We debuted a new scan recently which goes by the name- All Star Momentum.

All Star Momentum is a brand new scan that guides us towards the very best stocks in the market. This time around, we have incorporated our stock universe of Nifty 500 as the base. Among the 500 stocks that we follow, this scan will pump out names that are most likely to outperform the market.

From the desk of Steven Strazza @Sstrazza and Grant Hawkridge @granthawkridge

There’s been very little happening on our risk checklist, as evidence for risk appetite remains split between bulls and bears. 

The last time we discussed it was in our Q1 Playbook. While the list hasn’t picked a decisive direction yet, the fact that it's such a mixed bag is information in and of itself.

It's been an excellent roadmap for us in recent months, because just like the market -- our risk checklist has also been a mess. 

Let's take a look at where we stand and discuss some of the more recent developments.

Here it is, with a current reading of 44%:

This tells us that the majority of checklist items are actually below our risk levels and in risk-off territory. However, when we consider the selling pressure thus far in 2022, the list has held up quite well. 

Here's a time series of the percentage of assets in bullish territory charted beneath the S&P...

From the desk of Steven Strazza @Sstrazza and Ian Culley @IanCulley

Not all stressors are debilitating.

In some cases, stress can push us to perform at our highest level. But, of course, there are instances when opposing forces become overwhelming, making it near impossible to reach our goals.

We’ve all been there.

And the markets are no different.

While we keep tabs on our heart rate or blood pressure to gauge our stress levels, we focus on credit spreads to measure stress in the market.

Given that rates continue to rise worldwide, it’s an appropriate time to evaluate these spreads and the potential obstacles that may lay ahead for risk assets.

We recently broke down credit spreads in anticipation of them widening and outlined some charts that are driving this trend.

Read our January 27 post for more information about the ins and outs of credit spreads and how we analyze them.

Since these spreads provide valuable information on the health of the overall market, we’re going to check back in and discuss another chart that is...

This is the video recording of the February 17th Weekly Town Hall w/ Willie Delwiche

02/17/22 2:00 PM ET

From the desk of Willie Delwiche.

I’m reading the book “Trillions” by Robin Wigglesworth right now. It’s about the rise of passive index investing – or, according to its sub-title, “How a band of Wall Street renegades invented the index fund and changed finance forever.” 

It’s been an enjoyable read so far. I’m about halfway through the book and am excited to see how it finishes. 

While Wigglesworth’s book has been written and published, the story of passive investing overall remains unfinished. If it is like other investing fads that have come and gone, some of the most exciting times (for better or worse) may lie ahead. History is littered with investment approaches that move from novelty to seemingly foolproof only to end in heartbreak and tears for those left holding the bag.

"JC I only invest in U.S. Stocks"

Why, because those are the ones that did the best over the past decade?

Is it too challenging for you to overcome your home country bias?

Or is it your recency bias that you can't get over?

My guess is that it's likely a healthy dose of both...

Here are your U.S. Indexes.

Messy, is putting it nicely....

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 Tuesday February 22nd 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 Tuesday night:

What's the trade today?

Is it a long? Is it a short?

Is it a neutral trade?

In today's video, Sean and I talk about what to do when there's nothing to do!

From the desk of Steven Strazza @Sstrazza and Ian Culley @IanCulley

Consolidation and range-bound action have dominated the currency market since late last year.

While commodities and cyclical stocks -- especially energy -- continue to catch a bid, commodity-centric currencies like the Australian and Canadian dollars fail to show any definitive signs of strength.

At the same time, the US dollar isn’t doing much either, as the US Dollar Index $DXY has been chopping sideways for several months.

Long story short, indecision is the overarching theme for forex markets at the moment.

One forex pair that does an excellent job of illustrating the trendless nature of these markets is the AUD/JPY.

Here’s a chart of the AUD/JPY cross:

As you can see, the currency market’s classic risk barometer has gone nowhere for almost a year. It’s currently trading right in the middle of a wide range.

While this kind of prolonged sideways action can be frustrating, it makes sense given how bifurcated markets are right now...

From the desk of Steve Strazza @Sstrazza

Welcome to the 2 to 100 Club.

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.

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...

From the desk of Willie Delwiche.

Key Takeaway: Speculative excesses have been unwinding for a year and that has taken its toll on investor sentiment. The overall mood is characterized by a lack of optimism rather than rampant pessimism. This is consistent with the grind lower in many areas of the market since new highs peaked in February 2021. The damage done beneath the surface has only in recent months impacted the indexes, but if that impact intensifies a further expansion in pessimism would not be surprising. Benchmark 60/40 portfolios have gotten off to their worst start in a quarter century and our strategic positioning indicators continue to point to a high risk backdrop. If there isn’t much of a reward at the end of the volatility rollercoaster, passive participants may start to actively question whether the ride was worth it.          

Sentiment Report Chart of the Week: Unwind Continues

While the popular averages peaked more recently, there is plenty of evidence to suggest we are now a year into an unwind...

Remember back in the day when crypto was its own thing?

It didn't matter what the Dow, copper, or bonds were up to because Bitcoin and crypto did whatever they wanted.

That ain't the case anymore.

Today's market is entirely different, with far more sophisticated drivers than just a few years ago.

Crypto and risk assets have become heavily correlated. And, in some respects, Bitcoin's really just been somewhat of a beta chase ever since the onset of the pandemic.

Last month, the 30-day correlation between the Nasdaq 100 and Bitcoin was an incredibly positive 0.90. They've traded in lockstep with each other.

So it's fair to say that if you're a crypto trader, it's paid to watch the macro environment.

But let's apply that thinking in reverse.