From the Desk of Kimmy Sokoloff

$AMZN had good earnings, $AAPL not so much.

Futures are up some, but it's been a bumpy week.

This is just a friendly reminder that the most bullish period of the entire 4-year cycle has just come to an end.

How'd you do?

Stocks broke records in terms of performance and have been in the midst of a raging bull market, driven by sector rotation and breadth expansion.

All of this is perfectly normal.

Stocks did very well at exactly the time that they were supposed to.

Not sure why so many are surprised by it.

Now that even the biggest permabears threw in the towel and started turning more optimistic, we are now entering the most bearish time for stocks:

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

We love our bottoms-up scans here at All Star Charts. We tend to get really creative when making new universes as we want to be sure they will deliver us the best opportunities the market has to offer.

However, when it comes to our latest project, it couldn't be any simpler!

With the goal of finding more bullish setups, we have decided to expand one of our favorite scans and broaden our regular coverage of the largest US stocks.

Welcome to The Junior Hall of Famers.

This scan is composed of the next 150 largest stocks by market cap, those that come after the top 150 and are thus covered by the Hall of Famers universe. Many of these names will someday graduate and join our original Hall Of Famers list. The idea here is to catch these big trends as early on as possible.

There is no need to overcomplicate things. Market cap is a quality filter at the end of the day. It only grows if price is rising. That's good enough for us.

The bottom line...

From the Desk of Kimmy Sokoloff

We have $AMZN and $AAPL earnings after the close.

It was a real tug of war for the indices today. Nearing the close, they were selling off the market.

Maybe a prelude to what's about to come...

From the Desk of Ian Culley @IanCulley

Rates are on the move again.

The US 30-year Treasury yield $TYX cleared numerous hurdles this week. 

It broke above a shelf of former highs, climbing to its highest level year-to-date. And, perhaps more importantly, it reclaimed its former 2014 high.

Add a potential failed breakdown in the US dollar index $DXY, and it’s starting to feel a lot like 2022.

But should we expect another bloodbath?

…Not necessarily.

Here’s a quick look at the US 30-year yield resolving higher from an 8-month consolidation:

The chart tells the story: Interest rates are kicking off the next leg higher as the underlying uptrend remains intact.

It’s no longer a matter of whether rates will fall later this year. It’s now more a...

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

The largest insider transaction on today’s list comes in a Form 4 filing by Loews Corporation.

The American conglomerate reported a purchase of $175 million worth of shares in CNA Financial Corporation $CNA.

From the Desk of Kimmy Sokoloff

We have some big, heavyweight earnings tonight, with $AMZN and $AAPL reporting.

The market is still pulling in, but August is typically a weak month.

We're in a tough spot, as names are in between.

This is the video recording of our August 2nd Monthly Charts Live Strategy Session

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...

From the Desk of Kimmy Sokoloff

$SPY dropped down to its 21-day moving average, and $QQQ broke below its own 21-day.

We'll see if this is a one-day wonder or if the Fitch downgrade has more meaning.

This is the video recording of the August 2, 2023, Hot Corner Insider Weekly Strategy Session.

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

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

Sector rotation continues to pump new blood into the bull market that's been running for over a year now (yes, over a year, hater). And as it does, we love getting into stocks that are late joiners. These stocks have seen some tremendous rips. Just look at the chart of Caterpillar ($CAT) as but one of numerous examples I can point to. That's what today's trade has the potential to do.

Our Commodities Analyst Ian Culley recently reported on several energy stocks we need to be paying attention to. And one of them just got earnings out of the way. Implied volatility priced into its options was already suspiciously low before the earnings report, so this sets up a great opportunity for a simple long calls play.

And we've got a big round number up ahead that would represent new all-time highs which should act as a magnet to help us out.

The largest insider transaction on today’s list comes in a Form 4 filing by Blackford (Beau) F. Brauer, director at Commerce Bancshares $CBSH.

Brauer reported a purchase of CBSH shares worth $265,003.

From the Desk of Kimmy Sokoloff

After normal trading hours yesterday, Fitch downgraded the US.

As of now, it's been a muted response. We'll see if it turns into something bigger.

I did tell traders last week having a hedge does not hurt.

From the Desk of Ian Culley @IanCulley

Time seems to move faster during bull markets.

I have my theories, and they all revolve around having fun.

One thing is certain: The month of July is now behind us. 

I can’t believe we’re more than halfway through the year and a month into Q3!

Since it’s August 1, let’s keep the good time rolling by reviewing the most important monthly chart in the deck…

It's the US Dollar Index $DXY.

The US dollar acted as a Chief Headwind for Global Risk Assets last year, with a little help from the Fed.

All eyes are fixated on King Dollar as it straddles an area of former-resistance-turned-support:

DXY broke down to fresh 52-week lows last month, only to almost immediately turn higher. The long lower shadow on the monthly candle highlights the reversal, indicating an...

From the Desk of Kimmy Sokoloff

The market is taking a breather.

We still have a lot of earnings to contend with this week.