Welcome back for another Top Down Trade of the Week. 

This is a classic leadership scan.

We start with the best sectors, then drill into the subgroups. We pick one, and then take a look at the top stocks in it. 

This week’s standout is Materials, holding steady at the number four spot in our sector rankings.

It’s not the first time we’ve highlighted Materials since we began publishing this scan. Strength has been quietly building under the surface for a while now.

Just last week, $XLB posted its best relative performance versus the broader market in over five years.

I'm open to the idea of a big rotation into cyclicals in the back half of this year.

Here is a look at our overall industry rankings, which shows...

After several false starts, the world’s largest cryptocurrency finally got it done. 

With some solid momentum right out the gate, my only question is… 

How far will it run?

And I think it’s bigger than BTC this time around. I’m looking for the altcoins to finally buy in and kick off a broad crypto bull market. 

If you look beyond the blue-chip alts, most of these tokens have been going through accumulation for years— carving out massive rounding bottoms.

I’m looking for these patterns to morph into fresh uptrends… one after the next. And soon.

What I’m really saying is get ready for an altcoin summer.

And here’s the main reason why. 

The squeeze indicator in the lower pane shows that volatility is absolutely depressed in BTC, and has been for a while. 

From the desk of Steve Strazza @Sstrazza

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...

Regional banks live far-out on the financial sector risk curve.

These companies take deposits and invest in fixed-rate assets—leaving them open to interest rate risk, and more specifically, duration risk.

When the Fed aggressively raised rates a few years ago, the market value of bank assets plummeted. At the same time, customers were withdrawing funds to earn higher yields elsewhere. 

Massive losses were realized, and some big regional banks didn’t make it. 

But that was over two years ago. Rates have stabilized, and the balance sheet issues have improved. 

More importantly, Regional Banks have undergone a prolonged bottoming process, and a new primary uptrend is underway.

And just look at what money-center banks and international banks are doing. They’ve been some of the best stocks around the world. 

Whether you look at...

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...

There is a big catch-up trade brewing in the banking industry. 

The big banks have already been working. In fact, most financials have. 

JPM was one of the first Dow components back to new all-time highs. Goldman and Morgan are right there with it.

Meanwhile, Wells, Citi, and BofA either just resolved— or are on the cusp of resolving massive consolidation patterns.

And then there are the regional banks… most of which look nothing like the big guys.

They are still about 25% off their all-time highs. However, I'm betting they close that gap… and soon. 

Here’s a chart showing the big banks vs the little banks.

Up until a few years ago, there was never any material difference between these trends. 

But when the banking crisis struck, those with excessive lending exposure suffered...

I'm excited to join JC tonight for the monthly conference call.

I think it's the best thing we do at All Star Charts.

Even the prep work is a great exercise for the whole team. It forces us to step back and focus on what's most important— how to position for the biggest primary trends.

In bull markets, you want to ride the leaders. You want to lean into the things that have been working. They tend to keep working.

You want to make the most of these times. And to do that, you have to own the best stocks.

Right now, the best ones are the riskiest ones. The names the experts said would never see these valuations again. The ones that have been working.

Here is the ARK flagship fund relative to the broader market:

I think this relationship is as important as anything we could discuss on tonight’s call. It’s the whole risk-on story in one chart.

While risk appetite has been moving in the right direction and improving for several years, it was...

Welcome back for another Top Down Trade of the Week. 

This is a classic leadership scan.

We start with the best sectors, then drill into the subgroups. We pick one, and then take a look at the top stocks in it. 

This week’s standout is Industrials, climbing to the number two spot in our sector rankings.

Technology keeps leading, but other areas are starting to catch up.

The industrial sector is one of the best gauges of overall market health. It’s the most diversified group and has the highest correlation to the major averages.

I like to call Industrials the “generals” of the market. When they march higher, it means things are good for risk assets more broadly.

On the other hand, Materials also jumped three spots this week, showing renewed strength from the cyclical corners of the market...

From the desk of Steve Strazza @Sstrazza

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...

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...

Stock markets all over the world are parading to fresh highs. From Europe to Asia, the world’s major benchmarks sit at – or within a stone’s throw of – all-time or cycle highs.

Stateside, the Nasdaq 100 printed a new all-time high, and the S&P 500 followed a few days after. 

Leadership groups are breaking out in unison. Down the risk curve, speculative growth is screaming and semis are back in the driver’s seat. 

One bull flag after another keeps resolving higher. 

And most importantly for today's note— the laggards keep catching up to the leaders.

But there’s one group that just hasn't shown up yet… and quite frankly, the bull market can’t rage on without them. I’m talking about a group of stocks SO important, they literally have to join the party. Otherwise, it throws a wrench in the entire bullish thesis.

It’s Homebuilders.

...

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...