Here's the replay and chartbook from the April 17 Weekly Strategy Session.

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

1. Adding new position in IBB.
2. No adjustments are needed today.
3. Closed TLT at Profit Target.
4. Current status of open campaigns.
5. Volatility Snapshot.

Let’s dig in!

We just heard from the largest Medical Devices stock in the world, Abbott Laboratories $ABT.

The market loved it...

Price rallied 2.76% with a sweet reaction score of 4.25. It really stood out in yesterday's broad market selloff.

Not only are their current products performing very well, but they also have a very exciting pipeline. Many of which are expected to enter the market soon.

Here's what the CEO, Robert Ford, had to say about it:

"The pipeline continues to provide a steady cadence of new growth opportunities with more than 25 key new products forecasted to launch over the next 3 years, and we remain on track to deliver on the financial commitments we set at the beginning of the year."

That's a lot of new products...

Many of which have the potential to generate billions of dollars.

Here's what Mr. Ford had to say about one of their most exciting pipeline products:

"In Neuromodulation, we began treating patients in our TRANSCEND clinical trial, a...

Today's number is... 10

The relative ratio of the World Ex-US index versus the S&P 500 has made a 10-month high.

Here’s the chart:

Let's break down what the chart shows:

• The black line shows the relative ratio of World Ex-US (VEU) versus the S&P 500 Index (SPY).

The Takeaway: While the focus in the US is on Trump and his tariffs, the rest of the world is moving higher! 

The relative ratio of the World Ex-US index vs the S&P 500 has broken out and is reaching 10-month highs. 

Last month, I shared a note outlining the key changes I observed in the ratio between the World Ex-US index vs the S&P 500. At that time, there wasn't enough evidence to confirm a change in trend.  

However, I can now confirm that a trend...

As markets digest the recent crash, we'll be watching closely to understand the next leadership groups if and when we another bullish rally.

It's hard to dismiss the strength out of China - in the bull market prior and even throughout this volatility. The iShares Large-Cap China ETF $FXI is still putting in a series of higher highs and higher lows.

While there's understandably a lot of concern regarding China, many Chinese equities are still in strong uptrends.

And the longer you zoom out - this is an uptrend that may only just be getting started.

Enough raging against the machine. In the 2 weeks since Liberation Day we've seen the stated rate of tariffs change at least 5 times. Just last weekend we saw a seemingly tech-saving exclusion on chips first announced then denied then largely just dismissed as more noise. From a 4% gap higher in the futures to a tepid Monday morning rally which has now given in to the endless pressure we've seen on the Consumer plays we've seen all year.

We're approaching acceptance. There's no one walking through that door to save companies relying on the kindness/ sanity of this administration. Earlier this week I pointed to Best Buy and Nike as two companies that should go higher on a deal. Both are now trading below the Friday close, down ~30% YTD and unable to hold a bid for more than a moment:

Recession is just an economic term. It's most useful in studying periods of history after the fact in search of clues as to timing the natural ebbs and flows of what used to be called the Economic Cycle but for the last 15 years is more accurately thought of as occasional world-threatening catastrophes and the stimulus that follows.

Downturns Cull the Herd when it...

Sign up for my free note here.

Volatility is still running hot, and wild swings in both directions are probably here to stay for longer.

Even though I think the worst is behind us, things still look soft.

There’s little to suggest this choppy, risk-off environment is fading just yet.

One thing that’s helped me big time this year is tracking risk appetite through key ratios.

These relationships show us how money is rotating and where investors are actually putting capital...

Sign up for my free note here.

We’re not even close to out of the woods yet.

Stocks just experienced their fiercest selloff in years, followed by one of the most significant bounces in market history.

The VIX remains elevated, indicating a roughly 2% daily swing in either direction.

There is little evidence that we’re leaving these volatile times behind. 

I think we’re in rally mode for now, but that doesn’t mean we’re suddenly in a risk-on environment again.

In fact, it’s been quite a risk-off rally since late last week.

I look at the relative performance of offensive and defensive groups to judge this kind of thing.

