In 2015 I was an entrepreneur, had my last knee surgery, and was still riding professionally from time to time—until my body finally gave out. 

I was also on the verge of starting my own fund while working for another one. 

In other words, I was busy.

My trading signals back then were based on 10-month highs which reflects how busy I was. 

We saw a new 10-month high by the end of the year, and that marked the beginning of one of the most legendary trends in financial history. 

When I first bought in, the backlash was intense. You were an “idiot” for investing in Bitcoin at that time. 

Then, the tide turned and Bitcoin skyrocketed from $300 to $20,000 in the following two years. 

Some mornings, I’d wake up in disbelief that some cryptocurrencies had doubled overnight. 

The one bet I will not be making is that the stock market finishes election week anywhere near where it began the week. 

In other words, there is a high likelihood of a large directional move following the election. And there will likely be some epic whipsaws along the way.

As such, it feels to me that options traders should start building a good mix of both bullish and bearish bets, as well as a wide variety of expirations so as to mute the volatility likely to be introduced to our portfolios.

I don't think we want to be too overweighted on delta-neutral positions (though I think it's a good practice to have one or two on at all times). I do think it is prudent to have some long-premium bets on that can return 5-10x in the direction of the trend. Simple long calls and long puts will do the trick.

Since my portfolio is leaning long at the moment (it is a Bull Market, you know...),...

I do not recommend attempting to pick bottoms and tops. It can be a dangerous game. 

Yes, when you occasionally get one right you can make a killing. But we also put ourselves at risk at getting killed. Especially fading short squeezes, and double especially if you're doing it via getting short common stock.

Smart options traders, however, have an advantage here. We can define our risks precisely. We're going to take advantage of this feature with today's trade, a bet on the unexpected.

I just got done with 2 days at Stocktoberfest in Coronado, CA - right across the bridge from downtown San Diego.

Every time I'm back there I think about all fun times we've had in Coronado over the years and all the stories from the past.

It's important to remember how we got here if we have any chance of moving forward and building on top of everything that we already have today.

This community is special. Our predecessors didn't have any of this.

The fact that I can fly out there with my friends, to one of the most beautiful places on the planet, talk markets, rates, business and meme tokens is an absolute joke.

It's not even fair. 

So it's up to us to take advantage. 

I did.

I got talk retail stocks with Jeff Macke.

Pearlman and I discussed the health benefits of avocados.

We debated market breadth and sector rotation with new people I had never met before. 

Nicky Montana showed me a really cool new tool to make it easier to trade crypto, for people who are not interested in the blockchain and only want to trade these things in a much faster and simpler way. (I think that's a lot of people...

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

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

Let’s dig in!

Below is the 6th ASC Mastermind Lab Course. These are special videos that will be made available throughout the duration of the 12-week course featuring conversations with professionals from across Wall Street discussing topics in their expertise. 

I wasn't ready to move on from intermarket analysis just yet. It's too important. So I called up Jason Perz, the newest All Star Charts analyst, and someone who is an expert in the relationship between bonds, commodities, and currencies. 

Jason and I discussed these relationships at length, how these markets have reacted to major historical events, and how a move in one market could impact another.

Enjoy my conversation with Jason.

Long bonds are sending a message loud and clear these days, and I’m all ears.

When the Fed started cutting rates last month, long-term bonds reversed course lower. They are making fresh 3-month lows this week.

This might seem surprising, but it's not as uncommon as you'd think.

We saw a similar situation in November 2018, when the Fed raised rates, but the bond market didn't buy it, with the TLT rallying for two years.

Now, the Fed is cutting rates, and long bonds are calling their bluff again. This time, by reversing trend lower.

You can see what I mean in the following chart:

If bond prices continue to decline, it likely signals an expectation of rising inflation or stronger economic growth. 

Personally, I’m betting on inflation increasing.

If this is the case, the Fed rate...

We had a delta-neutral options position on the books that we stopped out of this week. Thankfully, it was not a big loss. It felt like the right idea, but the wrong instrument.

So today's trade is a similar trade in a stock from the same sector. We're going to take advantage of a possible continued consolidation and get out before their next earnings event.

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

1. New position in XHB.
2. No adjustments are needed today.
3. Closed XLE position.
4. Current status of open campaigns.
5. Volatility Snapshot.

Let’s dig in!

I'm bullish crypto.

I'm anticipating a bullish run in this space in the coming months and quarters. And this is the chart that's been an element of this bullish thesis.

We're probably entering into the final contraction before we break out of this seven-month downward channel.

In simple language, the below chart is how these price patterns usually resolve.

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...

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.