of drawdown you can tolerate.

Once you’re clear on those answers, you can define what you’re looking for when you set up your scans.

Your criteria might include the following:

• Moving average crossovers
• Moving averages stacked in the right order
• RSI holding above 50 and trending higher

Maybe you’re searching for a strong leader breaking out to new highs. Maybe you’re looking for a pullback in a well-established uptrend. Or maybe you’re curious whether the “next NVIDIA” is already starting to show relative strength.

Let Scans Do the Heavy Lifting

A great place to start is our Sample Scan Library. These pre-built scans can spark ideas, and the best part is that you can easily modify them to suit your needs.

Simply by clicking Run, you’ll get a list of stocks or ETFs that meet your criteria. From there, you can save the results to a ChartList, scroll through the charts, and remove anything that doesn’t make the cut.

In just a few minutes, you can go from thousands of symbols to a focused, manageable list.

A Final Thought Before 2026

The stock market is a mix of data, analysis, psychology, and human behavior. Even with the best preparation, it can still surprise you, and that’s true for professionals, too.

If you haven’t already, be sure to watch Grayson Roze and Dave Keller discuss their biggest lessons from the 2025 market. Their conversation offers valuable insights into seasonality, sector rotation, and sentiment. It also provides plenty of food for thought as you plan for 2026.

One last reminder: Our Holiday Sale is almost over. As with the market, opportunities and savings won't stick around, so don't wait until the last minute.

👉Lock in your 25% savings here!

Quick SharpCharts update: If you’re a SharpCharts user, you may have noticed a small but helpful change. Below the chart, you’ll now see a Drawer that gives you quick access to Chart Settings, Saved Charts, Symbol Summary, Options, Alerts, and Historical Data. These tools were previously tucked away in the left-hand menu. 

The big benefit is no more scrolling. Everything you need is right there, when you need it. And if you prefer a cleaner view, you can easily enable or disable the Drawer by clicking the Pin icon on the right.

But wait, there’s more. EarningsBeats.com is hosting a free livestream event to help you sharpen your skills before 2026 arrives. If you’re looking to level up your market analysis and start the new year with confidence, this is a great opportunity to learn from Tom Bowley, one of the industry’s leading technical analysts.

When: Saturday, December 20, at 10:00 am ET.

👉Be sure to register here.

Enjoy the final weeks of the year, and we’ll see you next week with Goal #4.