You can now add the Dow Jones Industrial Average to the list of indexes that are DOWN for the year so far.

I've argued many times that the Dow Jones Industrial Average is the world's most important stock market index.

And while I'm not going to get into all the reasons again today, I'll just show you the chart of the S&P500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average going back 60 years.

They move together...

From the Desk of Steve Strazza and Alfonso Depablos

The most significant transaction on today’s list is a 13D filing by Baker Bros Advisors LLC for Bicycle Therapeutics plc $BCYC.

Baker Bros revealed an increase in its ownership stake in BCYC from 12.70% to 19.90%.

The media is showering gold and precious metals with attention.

I get it. New all-time highs capture eyes. 

But you can’t leave copper and base metals out of the story…

Every week, we create a Power Rankings table that lists the market-cap rank of the top 20 cryptocurrencies. This allows us to see the winners and losers as they climb the market-cap ladder.

 We've built a proprietary scan that notifies us whenever a cryptocurrency exceeds a certain market-cap threshold for the first time. When there's an up and coming cryptocurrency, we're the first one to know about it.

This scan flags breakthrough cryptocurrencies, allowing us to capitalize on lucrative opportunities before they become mainstream.

Here's this week's crypto roundup. It's an opportunity for us to take a step back, set aside the distractions, and delve into the key charts shaping the crypto complex.

This week, I walked through the good, the bad, and the ugly of this current environment.

From the Desk of Ian Culley @IanCulley

Failed breakouts and trading ranges dominate the charts.

It’s a mixed-up, messy market environment wherever you look — bonds, stocks, commodities, forex…

US treasuries are a prime example, playing it cool with muted volatility and tight credit spreads while yields climb.

Perhaps the near-term rise in rates makes it difficult to grasp, but the US benchmark yield is actually chopping within a broader corrective phase.

Before we dive into the charts, I want to make two things clear: 

One, I am not an Elliottician or an Elliott Wave specialist on any level. And two, if you give five Elliotticians the same chart, you’re likely to get five different wave counts.

Nevertheless, my journey to earning the CMT designation exposed me to the Elliott Theory, and I find it prudent when examining the US 10-year yield.

So here we go…...

Whoa! What a week for pruning the garden!

I closed out eleven positions in five trading days. Unfortunately, many of them were losers. But the good news is all the losers were small (less than 1% of my portfolio capital each). Losers are never fun. But when they’re small, we will survive to trade again.

And the better news is that some of the exits this week represent the harvesting of large open profits. The size of the wins, while fewer in number, more than offset the sting of the losses.

When I’m doing it right, that’s how it’s supposed to work!

Check out my thoughts on the current market environment and the action among open trades in All Star Options in today’s Jam Session:

Stock market volatility is at the highest levels since October.

The majority of stocks are NOT in uptrends.

This market is NOT like it was last year.

In fact, coming into today, the majority of stocks on the NYSE are down for the year. Also 2/3rds of the stocks on the Nasdaq are negative for the year.

Go and count for yourself.

You'll quickly see that the majority of stocks in the Large-cap Nasdaq100 are down this year. Same for the Small-cap Russell2000 Index and the S&P Mid-cap 400.

Different markets call for different strategies.

Here's the $VIX hitting levels this week not seen since Halloween:

In today's Daily Digest, we'll review:

1. New position in IWM.
2. No adjustments are needed today.
3. No exits since the last report.
4. Current status of open campaigns.

Let's dig in!

From the Desk of Steve Strazza and Alfonso Depablos

The most significant insider transaction on today’s list is a Form 4 filing by Farhad A. Nanji, Founder of MFN Partners Management LP.

Nanji reported a purchase of roughly $832,400 in RXO Inc $RXO.

This is the video recording of the April 2024 Mid-month Conference Call.