The next new position in our Paid-to-Play portfolio is:

I’m a serial tinkerer with trading strategies, particularly in index options trading. In most cases, I’ll start with a simple concept and iterate from lessons learned along the way.

Each iteration is done with good intentions as I’m finding holes in the process and trying to fill them as I go along. I’m like a deckhand moving around the boat, patching small leaks with spackle.

This goes on for a while. And it happens slowly. But like compound interest, it grows stealthily… then mightily.

Unfortunately, I too often find myself in a situation where my PnL is going the wrong way and I’m suddenly handcuffed because I’ve created too many patchwork rules that are doing nothing now but causing confusion and slowing me down.

Then, frustration sets in.

The largest insider buy on today's list comes in a Form 4 filing by the executive chairman of Energy Transfer LP $ET, Kelcy Warren.

Warren revealed yet another ET purchase, this one worth  $4.4 million.

From the Desk of Kimmy Sokoloff

Happy Memorial Day, and thank you to our Veterans!

It's Friday, and it's options expiration, so trading is bound to be more difficult today.

From the Desk of Kimmy Sokoloff

This market can easily whip you around.

We have the Nasdaq really doing all the lifting.

There are a lot of negatives under the hood.

The next new position in our Paid-to-Play portfolio is:

There are only about 30 companies in the S&P500 that are bigger than what Nvidia is up after hours today.

That's a new all-time high for America's now 5th largest company. It's the first time it's able to breakout to new a all-time high since late 2021:

The largest insider buy on today's list comes in a Form 4 filing by Baker Bros Advisors LLC.

The hedge fund revealed a purchase of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc $ACAD worth $22 million, increasing its ownership stake to 26.6%.

From the Desk of Kimmy Sokoloff

It's $NVDA's world!

What a stellar earnings report for this company.

But, at the same time, it's a crowded long.

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 Kimmy Sokoloff

Wild markets today, and $DIA is riding a very fine line here. It's right at its 200-day moving average.

If it falls through, there's potential down to 322.50.

Headlines.

We all read them and they mess with our heads. It takes steadfast resolve to listen to the message of price action when everything else we read tries to trick us into doing the wrong thing.

The best way to keep ourselves level-headed when taking risks is to define that risk and trade small. There are few things more powerful than knowing with complete certainty the most I can lose, no matter what the market throws at me.

With this in mind, we're putting on a trade today in a stock that has the potential to be a real highflier if the markets stabilize and head higher following any Washington drama while limiting our risk in case we're early or wrong.

We've adjusted a position in the Paid-to-Play portfolio today:

The largest insider buy on today's list comes in a Form 4 filing by the executive chairman of Energy Transfer $ET, Kelcy Warren.

Warren revealed an additional purchase of 750,000 ET shares, worth over $9.5 million.

From the Desk of Kimmy Sokoloff

The indices are gapping lower, and I'm watching to see how $SPY handles its 21-day moving average at 413.10.

I mentioned in the live trading room yesterday that this market has been volatile, and until the debt ceiling gets resolved it could continue.

From the Desk of Kimmy Sokoloff

It was a nice morning and $SPY was trading in a one-point range.

But the clock struck noon and things slowed then rolled over.

From the Desk of Ian Culley @IanCulley

Here we go again… 

The USD/JPY is breaking out.

I can’t think of a stronger trend than the dollar-yen last year. It absolutely ripped to the point we were joking everything priced in yen looked good – even gold!

But it wasn’t the only market trending higher at the time. The US dollar and interest rates also rallied together.

Today’s USD/JPY strength raises a painful question for many investors…

Will interest rates and the US Dollar Index $DXY follow?

Before we delve into the broader implications of a USD/JPY rally, let’s outline the setup for those who trade forex markets.

Check out the dollar-yen reaching its highest level since November 2022, completing a six-month consolidation:

...

It's a bull market, in case you haven't heard.

As such, I'm on the hunt for alpha. I'm looking for stocks that might be off the radar, but can have outsized moves when the market runs.

Today's trade offers this potential in spades.