And here’s one of my favorite charts for it. This is Staples relative to the S&P 500:

And the pattern is what I like to call a bear market base...

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...

Thanks to everyone who joined us for today's Hot Corner Insider Weekly Strategy Session.

Enough raging against the machine. In the 2 weeks since Liberation Day we've seen the stated rate of tariffs change at least 5 times. Just last weekend we saw a seemingly tech-saving exclusion on chips first announced then denied then largely just dismissed as more noise. From a 4% gap higher in the futures to a tepid Monday morning rally which has now given in to the endless pressure we've seen on the Consumer plays we've seen all year.

We're approaching acceptance. There's no one walking through that door to save companies relying on the kindness/ sanity of this administration. Earlier this week I pointed to Best Buy and Nike as two companies that should go higher on a deal. Both are now trading below the Friday close, down ~30% YTD and unable to hold a bid for more than a moment:

Recession is just an economic term. It's most useful in studying periods of history after the fact in search of clues as to timing the natural ebbs and flows of what used to be called the Economic Cycle but for the last 15 years is more accurately thought of as occasional world-threatening catastrophes and the stimulus that follows.

Downturns Cull the Herd when it...

Ok, the stock market has bounced. Now what?

Well, now that the bounce feels like it's running out of a little steam, it's time to scan the universe of stocks that have been underperforming and had tepid bounces (at best) during this week's counter-trend rally.

Today's stock is one of the laggards in the semiconductors space.

Last week, I floated a thought: I wouldn’t be surprised if we soon saw an executive order banning short selling coming out of the White House:

Well, it hasn’t happened—at least not in the official, legislative sense. But today my friend Howard Lindzon tweeted something that really hit the nerve I was feeling:

This begs the question: Has Trump essentially implemented a “shadow ban” on short selling, just by threatening to tweet?

Think about it.

We’ve seen this movie before. In 2008, during the depths of the Great Financial Crisis, regulators issued a temporary ban on short selling for 799 financial stocks. It was a desperate attempt to stop the bleeding and restore confidence in the system. But the results were questionable at best. Liquidity dried up. Volatility spiked. And many argued that the move did more harm than good by signaling panic.

Other countries have tried similar moves over the years—especially during periods of extreme stress. France, Italy, Spain, and South Korea all...

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

1. No new positions today.
2. Rolled GLD position to June options.
3. No exits since the last report.
4. Current status of open campaigns.
5. Volatility Snapshot.

Let’s dig in!

The big banks have been raking in billions of dollars each quarter from net interest income.

And despite the market's anticipation of rate cuts from the Federal Reserve this year, they expect this to continue for the foreseeable future.

Here's what the CFO of Bank of America, Alastair Borthwick, had to say about it:

"Net interest income is affected by a variety of factors, including rates, the shape of the yield curve, and deposit activity. Currently, if we were to receive one 25 basis point cut per quarter, as the forwards indicate, NII would grow through the rest of 2025 to around $15.5 billion to $15.7 billion by Q4 of this year."

It's a fantastic time to be a bank...

Let's talk about what else happened with their reports.

*Click the image to enlarge it

Bank of America had the best earnings reaction and reported a double beat with a muted reaction score of 2.21. 

The company reported revenues of $27.37B, versus the $26.98B estimate, and earnings per share of $0.90, versus the $0.82 estimate. 

...

Middle‑of‑the‑week filings served up new leadership buys in discount retail and food distribution. We also saw a billionaire’s continued support for a sports franchise.

📌 Dollar Tree $DLTR

New CFO Stewart Glendinning put $1.24 million to work—always notable when the numbers person buys at market.

📌 Atlanta Braves $BATRA

Director John C. Malone added another $2.14 million, taking a fresh swing at the opening of a new season.

📌 Calavo Growers $CVGW

CEO Lee Cole filed a Form 4 with a purchase of $499,991, a nearly half‑million‑dollar vote of confidence in the avocado king.

Here’s The Hot Corner, with data from April 16, 2025:

Click the table to enlarge it.

📌 PBF Energy $PBF

Billionaire Carlos Slim’s Control Empresarial added $216,558, extending its steady accumulation.