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Those bear flags we discussed last week have since resolved higher.

After a little pop on Friday, today marks a critical follow-through day for the broader market.

But we already talked about how an oversold bounce was basically a foregone conclusion. We literally knew it was coming. The fact that we finally got it is not a bullish data point.

The next step now is to measure and judge the quality of this rally. There could be some bullish evidence there.

I already outlined some of the most important levels I’m paying attention to.

It’s all about VWAPs for the major averages. The large-cap indexes have the August VWAPs, and the SMIDs have the Q4 2023 VWAPs. They’re all right there.

Here’s the S&P 500 drawn up to show the confluence of resistance around this level.

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The current state of the market is indecision.

The major indexes popped to start the week, then they gave it back.

We had a little Powell pump mid-week, and then they gave that back.

Trump’s promise to play nice on tariffs Friday sparked another little rally, and markets closed strong, albeit well off the highs from Wednesday.

This indecision is illustrated by dojis on the weekly charts of the Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500.

And frankly, I’m undecided about just how much I want to dip my toes into US stocks right now.

As you know, I think the bulls have a lot of work to do. And with each passing day, I’m just not seeing it.

But you know where I continue to see...

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...

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I’ve been tough on US equities lately. But it’s really nothing new.

Since last summer, I’ve been writing and talking about taking profits in the US - particularly in US growth - and redeploying that capital overseas.

But the truth is I’m rooting for US stocks. I always am.

So, let’s talk about what I need to see to get excited about them again.

In a few notes last week, I stressed the importance of registering two consecutive up-days at the index level. We’re not going to establish a tradable low without some bullish follow-through.

My attitude has been, “talk to me once we get back-to-back green candles.”

And while I’m really not impressed by the action at all, we did achieve this simple milestone earlier in the week. Congrats to stocks!

The bottom line is this is still a “show-me market.” Let’s discuss what bulls need to see next.

It’s all about growth stocks when...

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...

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...

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Today was all about the Fed. 

As usual, I was laser-focused on the market reactions.

Rates stayed put while the path forward was updated to reflect one fewer cut. 

The stock market pumped a bit while Powell was speaking, and dollars and rates ticked down. 

All in all, it was a mundane FOMC reaction. No fireworks. We discussed it on a live stream on Stock Market TV earlier.

But, one group stood out most today. And it’s extra interesting because it’s the same group that has been on top of the leaderboard all year.

From the Desk of Steve Strazza @Sstrazza

When investing in the stock market, we always want to approach it as "a market of stocks."

Regardless of the environment, there are always stocks showing leadership and trending higher.

We may have to look harder to identify them depending on current market conditions. But there are always stocks that are going up.

The same can be said for weak stocks. Regardless of the environment, there are always stocks that are going down, too. 

We already have multiple scans focusing on stocks making all-time highs, such as Hall of Famers, Minor Leaguers, and the 2 to 100 Club.

We filter these universes for stocks that are exhibiting the best momentum and relative strength characteristics. 

Clearly, we spend a lot of time identifying and writing about leading stocks every week, via multiple reports.

...

I’ve made plenty of mentions to our Bear Market Checklist in recent weeks. 

It’s something we’re always keeping track of, but matters more in some times, and less in others. 

When we’re in rally mode, it barely crosses my mind. But when volatility strikes, and markets are selling off, it’s the most valuable thing I have. 

Let’s break down exactly what it is and how we use it to guide our analysis at All Star Charts. 

As we track the progress of a bull market, we have major indexes and assets that we want to see achieve certain milestones. This is also true for risk appetite ratios, credit spreads, and breadth indicators. 

So, we simply make a list of these charts and key levels along the way. 

When corrective waves occur, we look for these levels - which in many cases, represent a big line in the sand for these trends, to remain intact.  

We keep tabs of what holds and what doesn’t, and we weigh the evidence accordingly. 

When too many of these zones are violated, it can spell the end of the bull...

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:

Sellers have dominated the tape for the past several weeks.

Any bid for stocks since we rolled over in February has been weak and short-lived.

At the same time, we are more than due for a serious bounce.

Some sentiment metrics are at wash-out levels. 

Put volume is at record highs.

US stock indexes are deeply oversold. 

In the case of Nasdaq 100 futures, this is worse than the pandemic lows from 2020. 

But oversold can always get more oversold.

And when it comes to sentiment data, there is simply no signal without confirmation from price.

So, I just gotta see it at this point. 

A rebound rally is surely coming, but how much selling will happen first? And how good will it be?

There definitely won’t be a meaningful bounce until we string together some consecutive up days. We haven’t seen back-to-back green candles in the S&P since its peak in February. 

Literally, zero bullish follow-through in almost a month. That needs to change for markets to make a...

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...