When it comes to inflation expectations, the Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities vs the US Treasury Bonds ratio is one of the best ways to measure it.

When investors anticipate rising prices for goods, they hedge by favoring TIPS over traditional bonds.

The TIP/IEF ratio is ripping to its highest level in almost three years.

It’s no coincidence that the Bloomberg Commodity Index $DJP looks just like it.

If we’re heading into another inflationary period, then commodities, energy, metals-related equities, natural resources, and international markets should be top of mind.

There are many ways to take advantage of this trend, and options are one of them.

We’ve been on it through Breakout Multiplier for a while now. Steve’s all over this move, and so am I.

...

All the Euro STOXX Indexes are at new all-time highs.

The DAX is at new all-time highs.

Germany is about to break out of a massive base in USD terms.

Spain and Greece are completing multi-decade bases.

European equities are on absolute fire right now and participation is broad.

Meanwhile, they are still talking about the recession in the Eurozone.

It’s a perfect setup. In fact, the bull thesis here is a lot like China in a sense that many of these countries check all three boxes… sentiment, technicals, and valuation.

Some of these European countries like Poland and Austria are even cheaper than China with CAPE ratios around 10x. 

They also come with plenty of beta. For example, the MSCI Poland ETF EPOL is already up about 150% off its 2022 cycle low.

This kind of action says a lot about risk appetite, too. This is true for some areas of Europe more than others.

Thanks to everyone who joined us for today's Hot Corner Insider Weekly Strategy Session.

I've consulted with the consultants, who agree that we should buy 52-week highs that would put us in spitting distance of all-time highs.

And so I shall do just that.

Today's name has somewhat elevated implied volatility, and it's a high-priced stock, so I'll be playing it with a call spread to keep my exposure in check and leverage the out-of-the-money call premiums in my favor.

After a legendary run footwear stocks are suddenly taking a beating. Is it time to walk away from the group?

In today’s Daily Digest, we’ll review the following:

1. No new positions today.
2. Adjustment to ITB position.
3. Closed ARKK at profit target.
4. Current status of open campaigns.
5. Volatility Snapshot.

Let’s dig in!

From the desk of Steve Strazza @Sstrazza

Welcome to The 2 to 100 Club.

In this scan, we look to identify 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 journey to becoming the market behemoths they are today.

When you look at the stocks in our table, you'll notice we're only focused on Technology and Growth industry groups such as Software, Semiconductors, Online...

Coca-Cola was founded in 1886 in Atlanta, Georgia, by a pharmacist named Dr. John Stith Pemberton.

Over the nearly 150 years of its existence, the brand has grown to be known and loved worldwide.

Despite its global saturation, the company is still growing like a weed.

In 2024, it grew revenues by 12% and increased its operating margin by 90 basis points to 24%.

The management team provided stronger-than-expected guidance for 2025 during Tuesday's conference call with investors and analysts. 

The market loved it and rewarded the stock with a higher stock price.

Let's talk about what else happened 👇

*click the image to enlarge it

DuPont de Nemours $DD beat its expectations and rallied nearly 7% with a reaction score of 5. They didn't just report a great quarter; the management team also provided better-than-expected guidance. 

In addition, it announced the acceleration of the intended spin-off of its electronics business, which is targeted for November 1st, 2025.

Ecolab $ECL beat its expectations and rallied over 6% with...

Estee Lauder $EL director Paul Fribourg just doubled down, adding another 45,500 EL shares to his position.

Meanwhile, over at Match Group $MTCH, it’s not just one insider—it’s a coordinated move. Both the CEO and a director dropped $2.15 million on their own stock.

When leadership moves in tandem like this, it’s often a signal that they believe brighter days are ahead for the company.

Here’s The Hot Corner, with data from February 10, 2025:

Sylebra Capital made a serious move, buying 619,925 shares of PureCycle Technologies $PCT at $8.06.

The hedge fund has a history of making aggressive bets in tech and sustainability plays, backing names with long-term disruption potential.

Finally, insiders at MDU Resources $MDU, Becton Dickinson $BDX, and The...

Noticeably, Large Cap Growth $IWF remains strong on the list of US indices while Small Cap Value $IWN struggles.

Taking the ratio between the two, you can clearly see IWF consolidating right beneath all time highs relative to IWN. Trends have a tendency to persist and this is a chart that is setup to continue working higher.

Today's number is... 10

10 out of the 11 sectors in the S&P 500 are currently above their 50-day moving average.

Here’s the chart:

Let's break down what the chart shows:

• The blue line in the top panel shows the price of the S&P 500 index.
• The black line in the bottom panel shows the number of S&P 500 sectors above their 50-day Average.

