As we progress into Q1 of Fiscal Year 2022-2023, this playbook outlines our thoughts on every asset class and our plan to profit.

This playbook will cover our macro view, touching on Equities, Commodities, Currencies, and Rates, as well as outline our views on the major nifty indices and the sector/thematic indices.

We also cover individual stocks we want to be buying to take advantage of the themes discussed in the playbook.

It's easy to get lost in the day to day noise of the market.

We're human.

Don't be too hard on yourself.

Understand that it's who we are.

Now, accepting that as a natural fault that we all have is step #1 to recovery.

There are steps we can put into place to help us overcome these emotions.

We get to talk to a lot of traders and investors every single day. I like to listen.

In the first chart, we have what seems to be the consensus view. Investors fear that we're going to complete this top in the S&P500 sending prices down even lower.

Do you agree? We break 4100 and down we go?

Or could it be like the second chart, and all this support holds?

From the desk of Steve Strazza @Sstrazza

Our Hall of Famers list is composed of the 150 largest US-based stocks.

These stocks range from the mega-cap growth behemoths like Apple and Microsoft – with market caps in excess of $2T – to some of the new-age large-cap disruptors such as Moderna, Square, and Snap.

It has all the big names and more.

It doesn’t include ADRs or any stock not domiciled in the US. But don’t worry; we developed a separate universe for that which you can check out here.

The Hall of Famers is simple.

We take our list of 150 names and then apply our technical filters so the strongest stocks with the most momentum rise to the top.

Let’s dive right in and check out what these big boys are up to.

Here’s this week’s list:

The largest insider transaction on today's list comes to us in a Form 4 filing by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway $BRK.A.

Buffett continues to grow his position in Occidental Petroleum $OXY. He just revealed an additional purchase that brings his total ownership to 226 million shares, representing a 12.15% interest.

From the desk of Steve Strazza @Sstrazza

Stocks are having a tough time these past few weeks. Selling pressure is not just accelerating; it’s spreading.

Even the leaders aren’t providing shelter from this latest storm…

A lot of the commodity stocks we’ve been focusing on for long exposure in recent months are experiencing significant volatility and are now back below our risk levels.

We want to be patient and wait for the dust to settle for most of these trades.

While this is the case for the majority of stocks right now, there are always pockets of strength.

The most obvious among them right now is energy. The resilience from energy continues to impress us.

Today, we’re going to outline long ideas in a popular exploration & production name as well as an international bank stock.

Let’s get to it.

From the desk of Steve Strazza @Sstrazza

The US Dollar Index $DXY is ripping to its highest level in 20 years today.

We just covered this dollar strength and what it means in our Currency Report, which you can read here.

We talk about the implications of a stronger dollar on risk assets, particularly stocks.

While this rally in the dollar is definitely not a good thing for stocks in the US or abroad, we see these intermarket relationships dislocate all the time.

Could stocks and the dollar rally higher together? Sure! Commodities and the dollar have already been doing this for several quarters now...

Let's talk about that quick.

The most significant insider transaction on today's Hot List is a Form 4 filing by the president and chairman of Warner Bros Discovery $WBD.

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.

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.

This is the video recording of our May 4, 2022, Inside Scoop Weekly Strategy Session.

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?