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.

Now, we're also highlighting lagging stocks on a recurring basis.

Welcome to the Short Report.

We...

Gold has leaned sideways to lower lately.

The US dollar and interest rates continue to rise, creating unfavorable conditions for the yellow metal and its crazy cousin, silver.

As long as those trends remain intact, precious metals will struggle. And they have... until very recently.

Regardless of the broader intermarket landscape, I can't ignore near-term strength for these shiny rocks...

From the Desk of Ian Culley @IanCulley

The US Dollar Index $DXY is chopping smack-dab in the middle of a three-week range.

Currency markets are quiet. The euro, the pound, and the yen have all dialed back the volatility.

But there’s nothing wrong with the sideways action.

And in no way does it diminish the underlying uptrend for the dollar. 

In fact, the near-term trendless range makes sense in light of DXY’s recent run and the long-term support levels in play for major currencies.

Check out the DXY with the number of consecutive up weeks in the lower pane: 

Eleven weeks in a row! The index climbed higher for almost three straight months. 

A period of consolidation not only makes sense but politely adheres to the law of gravity.

Sorry, but price doesn’t move in a straight line – even for the dollar index.

...

From the Desk of Alfonso Depablos @Alfcharts

The "news" is designed to be a distraction for investors.

Earlier in the week, Bitcoin made some noise as the price soared 10% amid rumors of the approval of BlackRock's Spot Bitcoin ETF.

At the height of this speculation, Cointelegraph apologized, stating the rumors were false, resulting in the liquidation of $65 million BTC within minutes.

When we look at the chart, Bitcoin continues to press against the same overhead supply level it’s struggled with all year. It’s really that simple.

This is the video recording of the October 18, 2023, Hot Corner Insider Weekly Strategy Session.

From the Desk of Steve Strazza and Alfonso Depablos

The largest insider buy on today’s list comes in a Form 4 filing by Stellantis N.V., which reported a purchase of $70 million in Archer Aviation Inc $ACHR.

The multinational automaker now holds a 16.20% stake in ACHR.

From the Desk of Kimmy Sokoloff

What a wild market.

The bulls and the bears are chasing each other's tails.

Energy names, as we know, have been trying to rally back after their recent pull-in.

With earnings in the biggest bank names mostly out of the way, the time is now for banks to put up or shut up.

And today's trade is in one of the "junkiest" banks out there we know -- Bank of America. Sorry, not sorry.

With a nearby risk management level, we're gonna make the put buyers pay for our bullish calls.

We've adjusted a position in the Paid-to-Play portfolio today:

From the Desk of Kimmy Sokoloff

Typically in October we get a rally, then pull back some, then trend higher.

We'll see if the pattern repeats this year, as headwinds are gathering out there.

From the Desk of Steve Strazza and Alfonso Depablos

The largest insider buy on today’s list comes in a Form 4 filing by Joseph Edelman's Perceived Advisors hedge fund.

The investment firm reported a purchase of roughly $20 million in Cerevel Therapeutics Holdings $CERE.

This is the video recording of the October 2023 Mid-month Conference Call.

From the Desk of Ian Culley @IanCulley

Buyers drove home their precious metals stance for a second week.

Gold and silver posted wide-bodied bars, rocketing higher on the open and closing near the day’s peaks. 

Bullish momentum thrusts like these tend to spark sustained rallies.

That's right!

It could be off to the races for these shiny rocks, especially given the crucial levels recovered last Friday...

From the Desk of Steve Strazza @Sstrazza.

Welcome back to Under the Hood, where we'll cover all the action for the week ended October 14, 2023. This report is published bi-weekly and rotated with The Minor Leaguers.

What we do here is analyze the most popular stocks during the week and find opportunities to either join in and ride these momentum names higher, or fade the crowd and bet against them.

We use a variety of sources to generate the list of most popular names.

There are so many new data sources available that all we need to do is organize and curate them in a way that shows us exactly what we want: a list of stocks that are seeing an unusual increase in investor interest.

Click here for a behind-the-scenes look at our process.

Whether we’re measuring increasing interest based on large institutional purchases, unusual options activity, or...

From the Desk of Kimmy Sokoloff

This is a tough trading environment!

Less is more right now.

$IWM had a stellar day yesterday, and now it's back to the 173 level.

From the Desk of Steve Strazza and Alfonso Depablos

The largest insider buy on today’s list comes in a Form 4 filing by Joseph Edelman’s Perceived Advisors hedge fund.

The investment firm reported a purchase of roughly $20 million in Cerevel Therapeutics Holdings $CERE.

From the Desk of Steve Strazza @sstrazza and Alfonso Depablos @Alfcharts

This is one of our favorite bottom-up scans: Follow the Flow.

In this note, we simply create a universe of stocks that experienced the most unusual options activity — either bullish or bearish, but not both.

We utilize options experts, both internally and through our partnership with The TradeXchange. Then, we dig through the level 2 details and do all the work upfront for our clients.

Our goal is to isolate only those options market splashes that represent levered and high-conviction, directional bets.

We also weed out hedging activity and ensure there are no offsetting trades that either neutralize or cap the risk on these unusual options trades.

What remains is a list of stocks that large financial institutions are putting big money behind.

And they’re doing so for one reason only: because they think...

From the Desk of Kimmy Sokoloff

This is one heck of a seesaw.

$SPY came very close to a gap fill at 438.40 then dropped rapidly.

And the dollar is back up!

The next new position in our Paid-to-Play portfolio is: