The next new position in our Paid-to-Play portfolio is:

Options premiums have risen a little bit in recent days due to the fed, earnings, government data, and trader indecision, and [insert your favorite scary story].

Whatever the reason, this feels like a good time and opportunity to add some delta-neutral positions to my portfolio.

So let's get right to it.

The insider “run” on regional bank shares continues, with Form 4s from nine more directors and executives from boardrooms and C-suites in that troubled sector leading today’s Hot List:

• Stellar Bancorp Inc $STEL
• NBT Bancorp Inc $NBTB
• Byline Bancorp $BY
• KeyCorp $KEY
• Texas Capital Bancshares $TCBI
• Synovus Financial Corp $SNV
• German American Bancorp $GABC
• Cullen/Frost Bankers $CFR
• TFS Financial Corporation $TFSL

From the Desk of Kimmy Sokoloff

It's been a long week, and a complete chop-fest at that.

We'll see if $AAPL has saved the day.

They had no growth, from what the news says.

From the Desk of Ian Culley @IanCulley

Fed Chair Jerome Powell has spoken…

And not much has changed. Rates churn sideways as bonds carve out tradeable lows. 

The market is simply playing a new verse of the same old song.

But the tempo picks up as another antagonist enters the scene – regional banks!

Banks are the market’s weakest link, especially the smaller regional banks. They simply can’t stop falling.

To be clear: This isn’t about possible contagion risks or the next leg lower in the S&P 500. I’m more interested in the implications for interest rates.

The banking sector has captured every investor’s full attention. And regional banks have hinted at underlying problems with the rising rate environment for more than a year.

Check out the dual-pane chart of the Regional Bank ETF $KRE versus the REITs ETF $IYR ratio and the US 10-year yield $TNX:

You might have seen some of my tweets about an impressive trader I met earlier this week. I felt the encounter was too good to keep to myself – so here’s the full story…

I had a truly profound experience at the traders meetup I hosted in Denver on Tuesday night, where I met a new trader who completely blew me away.

Despite only having about a year of experience trading real money, this young man in his early 30s had a depth of knowledge and understanding that was truly remarkable. He carried with him a notebook filled with detailed market observations, trading strategies, post-mortems on trades, and more. No detail was left unnoticed, and his passion for trading was evident in everything he said.

What was even more impressive was his humility. He was incredibly smart, but he didn't flaunt his intelligence or try to impress anyone with his knowledge. Instead, he was genuinely curious about trading and had a thirst for knowledge that was inspiring to see.

From the Desk of Kimmy Sokoloff

What a wild day in the markets...

I think we just need to get $AAPL’s earnings out of the way.

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

Another day goes by and another bank that doesn't matter disappears.

This is a big deal.

In theory, investors should care about a handful of these regional banks no longer in existence.

But they don't.

In theory, there should be systemic implications to all of this, and the selling in little regional banks should spill into other, more important, parts of the market.

But it hasn't.

In theory, the inverted yield curve should precede a recession and all the money printing should ultimately cause a collapse.

But it hasn't.

And that's my point here.

At what point does anyone care?

I'm waiting for it myself.

For me, it's two things:

The largest insider transaction on today’s list is a Form 4 filing by the chairman and CEO of American Assets Trust $AAT, Ernest Rady.

Rady reported a purchase of AAT shares worth $5.6 million.

From the Desk of Kimmy Sokoloff

May the Fourth be with you!

We now have the Fed behind us, and there are more bank troubles.

This is worrisome.

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.

Now, we're also highlighting lagging stocks on a recurring basis.

Welcome to the Short Report.