A downtrend consists of a series of lower lows and lower highs.

But the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Russell2000 Small-cap Index are both making higher highs.

That's, by definition, not a downtrend.

The title of yesterday's post was: "You can't be short".

I encourage you to give that a read.

And while that's happening over in the S&P500 and Ethereum, here's a good look at what's been happening in Growth:

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.

We...

From the desk of Willie Delwiche.

Key Takeaway: The bulls are raising their voices in excitement. For the first time this year, momentum and breadth are improving in tandem. Despite the bullish developments in recent weeks, the structural trend remains lower. This newfound optimism builds upon months of selling pressure replaced by broadening pockets of near-term strength. Now that the ball is in the bull's court, they have to do something with it. This means proving they have what it takes to stay in the game, and that we’re experiencing strength beyond an oversold bounce.

Sentiment Report Chart of the Week: Investors Finding A New Dance Partner?

It would be premature to suggest that the long-running (and recently renewed) love affair that investors have with equities has reached an end. Equity funds continue to see inflows and the monthly AAII asset allocation survey shows household equity exposure remaining in the mid-60’s despite consumer sentiment holding near historic lows. But at the margin,...

We had a resting GTC order filled to exit a position in the Paid-to-Play portfolio today:

Every idea that we put on at All Star Charts starts with a technical setup that we like. We are students of price action and that supercedes everything.

It's nice when our technical analysis lines up with "other" factors that may support our idea, be they fundamental, news, or in this case, insiders and activist activity.

Here's what our team noticed in an email to ASC subscribers earlier this week:

The most significant insider transaction on today’s list is a Form 4 filing for Pinterest $PINS.

We wrote about PINS on July 15, when Elliott Management announced a large activist stake.

Now that the second quarter blackout period is behind Pinterest, CEO William J. Ready is also buying shares. He just reported a rather sizable $5 million purchase.

We can’t think of many things more bullish than the CEO getting involved...

The cryptocurrency market has certainly seen a nice relief bounce over the last few weeks; the average coin is up a notable 60% off its lows.

With this short-term regime in bull territory, let's evaluate how we're approaching this tape from a tactical perspective.

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

Was this just a bear market rally?

Or did we just see the initial thrust off the lows before a more sustainable move progresses into the end of the year?

That's a good question to be asking.

And while we don't ever actually know until after the fact anyway, we've set these 2 levels as clear lines in the sand for arguably two of the most important assets on the planet: The S&P500 and Ethereum.

The bottom line is this: If the S&P500 is above 4200 and Ethereum is above 1800 - YOU CANNOT BE SHORT.

George L. Ball, the chief financial officer at Parsons Corporation $PSN, filed a Form 4 revealing a purchase of 35,000 shares of PSN.

That’s equivalent to $1,452,500 worth of his company's stock.

The market has brought up back to the point where we have to increase the headroom on the Adani Group charts again!

These updates have been such great reminders of riding the trend, don't you think? The way these stocks have taken off and continue to move higher is quite the story!

So without any further delay, let's take a look at the levels we're following next!

For starters, let's see where our custom equally weighted index is headed. Of course, we know it's moving higher, but it's important to note the trend.

Well, there we have it! Higher highs, higher lows. Held on to the support zone and bounced off of it. It's now got a little more room before it runs into resistance.

Let's go over the roster sheet now!

From the Desk of Ian Culley @IanCulley

How funny would it be if the US Dollar Index $DXY peaked with the expectations of a 100 basis point rate hike last month?

And what would that mean for risk assets and the stock market rally?

These are just a few questions that float across my mind as I look through currency charts.

To be clear, the DXY isn't showing any signs of a top. Momentum remains in a bullish regime, and the index is holding above the upper bounds of its former range. 

I’m not going out on a limb here and calling a top in the US dollar. Instead, this is all about execution and remaining receptive to all possibilities.