From the Desk of Steve Strazza @sstrazza and Alfonso Depablos @Alfcharts

This is one of our favorite bottom-up scans: Follow the Flow.

In this note, we simply create a universe of stocks that experienced the most unusual options activity — either bullish or bearish, but not both.

We utilize options experts, both internally and through our partnership with The TradeXchange. Then, we dig through the level 2 details and do all the work upfront for our clients.

Our goal is to isolate only those options market splashes that represent levered and high-conviction, directional bets.

We also weed out hedging activity and ensure there are no offsetting trades that either neutralize or cap the risk on these unusual options trades.

What remains is a list of stocks that large financial institutions are putting big money behind.

And they’re doing so for one reason only: because they think...

From the desk of Steve Strazza @Sstrazza

Check out this week's Momentum Report, our weekly summation of all the major indexes at a Macro, International, Sector, and Industry Group level.

By analyzing the short-term data in these reports, we get a more tactical view of the current state of markets. This information then helps us put near-term developments into the big picture context and provides insights regarding the structural trends at play.

Let's jump right into it with some of the major takeaways from this week's report:

* ASC Plus Members can access the Momentum Report by clicking the link at the bottom of this post.

Macro Universe:

• This week, our macro universe was positive, with 68% of our list closing higher with a median return of 0.48%.
• Lumber $LB was the winner again, closing with a 14.32% gain.
• The biggest loser was the Volatility Index $VIX, with a weekly loss of -6.75%.
• There was a 2% gain in the percentage of assets on our list within 5% of their 52-week highs – currently at 13%.
• 55% of our macro list made fresh 4-week highs, and 36...

From the desk of Steve Strazza @Sstrazza

Our Top 10 Charts Report was just published.

In this weekly note, we highlight 10 of the most important charts or themes we’re currently seeing in asset classes around the world.

Investors Reach for Risk

Last week, the High Beta (SPHB) versus Low Volatility (SPLV) ratio reached its highest level since April of last year. This action speaks to risk-seeking behavior and offensive positioning. As long as these new highs hold, we're looking for equity markets to follow higher in the coming weeks.

The most significant insider buy on today's list is a Form 4 filing by Abdiel Capital Advisors.

The hedge fund reported a purchase of $4.8 million in Appian Corporation $APPN.

From the Desk of Steve Strazza @Sstrazza and Alfonso Depablos @AlfCharts

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. Click here to check it out.

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:

Click table to enlarge view

We filter out any laggards that are down -5% or more relative to the S&P 500 over the trailing month. 

Then...

This is the video recording of our January 27, 2023, Inside Scoop Weekly Strategy Session.

The most significant insider buy on today’s list is a Form 4 filing by Lockheed Martin $LMT Director John Donovan.

Donovan reported a purchase of roughly $250,867 in LMT.

Today's Hot List is another short one.

The only 13G on our list was filed by Pura Vida Investments LLC, which revealed an initial stake of 5.62% in Quanterix Corporation $QTRX.

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 The Hall of Famers, The Minor Leaguers, and The 2 to 100 Club.

We filter these universes for stocks with 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 publish this...

The largest insider buy on today's list is a Form 4 filing by RA Capital Management.

The hedge fund reported a purchase of roughly $25 million in Fulcrum Therapeutics Inc $FULC, increasing its ownership stake to 23.8%.

From the Desk of Steve Strazza @Sstrazza

Last week we held our January Monthly Conference Call, which Premium Members can access and rewatch here.

In this post, we’ll do our best to summarize it by highlighting five of the most important charts and/or themes we covered, along with commentary on each

Let’s get right into it!

From the desk of Steve Strazza @Sstrazza

Our Top 10 Charts Report was just published.

In this weekly note, we highlight 10 of the most important charts or themes we’re currently seeing in asset classes around the world.

Consumers Favor Discretionary

The Equal Weight Consumer Discretionary vs. Equal Weight Consumer Staples ratio is resolving higher from a rounding bottom reversal pattern. Seeing this ratio make an upside resolution is a characteristic of bull markets as it indicates offensive positioning by investors and supports higher prices for risk assets.