It's the weekly currency edition of What the FICC?

Despite the overarching range-bound action and intraday indecision across the currency markets, I continue to find trade setups with well-defined risks.

Check it out!

Director Richard F. Wallman filed a Form 4 revealing the acquisition of 1,000 shares of Roper Technologies $ROP, valued at roughly $424,950.

There was a 13G filed by Millennium Management, which reported a passive ownership stake of 5.90% in Evolus $EOLS.

From the Desk of Kimmy Sokoloff

So, either the $VIX is broken or the market is.

The VIX was down more than 15% over the past few days, whereas the market isn't really moving.

From the desk of Steve Strazza @Sstrazza

Welcome to the 2 to 100 Club.

As many of you know, something we've been working on internally is using various bottom-up tools and scans to complement our top-down approach. It's really been working for us!

One way we're doing this is by identifying 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...

From the Desk of Steve Strazza @Sstrazza and Alfonso Depablos @AlfCharts

Our Hot Corner Live Strategy Session was full of new bullish chart patterns today.

There was little need to discuss the latest bullish developments for the broader market, as the individual setups painted a clear picture of continued breadth expansion.

If you missed it, be sure to check it out. And if you want to see what a bull market slide deck looks like, it's right here.

We're seeing growth stocks resolve higher from bearish-to-bullish reversal patterns. More and more small caps are popping up with new highs. And the strongest value and cyclical stocks that have been leading for years are breaking out to new record highs.

We're buying all of them.

Today, we have two financials and one industrial name. They're all making new all-time highs. Let's take a look.

From the Desk of Kimmy Sokoloff

So many names were running higher today, but $SPY just kind of stood still while $QQQ had lift off.

Stock selection is key.

From the Desk of Willie Delwiche

Last week was the first time in 45 weeks that the weekly AAII survey showed more bulls than bears. The most recent stretch of pessimism did not eclipse the Financial Crisis in terms of intensity (the bull-bear spread bottomed last year at -43%, versus -51% in March 2009).  But it did set the record for persistence.

Why It Matters: This newfound optimism is leading to some concern that the rally off of last year’s lows has run its course. This is based on the idea sentiment is always best used as a contrarian indicator. Leaning against sentiment tends to be most successful after it has reversed at extremes. The path higher for stocks becomes more clear as bulls replace bears. Rallies that are accompanied by rising optimism tend to be more sustainable. Optimism becomes a headwind after it becomes excessive and begins to fade. While on the watch for excesses, mostly we are seeing investors finally beginning to embrace stock market strength. At this point in the cycle, strength fuels optimism and optimism fuels strength. Increasing optimism after persistent pessimism is a welcome sight.

In...

This is the video recording of our February 15, 2023, Inside Scoop Weekly Strategy Session.

In the options market, summer flights priced in Boeing options are pretty cheap right now.

I think I'll be looking to take a flight to a fun European destination if I can get a bullish position in Boeing to pay for it. Maybe I'll even fly on a Boeing jet?

During our analyst meeting this morning, we kicked around a few bullish ideas, but it was this Boeing $BA chart that rose to the top:

We're going to get involved with a bullish options spread that gives us through the summer to most efficiently express this thesis.

You heard the news?

It's a bull market in the world of crypto.

It's been a minute since we've been able to say that, amiright?

But let's face it.

We're seeing these coins thrust to new quarterly highs, hitting overbought conditions in the process.

At its peak a few weeks ago, approximately 70% of our universe hit overbought conditions, while three-quarters of all coins reclaimed their 200-day moving average.

This is within the context of these coins coming off 80%, even greater than 90% drawdowns.

Doesn't sound bearish to me.

In fact, it's quite the opposite.

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

The most significant insider transaction on today’s Hot List is a Form 4 filing by Coliseum Capital Partners.

The hedge fund reported a purchase of roughly $26 million in Purple Innovation $PRPL, increasing its ownership stake to 51.20%.

From the Desk of Kimmy Sokoloff

We saw a lot of volatility yesterday.

And the indices managed to hang on to their eight-day moving averages. 

From the Desk of Steve Strazza @Sstrazza

Dividend Aristocrats are easily some of the most desirable investments on Wall Street.

These are the names that have increased dividends for at least 25 years, providing steadily increasing income to long-term-minded shareholders.

As you can imagine, the companies making up this prestigious list are some of the most recognizable brands in the world. Coca-Cola, Walmart, and Johnson & Johnson are just a few of the household names making the cut.

Here at All Star Charts, we like to stay ahead of the curve. That's why we've turned our attention to the future aristocrats.

In an effort to seek out the next generation of the cream-of-the-crop dividend plays, we curate a list of stocks that have raised their payouts every year for five to nine years.

We call them the Young Aristocrats, and the idea is that these are "stocks that pay you to make money."

Imagine if years of consistent dividend growth and high momentum and relative strength had a baby, leaving you with the best of the emerging dividend giants that are outperforming the averages.

By adding our technical...

From the Desk of Kimmy Sokoloff

The January CPI data came in a bit warmer than expected, and the market went every which way.

We also had a few Fed speakers today, so that added to the volatility. 

From the Desk of Willie Delwiche.

The market has been focused on the headline CPI and eager to declare the inflation battle won. The Fed is less concerned with changes that are fueled by outliers and focuses more on the central tendency and underlying trend in inflation. The median CPI in January posted its third largest 1-month change on record and the 12-month change climbed to a new high. So long peak inflation - we hardly knew you.

Why It Matters: With the market focused on the pullback in headline inflation, bond yields pulled back from their recent highs expectations of rate cuts later this year became more widespread. As it has become clear that the Fed is focused on still-persistent underlying inflation, the market has had to play catch-up. Fed funds futures now match the Fed’s expectations that rates will finish this year above 5% and today for the first time in 15 years we have Treasury yields with a 5-handle. While inflation expectations are on the rise and the underlying trend in yields remains higher, we are not seeing signs of macro-related stress. That keeps the path of least resistance...

From the Desk of Ian Culley @IanCulley

It’s messy out there.

The CPI data came in a little warmer than expected today. And currency markets aren’t quite sure what to make of it.

Despite the overarching range-bound action and intraday indecision, I continue to find trade setups with well-defined risks.

Today, I’ll outline another vehicle to short a potential falling dollar – the Swiss franc.

I prepared to get long the USD/CHF pair last October. But the trade never materialized. Instead, it caught lower as the USD downtrend picked up steam in early November.

Fast-forward a few months, and I’m ready to short the USD/CHF pair.

Before we break down the setup, let’s zoom out:

The USD/CHF pair has remained in a structural downtrend since the 2000 dot-com bubble peak. We can interpret the past decade as a bearish consolidation within an ongoing downtrend. 

Some...

We had a resting GTC order filled at our profit target in the Paid-to-Play portfolio today:

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