Yesterday was a 101-level class on why to follow money flow as opposed to narratives.

We were presented with a CPI of 9.1%, exceeding the expectations of 8.8%. By CPI standards, this is the highest inflation in 40 years.

And, yet, gold got crushed.

I saw this meme while mindlessly scrolling through Twitter and found it pretty hilarious:

Warren Buffett continues to increase his position in the oil and gas exploration and chemical manufacturing company Occidental Petroleum $OXY.

Yesterday, Berkshire Hathaway $BRK.A filed another Form 4, revealing roughly $250 million of new purchases.

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.

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These are the registration details for our live mid-month conference call for Premium Members of All Star Charts.

Our next Live Call will be held on Monday July 18th at 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.

Here are the details for Monday night:

"JC what's on your mind these days?"

I get asked this a lot. So it keeps me on my toes.

But it's a great exercise, even if you're not being asked regularly by colleagues and journalists.

So what is on my mind?

It's this.

It's still this.

It's the strong Dollar preventing stocks and crypto assets from rising in price:

From the Desk of Ian Culley @IanCulley

It’s inescapable. If you haven’t read it in the news, seen it on Twitter, or heard it from a co-worker, here’s the scoop…

The euro has tumbled to parity with the dollar for the first time in almost 20 years!

That’s the big news in the currency markets these days. Sure, it’s a significant development.

But what currency isn’t falling against the US dollar right now?

It’s an interesting question. And it draws our attention to the Canadian dollar.

Let’s take a look.

Here’s a chart of the USD/CAD cross:

While the US dollar steamrolls everything in sight and prints fresh decade-highs against most major currencies, it’s still dealing with last year’s highs against the Canadian dollar.

Bulls continue to chip away at overhead supply, to no avail.

Remember, the resilience of commodity-centric currencies has been the story for almost a year. But the CAD is one of few left standing...

Volatility still remains relatively high across the board, with this morning's trading action further boosting it.

I'm on the hunt for some delta-neutral, short-premium plays to take advantage of this environment. But the trick is finding an instrument that is showing signs of potential range-bound action. Too many of my go-to sector ETFs are trending (mostly lower) and trends are the enemy of delta-neutral strategies.

I had to dig a little, but I think I found the right instrument for us to earn some options premium in.

From the Desk of Louis Sykes

They're everywhere.

The long-awaited James Webb Space Telescope images...

Moments like these are not only significant for the scientific quest. They also deeply change the human condition and what we think is possible.

When Copernicus discovered the heliocentric model -- that the universe doesn't rotate around Earth -- it humbled humanity.

When Newton discovered that the motion of the celestial bodies followed strict laws of mathematics, it gave a seemingly entropic universe order.

When man landed on the moon, it changed our entire perception of what's possible.

And when the Hubble Space Telescope and the more recently launched JWST send back awe-inspiring images, it gives us a perspective of the cosmos we've never seen before.

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

The largest insider transaction on today’s list is a Form 4 filing by famed tech investor Bill Gurley.

You can't overstate what a bully the Dollar has been towards stocks in the U.S. and around the world.

We've talked about new 20 year lows for Japanese Yen, and the recent parity with the Euro, of course.

But now take a look the Emerging Markets Currencies ETF breaking down to new all-time lows:

The S&P 500 just had its worst first half in more than 50 years.

Based on CPI, if you’re in cash, you’re losing 8.5% a year.

This was the worst start to the Bond Market since 1842.

So what do you think gold is doing in that environment?

Down near new 52-week lows...