In today’s Daily Digest, we’ll review the following:

1. New position in XBI.
2. No adjustments are needed today.
3. No exits since the last report.
4. Current status of open campaigns.
5. Volatility Snapshot.

Let’s dig in!

From the desk of Steve Strazza @Sstrazza

Welcome to The 2 to 100 Club.

In this scan, we look to identify the strongest growth stocks as they climb the market-cap ladder from small- to mid- to large- and, ultimately, to mega cap status (over $200B).

Once they graduate from small-cap to mid-cap status (over $2B), they come on our radar. Likewise, when they surpass the roughly $30B mark, they roll off our list.

But the scan doesn't just end there.

We only want to look at the strongest growth industries in the market, as that is typically where these potential 50-baggers come from.

Some of the best performers in recent decades – stocks like Priceline, Amazon, Netflix, Salesforce, and myriad others – would have been on this list at some point during their journey to becoming the market behemoths they are today.

When you look at the stocks in our table, you'll notice we're only focused on Technology and Growth industry groups such as Software, Semiconductors, Online...

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Today was all about the Fed. 

As usual, I was laser-focused on the market reactions.

Rates stayed put while the path forward was updated to reflect one fewer cut. 

The stock market pumped a bit while Powell was speaking, and dollars and rates ticked down. 

All in all, it was a mundane FOMC reaction. No fireworks. We discussed it on a live stream on Stock Market TV earlier.

But, one group stood out most today. And it’s extra interesting because it’s the same group that has been on top of the leaderboard all year.

Busy morning of earnings with a little something for everyone as we try to figure out who, if anyone, is actually experiencing a recession as opposed to just talking about it all the time.

This morning saw a decent report from the dominant player in the dismal wedding-focused jewelry space in Signet, deep-discount treasure hunt chain Ollies and the magnificent Williams-Sonoma, stuck in the middle of a rare sell-off.

Let's grade them!

Report Card Rules:

All grades are subjective and relative to each company's reputation, messaging and likely appeal to Wall Street.

I don't much care about Q4. Does anything seem longer ago right now than last Christmas? Q1 reports in retail are all about setting expectations for the next year, establishing clear deliverables and highlighting any tailwinds or concerns.

TLDR: These stocks are all way off fairly recent highs. Anything better than whining about troubling economic headwinds and guiding to something hugely negative is a Beat at this point.

Let's start in the Mall!

Signet: B+

Signet slightly beat the guidance issued in January but missed the original Q4 guidance...

A couple of big moves stand out today. 

Lawmakers are jumping into once high-flying momentum names that have recently unwound.

We’re also watching a near-million-dollar purchase in a Dow component that’s just broken down technically, completing a short-term top.

Let’s get into it:

📌 Tesla $TSLA
Rep. Vicente Gonzalez of Texas bought between $15,000 and $100,000 worth of $TSLA across two transactions.

It’s a vote of confidence in the EV giant that has seen its share price tumble from record highs as controversy surrounds its figurehead, Elon Musk. 

📌 Hims & Hers $HIMS
Rep. Tony Wield of Wisconsin also went on a shopping spree in $HIMS, investing somewhere in the vicinity of $250,000.

This health-focused company soared last year but has since pulled back sharply.

Today's number is... 27%

Global breadth is expanding in 2025... NOT narrowing… Over 27% of world markets have made 52-week highs in the past two weeks.

Here’s the chart:

Let's break down what the chart shows:

• The blue line in the top panel is the MSCI All Country World index price.
• The green line in the bottom panel represents the percentage of world markets making 52-week highs over the past two weeks.
• The red line in the bottom panel represents the percentage of world markets making 52-week lows over the past two weeks.

The Takeaway: If you want to know where leadership in the markets has shifted too since weakness emerged in the US, look no further than the rest of the world. 

Global market breadth is improving rather than deteriorating, indicating that there is underlying strength in international markets, potentially presenting us with opportunities. However, many US investors are missing out on these because of a home-country bias and a sprinkle of recency bias. (...

As the U.S. markets have sold off, defensive sectors with lower volatility have done well.

Consumer Staples, Real Estate, and Utilities are all sectors with low beta that have outperformed.

Interestingly, Utilities had the perception of being a beneficiary of the AI trade last year while now they seem to have fallen back to their roots of providing a safe haven for U.S. investors.

As such, now the sector has built a longer-term base with a clean upper threshold at its prior support. If this ratio can break through the area marked below, it would point to an emerging trend favoring Utility stocks.

These types of trends don't happen often; it's only when the market is really under pressure.

The analysts at All Star Charts are hosting an emergency market update today at 2:30pm ET to break down what's happening with...

Most notably, Large Cap Value $IWD has climbed to the top of the rankings as U.S. growth has sold off.

The trend favoring value over growth is clearly intact over shorter timeframes. But what would it take for this to shift meaningfully over a longer time period?

Pictured below is the growth value ratio since 2020. While this ratio has taken a hit, it is still trading well above a key inflection point.

If this ratio were to move below 1.90, it would signal that a longer-term trend reversal is taking place in favor of value stocks.

That’s why we’re doing a State of the Markets. Join JC Parets, Steve Strazza, and more as they make sense of all this.

You can join at 2:30pm ET live by clicking here.

The same theme continues to dominate across the global markets; more money is rotating out of the United States and flowing into international markets.

As shown in above chart, the S&P 500 has now fallen into red territory while many international ETFs are trading at new highs.

Poland $EPOL, for instance, has risen to the top of the leaderboard and is up +36% YTD while the S&P 500 is down for the year.

