As many of you know, something we've been working on internally is using various bottom-up tools and scans to complement our top-down approach. It's really been working for us!
One way we're doing this is by identifying 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.
One of JC's favorite trades when volatility is spiking and bearish sentiment seems a little overdone on the downside is to either buy stock in Berkshire Hathaway $BRK.B or even better -- sell some naked puts to fade the fear.
During our morning meeting today, JC was feeling that the time was right to pull the trigger on this idea again.
Selling naked puts is the move for us today, but we have to be aware that earnings are on the horizon in early November -- which may be accounting for some of the extra premium in November monthly expiration options.
As you can see from this chart, $BRK.B has undercut a significant level ever so slightly, but if this move is false, the whipsaw back up should be swift:
There's a lot that we can learn from Warren Buffett, who many consider to be one of the greatest investors of all time.
One of the most important lessons of all of them is that there are no called strikes on Wall Street. In other words, in liquid markets, you're not penalized for “missing” a trade.
The market doesn't guarantee traders much. But we can be certain there will always be future opportunities. We're not venture capitalists running rounds on private companies where a single deal can make or break our year.
Instead, we operate in public markets, where there will always be a multitude of setups.
In other words, we're not penalized for not swinging like we are in baseball.
With Bonds getting destroyed this year, it's put pressure on growth stocks, because of their long-duration characteristics.
As rates rise, it puts a lot of pressure on growth stocks. That's why historically the more Value oriented stocks and sectors tend to outperform when rates are rising.
When rates are falling that's when growth stocks usually thrive the most.
We all know this. The data is free.
BUT, a funny thing has happened over the last few months.
With bonds continuing to collapse and breaking those summer lows, the Nasdaq has been outperforming the S&P500.
The calls for a dollar top are growing louder as analysts claim the advance is overextended.
They’re right. But pushing further into overbought territory is exactly what parabolic rallies do. And many of the technical tools supporting the thesis that the dollar is topping do not apply.
In practice, mean reversion tools such as oversold/overbought conditions, price exceeding the upper bounds of a Bollinger Band, or the percentage gain above the moving average du jour are best used in trendless markets.
From the Desk of Steve Strazza @sstrazza and Alfonso Depablos @Alfcharts
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.
We also weed out hedging activity and ensure there are no offsetting trades that either neutralize or cap the risk on these unusual options trades.
We've had some great trades come out of this small-cap-focused column since we launched it back in 2020 and started rotating it with our flagship bottom-up scan, Under the Hood.
This year, we expanded our universe to include some mid-caps.
To make the cut for our Minor Leaguers list, a company must have a market cap between $1 and $4B.
And it doesn't have to be a Russell component — it can be any US-listed equity. With participation expanding around the globe, we want all those ADRs in our universe.
These are the registration details for our Live Monthly Candlestick Strategy Session for Premium Members of All Star Charts.
This month’s Video Conference Call will be held on Monday October 3rd @ 6PM ET. As always, if you cannot make the call live, the video and slides will be archived and published here along with every other live call since 2015.
I know the market’s ugly right now. Risk assets are getting crushed across the board.
But, believe it or not, greener pastures do exist in this market.
And, on days like these, I choose to focus on areas that aren’t free-falling into the fiery depths of hell.
Last week, I discussed the relative strength of the less economically sensitive grain complex. These contracts are more defensive in nature and are currently escaping the broad selling pressure.
That’s a relief!
When it comes to today’s trade ideas, I’m sticking to the individual contracts with the highest volume heading into the fall. Those are the charts and levels of the most importance.
Do the levels on the continuation charts come into consideration?
Absolutely!
Premium members can reference our Commodity Chartbook below for our structural outlook and reach out at info@allstarcharts.com with further questions.
