Last week, we discussed China and Gold futures as potential catalysts for resolving a multi-decade basing pattern in Dr. Copper.

If we're in an environment where Copper futures are printing fresh all-time highs, then we should spend some time identifying opportunities in the equities market that benefit from rising base and industrial metal prices globally.

Over the last 6-months, the Steel $SLX, Copper $COPX, and Metals and Mining $XME ETFs have underperformed the S&P 500:

However, the weekly RRG is hinting at a potential rotation back into these stocks during this final quarter of 2024. All 3 of these ETFs are pointing higher and rotating out of the lagging quadrant and into the improving and leading quadrants.

As an owner of a gas-guzzling SUV, I don't like the prospect of higher oil prices. 

Nobody enjoys paying more at the pump. It's an unavoidable tax and if it gets too high, it can be a real drag on people's finances, and can even spill over into broader consumer spending.

And it certainly can be an inflationary signal for all things we spend money on.

That said, in a small way, I'm going to look to hedge myself against gas inflation by getting involved in a popular filling station operator that will ease my mind if I keep paying more to drive my car.

From the desk of Steve Strazza @Sstrazza

Our Hall of Famers list is composed of the 150 largest US-based stocks.

These stocks range from the mega-cap growth behemoths like Apple and Microsoft – with market caps in excess of $2T – to some of the new-age large-cap disruptors such as Moderna, Square, and Snap.

It has all the big names and more.

It doesn’t include ADRs or any stock not domiciled in the US. But don’t worry; we developed a separate universe for that. Click here to check it out.

The Hall of Famers is simple.

We take our list of 150 names and then apply our technical filters so the strongest stocks with the most momentum rise to the top.

Let’s dive right in and check out what these big boys are up to.

Here’s this week’s list:

*Click table to enlarge view

We filter out any laggards that are down -5% or more relative to the S&P 500 over the trailing month.

Then, we sort the remaining...

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

1. No new positions today.
2. Adjustment to XLE position.
3. No positions were exited since the last report.
4. Current status of open campaigns.
5. Volatility Snapshot.

Let’s dig in!

The most notable insider activity on today's list comes via a Form 4 filing by Nicholas S. Schorsch, director at Global Net Lease $GNL.

Schorsch reported a GNL purchase worth $840,000.

Here’s The Hot Corner, with data from October 3, 2024:

For the longest time I have been virtually out of the market.

Apart from a number of setups, my exposure has been rather light.

But this is the first time in a while I'm increasing my exposure.

Time to get on board.

During today's trades review (in the video above), I discussed how I'm still of the mind to be hunting for opportunities to be bullishly aggressive.

However, the current volatility environment is also offering us spots to add some delta-neutral credit spreads with better-than-average odds of success. I like doing this, if for no other reason than to add some portfolio diversification.

And I demonstrate one way in which I manage open call calendar spreads to manage my risks and give me a better shot at large gains.

All this and the usual stop updates for existing positions.

Enjoy!

Sean McLaughlin | Chief Options Strategist, All Star Charts

People tell me crazy shit on a regular basis.

As a market participant, I had to get used to this. 

My golf buddies have been promising me the end of the world for years now. Some of them even have special food for it.

My Florida man neighbor is absolutely convinced that Jerome Powell heads a top-secret underground society of the world’s wealthiest individuals.

This is the kind of crazy that pollutes my eardrums almost every day. I’m numb to it. I’m barely listening at this point.

But there is one word that really moves me. It always catches my attention. 

Uninvestable.

When they tell me something is uninvestable, I really perk up. It’s music to my ears.

I remember when crypto was uninvestable in the winter of 2022. Solana was in the single digits. It’s up like 1,300% since.

Who remembers the uninvestable stocks from last year?

2023 was a bad one for the banks. Bank runs. Contagion. Balance sheet problems. Government bailouts… 

“You can’t own these stocks!”

Here's the replay and chartbook from today's stream.

Note that we do these videos live every Thursday at 11 a.m. ET, and I answer questions in the chat room. Be sure to join us and maximize your return potential.  

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

1. No new positions today.
2. Rolling XOP to November options.
3. No positions were exited since the last report.
4. Current status of open campaigns.
5. Volatility Snapshot.

Let’s dig in!

From the Desk of Steve Strazza @Sstrazza

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 this one, 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 is it is a bull market. We want as many vehicles and...

The underperformance out of Technology stocks this year continues to hurt investors who haven't been paying attention to the sector rotation.

Things haven't been getting better for Tech, they've only been getting worse.

With record returns for stocks in Q3, for example, Large-cap Technology was actually down last quarter.

Small-cap Technology is somehow still down for the entire year!

The struggle is real.

But all the major indexes keep hitting new all-time highs every month. 

Last night was our LIVE monthly Charts Conference Call and we spent...

The most notable insider activity on today's list comes via a Form 4 filing by Southwest Airlines Co $LUV director Rakesh Gangwal.

Gangwal, also the co-founder of IndiGo airline, reported a LUV purchase with a total value of $107 million.

Here’s The Hot Corner, with data from October 2, 2024:

This is the recording and the chartbook from our October 2024 Monthly Candlesticks Strategy Session.

Below is the video and slide deck for Week 2 of ASC Mastermind: Momentum Trading And Why It Works. 

With stock market investors looking every which way at different market-moving headlines today, let's take a step back and talk about what's really important.

We just got monthly candles. It's time to zoom out. 

And when we do, is there a chart more important than the US Dollar Index $DXY right now?

The dollar has had a very strong inverse correlation with stocks and other risk assets for several years now.

Equities have done well for the past two years while the dollar has been rangebound. 

Just imagine how they'll do if DXY breaks down from its current range:

This is the question investors should be asking themselves right now.
 
Instead of worrying about the war in the Middle East or the longshoremen and dockworkers striking…
 
The real question that matters for all our portfolios, not just today but over longer timeframes, is whether DXY digs in at this support level or breaks down.

If it's the former, look for today's corrective action to have some legs.

If it's the latter, we should be buying this dip aggressively.

Last week, we suggested...

Despite the recent volatility, gold continues its steady ascent, unaffected by the broader market noise. 

As seasonals have shifted and new leadership has come and gone this year, gold remains resilient, moving through market regimes with ease.

Whether stocks rally or risk-off sentiment prevails, gold thrives. The yellow metal has been red-hot all year.

In these times, the saying goes, "there is no fever like gold fever." 

But, is there any evidence of this kind of euphoria among investors yet?

While the COT report suggests sentiment may be overstretched, let’s talk about what we’re seeing on the ground.

There’s little buzz about gold in the financial media. No bold predictions of $10K gold on magazine covers, no headlines touting it as the ultimate safe haven in an impending crisis—signals that often show up at market tops. We’re just not seeing it.

For context, in 2011, fears of currency depreciation were rampant. The covers of TIME magazine and Smart Money allow us to remember this moment. They came right at the top.

...