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

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.

From the desk of Steve Strazza @Sstrazza.

Welcome back to Under the Hood, where we're covering all the action for the week ended March 17, 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.

From the Desk of Kimmy Sokoloff

The market was very whippy today, and I believe it will be this way till after the Fed on Wednesday.

We'll take it day by day.

The most significant insider activity on today’s list comes in a series of Form 4 filings by the CEO and CFO of Capri Holdings Limited $CPRI.

The two executives combined for purchases in excess of $10 million last week.

From the Desk of Kimmy Sokoloff

It's been a very volatile year so far, and we have the Fed this week, so expect even more chop.

I really wanted $SPY to close above its 200-day moving average, but that didn't happen on Friday. 

We saw a very respectable 1.4% rally in the S&P500 this week.

But the index is still stuck below overhead supply.

Nothing has changed.

This is specifically at the index level, of course.

You see, while many sectors were doing great throughout the back half of last year, Technology and other growth areas simply were not.

This held the S&P500 back.

In 2023 we've been seeing the opposite.

From the Desk of Steve Strazza @Sstrazza

Due to the recent bank failures, this week has been all about the financial sector and the selling pressure taking place there.

However, the price action for energy stocks has been even worse by some measures.

The Energy Sector SPDR $XLE is on pace to fall -6.8% this week, while the Financials Sector SPDR is only lower by about -5.8%.

When we look at energy futures, the outlook only worsens with crude oil registering its largest weekly loss since trading into negative territory in April 2020.

So, what does this all mean for the bull market in energy?

The sector has been so resilient, showing steady leadership for several years now. Is it all over?

Maybe not, but there is some serious damage that will require immediate repair work.

Let's take a look at it.

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

Our International Hall of Famers list is composed of the 100 largest US-listed international stocks, or ADRs.

We’ve also sprinkled in some of the largest ADRs from countries that did not make the market cap cut. 

These stocks range from some well-known mega-cap multinationals such as Toyota Motor and Royal Dutch Shell to some large-cap global disruptors such as Sea Ltd and Shopify.

It’s got all the big names and more--but only those that are based outside the US. You can find all the largest US stocks on our original Hall of Famers list.

The beauty of these scans is really in their simplicity.

We take the largest names each week and then apply technical filters in a way that the strongest stocks with the most momentum rise to the top.

Based on the market environment, we can also flip the scan on its head and filter for weakness.

Let’s dive in and take a look at some of the most important stocks from around the world.

Here’s this week’s list:

From the Desk of Kimmy Sokoloff

As of midday, the market's pulling in.

It's due for a rest, and we have the Fed next week.

The largest insider buy on today’s list comes in a Form 4 filing by Cormorant Asset Management.

Cormorant revealed a purchase of roughly $10 million in Ambrx Biopharma $AMAM.

From the Desk of Kimmy Sokoloff

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

And TGIF!!

Will we have a green close today?

Time will tell.