Today officially marks the beginning of the Santa Claus Rally.

As we already discussed earlier this month, the SCR period runs during the final 5 trading days of the year and the first 2 of the following year.

So due to the holiday schedule, the 2022 SCR goes from today December 23rd through Wednesday January 4th.

The average performance during these 7 days is 1.33% and is positive 79.2% of the time. This is a big difference from all the other 7 day periods throughout the year, that only average 0.24% returns. They're also positive less than 60% of the time.

So we've found that there's real alpha during this period.

I don't know how many times I've said it this year. Someone go back and count.

But the catalyst IS THE WEAKER DOLLAR.

It's not the fed, or the election, or yield curves, or wars, or Santa Claus or any of the other random arguments that we've all heard along the way.

It's the US Dollar.

Period.

It's the weekly currency edition of What the FICC?

So far this week, the Japanese yen has stolen the show. But where does that leave the USD/JPY heading into 2023?

Check it out!

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 their...

From the Desk of Ian Culley @IanCulley

What do you do when the party gets out of hand?

You raise the roof!

That’s what the Bank of Japan (BoJ) did yesterday as its former yield curve control policies became untenable. After intervening to keep its 10-year yield below 0.25%, it shifted the ceiling to 0.50%. 

Naturally, the yen responded in earnest. It posted an explosive rally following the BoJ policy shift, gaining more than 500 pips against the dollar. 

But where does that leave the USD/JPY heading into 2023?

We've covered before how much I like buying stocks that are making new all-time highs. I like them, even more, when I can buy call options because premiums are low. And it's a cherry on top when the stock pays a meaty and steady dividend which lends price action support over the long run!

Today's trade checks all these boxes.

Thanks to everyone who joined us live last night on our Mid-month Conference Call.

We had a lot to talk about.

There are plenty of opportunities out there to profit. These are exciting times for sure.

One of the charts I discussed was the performance of different types of stocks since the market bottomed in June.

Here's each sector's performance since June 16th, which was the day that the NYSE new lows list peaked:

This is the video recording of the December 2022 Mid-month Conference Call.

We discussed:

• The S&P500 & DJ Industrial Avg below overhead supply
• Median Stock is above Key Long-term Support
• Consumer Staples & Low Volatility Stocks outperforming
• Performance of Sectors since Stocks Bottomed June 16th
• Waiting for an expansion of the new highs list
• The implications of a stronger Japanese Yen
• Dollar weakening vs Developed Market & Emerging Market Currencies
• 4-year Presidential Cycle Bullish Sweet Spot
• Small-caps to buy that are outperforming
• Bonds making new highs
• Interest rates impact on Growth Stocks
• Which Energy Stocks To Buy Now
• The relentless bid in Gold & Precious Metals
• Which Gold & Silver stocks to own
• Sugar and Soybeans breaking out
• Copper Underperforming Gold
• Chinese Stocks leading the way
• European Financials outperforming U.S. Financials
• Industrials Leading - which ones to buy
• Mega-cap Healthcare as a defensive trade
• ...

From the Desk of Steve Strazza @Sstrazza

Dividend Aristocrats are easily some of the most desirable investments on Wall Street.

These are the names that have increased dividends for at least 25 years, providing steadily increasing income to long-term-minded shareholders.

As you can imagine, the companies making up this prestigious list are some of the most recognizable brands in the world. Coca-Cola, Walmart, and Johnson & Johnson are just a few of the household names making the cut.

Here at All Star Charts, we like to stay ahead of the curve. That's why we've turned our attention to the future aristocrats.

In an effort to seek out the next generation of the cream-of-the-crop dividend plays, we curate a list of stocks that have raised their payouts every year for five to nine years.

We call them the Young Aristocrats, and the idea is that these are "stocks that pay you to make money."

Imagine if years of consistent dividend growth and high momentum and relative strength had a baby, leaving you with the best of the emerging dividend giants that are outperforming the averages.

By adding our technical...

All hell seems to be breaking loose at the BOJ.

I'm not going to pretend to know, or care. But I can tell you that Yen traders like it.

And investors in precious metals sure as hell love it.

These are good things to wake up to if you're long gold and silver: