We're doing something a little bit different today.

I'm thrilled to welcome my friend Justin Paterno, Portfolio Manager of the new OSPREY NFT Fund.

Whenever I have questions about NFTs, Justin is the one I turn to. In fact, a lot of my friends go to Justin with questions about NFTs.

So in this episode, I chat with Justin about all things NFTs, different "sectors" of NFTs, the future of NFTs, the price analysis aspects of NFTs and Web 3.0, and all the things that come along with those, good or bad.

I personally own a bunch of NFTs, and I have a funny feeling I will own a lot more in the coming decades. Therefore, it's probably a good idea that we get a better understanding of them.

This was a lot of fun and a nice break from all the other asset classes that we're always talking about.

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'll publish this column...

From the desk of Steve Strazza @Sstrazza

We held our May Monthly Strategy Session on Tuesday. ASC Premium Members can click here to access the recording and the chartbook.

Non-members can get a quick recap of the call simply by reading this post each month.

By focusing on long-term, monthly charts, the idea is to take a step back and put things into the context of their structural trends.

This is easily one of our most valuable exercises as it forces us to put aside the day-to-day noise and simply examine markets from a “big-picture” point of view.

With that as our backdrop, let’s dive right in and discuss three of the most important charts and/or themes from this month’s call.

From the desk of Willie Delwiche.

Key Takeaway: At last week’s CMT Symposium, the lack of bulls and high number of bears on the AAII survey was probably the most oft-cited single statistic by the symposium speakers. This week’s data confirms that pessimism. II bears reached their third highest level in the past decade and put/call ratios haven’t been as high as they are now since the COVID crash. Beneath the surface, however, there is evidence that investors haven’t actually thrown in the towel. The AAII Asset Allocation survey for April shows that while they said they were bearish last month, individual investors were actually increasing equity exposure. The spike in the put/call ratios meanwhile has more to do with collapsing call volume than surging activity in puts. Bearish sentiment extremes are difficult to identify in real-time, that’s why it’s typically best to go with the crowd until it has reversed. 

Sentiment Report Chart of the Week:  What They Do > What They Say

The 4-week average of Bulls on the...

It's no secret the oil and energy sectors have been outperforming in 2022.

Of course, when a trend like that is no secret, it tends to become a crowded trade. And we've seen a taste of the ramifications of that in recent weeks. There were some vicious pullbacks in all the biggest winners about two weeks ago.

Fast forward to today, and the smoke has cleared a bit. Many of these names survived the exits of hot money and are now showing signs of resuming their prior uptrends.

At the top of this list right now is Exxon Mobil $XOM.

The CEO, chairman, president, and three directors of B. Riley Financial Inc $RILY filed Form 4s revealing purchases of their own stock.

Of the six insiders, the largest splash was made by chairman and CEO Bryant Riley himself. He reported purchasing over $10 million worth of shares.

Whenever we see this many insiders buying at the same time, we want to pay close attention.

What do they know?

This is the video recording of our May 3rd Monthly Charts Live Strategy Session

From the desk of Willie Delwiche.

This All Star Charts +Plus Monthly Playbook breaks down the investment universe into a series of largely binary decisions and tactical calls. Paired with our Weight of the Evidence Dashboard, this piece is designed to help active asset allocators follow trends, pursue opportunities, and manage risk.

In Focus for May: The first four months of 2022 have been a trying time for many investors. But while stocks have experienced their worst start a year since before the S&P index was expanded from 90 stocks to 500 stocks, the decline in the index has actually been a relatively normal correction. It’s premature to suggest that the lows are in, but the 13% decline in the S&P 500 from its peak is in line with the median experience of the last 9 times (dating back to the late 90’s) that the S&P 500 experienced a decline of 10% - 20% (less than 10% isn’t considered a correction, declines of more than 20% usually get characterized as bear markets).

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From the desk of Willie Delwiche.

The largest insider transaction on today’s list is a Form 4 filing by Simon Groom, who reported an additional $43 million purchase in the broadcasting company iHeartMedia $IHRT.

The chief financial officer at General Motors $GM, Paul Jacobson, revealed a purchase of roughly $1,357,650 worth of his own company's stock in a Form 4.

CFO activity always catches our attention as not many employees know and understand a company’s financial condition better.

There have been few trading opportunities in this messy tape beyond rare exceptions over short time frames.

With crypto markets shackled to weak equities, it's been a challenge to find favorable opportunities in Bitcoin $BTC and the individual altcoins.

But, in yesterday's note, we entertained the possibility of near-term upside following the pricing in of the upcoming Federal Open Market Committee meeting and the US dollar hitting resistance.

Given the favorable risk-versus-reward at current levels, we like taking a tactical long, looking to play the trading range Bitcoin finds itself in.

For this trade, we're solely leaning on Bitcoin to execute, as most alts are messy and in the process of breaking down. Those are both characteristics we want to avoid when searching for new longs.

Further, Bitcoin has outpaced its counterparts recently, as seen through Bitcoin dominance.