We would encourage you to go through this list of ETFs in the above table - it's only 44 ETFs. What you'll see is a large number of country ETFs making new highs and rallying significantly in recent weeks.

While one could argue this trend is extended to the upside in the short-term, the longer-term implications of such an aggressive capital inflow into international equities is significant.

We could be at the beginning stages of outperformance from global relative to the U.S - a trend we haven't seen for 15 years.

Precious metal miners have climbed to the top of the rankings in an impressive fashion. This has been a persistent and growing trend over the last few weeks as Gold climbs to all time highs in the face of uncertainty in risk markets.

But it's not just these stocks showing relative strength. Insurance $IAK, for instance, has barely budged while U.S. stocks have aggressively sold off.

Broadly speaking, seeing rotation into these less growth-oriented industries makes sense as apart of a more defensive rotation. Insurance has exhibited less volatility, which could make it attractive for those looking for more stable equity market exposure in a volatile tape.

We can certainly see some movement on this week's thematic table as equity markets have extended their decline.

The basic summary here is that high beta and growth have dropped on the list; examples of this include the Ark speculative growth funds and crypto stocks.

In addition to this, it's to no one's surprise that low volatility stocks have climbed to green territory on the rankings. These stocks outperform during market corrections and this is another example of that.

Extending on the speculative growth theme, Chinese equities (and international equities more broadly) have been a strong area of outperformance as money has rotated out of the United States and into international equity.

However, a scenario we're considering is if we see an oversold bounce in the coming weeks whether this money flow will reverse and funds will rotate out of international as a source of funds back into the U.S.

Pictured below is China $FXI hitting a significant level of resistance; we'd be surprised to not see some level of digestion here as this theme takes a well deserved pause.

From the Desk of Steve Strazza @Sstrazza

When investing in the stock market, we always want to approach it as "a market of stocks."

Regardless of the environment, there are always stocks showing leadership and trending higher.

We may have to look harder to identify them depending on current market conditions. But there are always stocks that are going up.

The same can be said for weak stocks. Regardless of the environment, there are always stocks that are going down, too. 

We already have multiple scans focusing on stocks making all-time highs, such as Hall of Famers, Minor Leaguers, and the 2 to 100 Club.

We filter these universes for stocks that are exhibiting the best momentum and relative strength characteristics. 

Clearly, we spend a lot of time identifying and writing about leading stocks every week, via multiple reports.

...

Today's setup is in a hotel name that has been getting clobbered as of late and may be on the verge of completing a major topping pattern. 

Unless the broader market sticks a landing soon and rallies hard, lifting all boats with it, I have a hard time believing this stock doesn't have further to fall.

In today’s Daily Digest, we’ll review the following:

1. New position in XLC.
2. No adjustments are needed today.
3. Exited TLT campaign for a scratch.
4. Current status of open campaigns.
5. Volatility Snapshot.

Let’s dig in!

Qifu Technology $QFIN reported earnings on Monday, and the market rewarded it with a fresh all-time high.

The stock rallied 9.1% for its 3rd consecutive positive earnings reaction. It has been consistently rewarded for its reports.

We also love the technical setup, which we'll talk about later.

Q4 2024 was a record-breaking quarter for the company. Non-GAAP net income reached an all-time high of RMB 1.97B, a 71.5% year-over-year increase.

The market has given the stock a forward earnings multiple of 6, a bargain for a company growing at this rate. We think the valuation has plenty of room to run to the upside.

In addition, the Chinese government is encouraging the development of the consumer credit industry. This is a sweet tailwind for investors to ride.

Shareholders have been spoiled lately. The company repurchased approximately 12% of its share count in 2024 and paid an additional $180M in dividends.

This aggressive return of capital is expected to continue for the foreseeable future.

They're also playing with all of the new AI tools. This is expected to reshape operations, boost efficiency, and unlock great potential within...

When the CEO and CFO start buying with their own cash, I pay close attention.

These are the purchases that really matter. These are the people who know the business inside and out.

This isn’t about stock options or compensation—these are open-market buys

Let’s get into it:

📌 John F. Barry, CEO of Prospect Capital Corp $PSEC, made a bold move with a $2,028,024 purchase.

📌 Andrew Casey, CFO of Amplitude Inc $AMPL, revealed a purchase of $239,765 in his own company’s stock.

Here’s The Hot Corner, with data from March 17, 2025:

Click the table to enlarge it.

📌 Phillip Frost, the Chairman and CEO of Opko Health Inc $OPK, filed a Form 4 showing a 200,000-share purchase.

📌 Last but not least, RA Capital Management, in its latest Form 4, revealed a...

Today's number is... 90%

The S&P 500 has just posted back-to-back days of 90% or more advancing issues.

Here’s the chart:

Here’s a bonus table that highlights the S&P 500’s forward returns following back-to-back days of 90% advancing issues:

The Takeaway: Back-to-back days with 90% of advancing issues in the S&P 500 don't happen too often. This signal indicates that the bulls are still in the game! Since 2008, this has only happened nine times, and yesterday marked the tenth occurrence.

When we analyze the data, we see that the short term might be a bit choppy. However, as we know, volatility can lead to big moves in either direction. Historically, these large swings tend to cluster around the bottom points of market corrections.

On a positive note, when we look one year after this signal, we find that 88.9% of the occurrences have resulted in positive returns, with an average gain of over 16%. 

Is this the first sign of a tailwind for the Bulls? Maybe…

I will be closely monitoring whether the bulls can maintain their recent leadership...