What Worked in 2025 (Year-End Report)
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It's always good to look back on what worked (and didn't work) in the previous year.
That way we can change course or do more of what did well.
So let's take a look at the good and the bad of 2025.
First the bad.
If you were a hardcore, classic trend follower, last year wasn't good. What does it mean to be a "hardcore, classic trend follower"? It means you trade Futures (like the famous Turtle Traders), you have small stops, and you always let your winners run. Again, this is the most successful strategy in the world over the past few centuries. But it wasn't successful in 2025!
Here's a good proxy for pure trend following:
It finished the year at -10.23% when SPY was up over 15%. Pretty bad.
What else did poorly? Bitcoin. Everyone's favorite topic actually was negative for the year:
What did work? The Holiday System.
We talked about this system that trades once a year...and it won again. The winning trade was worth a hypothetical $6,512.50 on one contract with trading costs built in. Here is the winning trade and the Report since 1997:
The Performance Page Portfolio (PPP) also had a good year. Trading one contract each time on a hypothetical $57k account, it made over $45k. That's about a 79% return:
You can see more statistics on PPP on the Performance Page.
Along those lines, the NQ Overnight system also had a decent 2025. It made about $5k on a hypothetical $25k account. You can also see those stats on the Performance Page.
As far as stocks, what was the big winner in the S&P 500? Sandisk (SNDK). It was up over 500%.
But while that's fun to look at, I don't find it helpful. Could we have predicted that? Obviously not.
How about income? What was the biggest income-producing stock that's been out for at least one full year?
The winner was from Yieldmax (gasp), and it was PLTY. If you reinvested dividends, PLTY destroyed the market:
Could someone have predicted Palantir would go up in 2025? Yes. It was a hot stock that was deeply entrenched in the A.I. craze. But Yieldmax single-stock ETFs have been very volatile this year, and in many cases, very disappointing.
Holding a super high-yield ETF on a single stock is not something I would do with my own money -- unless it was combined with many other things.
Nonetheless, PLTY was a monster.
As we move into a new year, the focus is going to be on the ability to pull out a life-changing amount of money each month (or each year).
My goal for 2026 is to hear from as many people as possible that can safely pull out at least $5k per month (or $60k per year).
And I'm going to start highlighting simple strategies in this Newsletter that can possibly do that. I'm going to present them (for free) and track them as we go.
Of course, you can also join the DIP Program where I'll be tracking many different possible portfolios, answering specific questions, going into deep details on various methods, and scheduling one-on-one coaching calls. Email me for details.
If you already have a portfolio that safely creates at least $5k per month in growth or income, please let me know. I want to have a list of a ton of people who are doing it.
If you have questions about creating $5k per month, email me.
Looking forward to the new year!
DISCLAIMER: This is not financial advice.
It should not be assumed that the methods, techniques, or indicators presented in these videos will be profitable or that they will not result in losses. Past results are not necessarily indicative of future results. Examples presented are for educational purposes only. These set-ups are not solicitations of any order to buy or sell. The authors, the publisher, and all affiliates assume no responsibility for your trading results. There is a high degree of risk in trading. HYPOTHETICAL OR SIMULATED PERFORMANCE RESULTS HAVE CERTAIN INHERENT LIMITATIONS. UNLIKE AN ACTUAL PERFORMANCE RECORD, SIMULATED RESULTS DO NOT REPRESENT ACTUAL TRADING. ALSO, SINCE THE TRADES HAVE NOT ACTUALLY BEEN EXECUTED, THE RESULTS MAY HAVE UNDER- OR OVER-COMPENSATED FOR THE IMPACT, IF ANY, OF CERTAIN MARKET FACTORS, SUCH AS LACK OF LIQUIDITY. SIMULATED TRADING PROGRAMS IN GENERAL ARE ALSO SUBJECT TO THE FACT THAT THEY ARE DESIGNED WITH THE BENEFIT OF HINDSIGHT. NO REPRESENTATION IS BEING MADE THAT ANY ACCOUNT WILL OR IS LIKELY TO ACHIEVE PROFITS OR LOSSES SIMILAR TO THOSE SHOWN.