The Takeaway: In early January of this year, all sectors were below their 50-day moving average. However, over the past 21 trading days, this breadth reading has steadily improved, with 10 out of the 11 sectors now above their 50-day moving averages. This is the highest level we've seen since late November of last year.

The only sector that remains below its 50-day moving average is Consumer Discretionary. This weakness in the Consumer Discretionary sector can be largely attributed to the decline of Tesla, which has recently experienced a sharp drop in price. 

The S&P 500 typically does not encounter significant challenges when most sectors are above their 50-...

Mega-cap growth has led the way for the past 15 years both in the U.S. and internationally.

One way to visualize this theme is by comparing the Dow to the Nasdaq.

The Dow leans toward blue-chip, value names, while the Nasdaq is packed with high-growth, tech-heavy stocks.

Right now, this relationship is at a critical inflection point as it tries to make a valid resolution to new record highs.

After breaking out above the dot-com bubble peak last year, the QQQ/DIA ratio hasn’t exactly ripped higher. Instead, it’s just hanging out above that key level.

If it rolls over and loses those former highs, it could signal a shift away from tech dominance. That’s where value and international markets might step in and take the leadership reins.

While many dismiss this theme, opportunities abroad have been stacking up. 

Just look at how Latin...

Walmart shares are up more than 80% in the last year despite single-digit revenue and earnings growth. Time to take gains on the World’s Largest Retailer?

I’ve been long shares of Walmart for the last 5 years. First the good news:

WMT is at all-time highs, having just ripped through Big Round Number resistance at $100 and forming one of those giddily unsustainable Upward to the Right charts you don’t see much in 65 year old retailers growing revenue at a single-digit rate.

Which is related to the bad-news. Walmart has rarely, if ever been this expensive by almost any measure. In the last 5 years Walmart shares are up 162%. In that same time frame revenue is up 26% and operating income has grown 22%. The latter numbers are surprising if not shockingly anemic.

At 41x trailing 12 months Walmart’s PE (“your grandpa’s ratio!”) is roughly 2x the historical average for the last 15yrs. In the last 12 months Walmart has gone from $56 to over $100 and the PE has moved from 25 to 42. 

Walmart isn’t earning more money, it’s telling Wall St a better story.

“...

The U.S. dollar is getting slammed, and gold bugs around the world are rejoicing.

In honor of this development, we just went live on YouTube to talk about it.

We discussed the extreme position in the foreign exchange markets and the implications of a weaker dollar.

In addition, we talked about what areas we believe stand to benefit most from this (hint, hint, we talked a lot about commodities).

If you want to get our actionable trade ideas on gold, gold stocks, and other precious metals, join ASC Gold Rush today.

-Sam & Jason 

In today’s Daily Digest, we’ll review the following:

1. New position in XHB.
2. No adjustments are needed today.
3. Closed TLT at profit target.
4. Current status of open campaigns.
5. Volatility Snapshot.

Let’s dig in!

I've been getting this question quite a bit lately: Does Breadth even matter?

And the answer is yes. It's a market of stocks.

Go back and study all the bull markets in history. You'll notice how as the bull market progresses, you get more and more stocks participating to the upside. You tend to see sector rotation and new leaders emerging. You also see expansion in participation across countries around the globe.

This is what is currently happening. It's all of the above.

In Bear markets, however, these things do not happen. It's actually the opposite. You see fewer and fewer stocks going up, while more and more stocks are breaking to new lows. The sector rotation turns into the last leaders catching down to the losers. And you see stock market indexes in countries all over the world falling in price, not rising. 

When you weigh all the evidence, it's quite obvious that we are currently in the first category, and certainly not in the second one.

How can market breadth be deteriorating, when participation just keeps expanding?

How can you tell me with a straight face that breadth is weakening, when the...

McDonald's $MCD missed its expectations across the board but rallied nearly 5% with a reaction score of 3.43.

The market was lovin' it. ;)

The company plans to open 2,200 restaurants in 2025, which is above average. This stock is all about growth.

McDonald's is also actively implementing its so-called "accelerating the arches" strategy, focusing on market share growth through value offerings, menu innovation, and culturally relevant marketing.

Let's talk about what else happened 👇

*click the image to enlarge it

Rockwell Automation $ROK beat its expectations and rallied 12.65% with a reaction score of 5.88. It was the stock's best earnings reaction EVER.

The company secured several multimillion-dollar strategic orders during the quarter, and the management team issued better-than-expected guidance.

ON Semiconductor $ON missed its expectations and fell over 8% with a reaction score -3.48. It was bad...

The company's revenue and gross margins are declining significantly. To make matters worse, the management...