With the rise in $VIX (the "fear gauge") over the past several trading days continuing to persist, we've been on the hunt for options premium selling opportunities. Higher volatility environments lend themselves to better opportunities for premium sellers who can manage their risks and size their positions conservatively.

As such, we're going to sell some premium in the banking sector to take advantage of elevated premiums and what appears to be a high likelihood of continuing sideways action.

From the Desk of Louis Sykes @haumicharts

One of the hallmarks that's defined crypto is its sheer innovative and scalable nature.

Blockchains are bringing tremendous benefits to traditional industries; self-sovereignty of massive sums of capital, incredibly efficient payment methods, digital collectibles, play-to-earn, and decentralization are all great examples.

Perhaps one of the more overlooked outcomes of this asset class blossoming is the promotion of finance among disenfranchised youth.

These are the registration details for our Live Monthly Candlestick Strategy Session for Premium Members of All Star Charts.

This month’s Video Conference Call will be held on Tuesday September 6th @ 6PM ET. As always, if you cannot make the call live, the video and slides will be archived and published here along with every other live call since 2015.

Here are the details for Tuesday evening:

From the Desk of Ian Culley @IanCulley

We look at a lot of charts. And believe it or not, many of them are absolute messes. Sideways, choppy, and trendless describe most markets right now.

It’s just a fact.

But we always find those big bases and tight continuation patterns on the verge of breaking out that keep us turning on our computers every morning. And the market I want to share with you today has both!

Lets’ take a look at coffee.

From the Desk of Ian Culley @IanCulley

Currency markets have provided stellar trading opportunities this year. 

It isn't always this way.

Last year was rough. False breakouts and whipsaws were the norm, as most forex pairs and crosses chopped sideways in trendless ranges.

Many of those consolidations have now resolved, as currency markets have begun to trend again. And it’s hard to find a stronger primary trend to bet against than the declining Japanese yen. 

We’ve written about the yen multiple times in the past few months, pointing out that The Yen Provides the Base and joking that we could profit by simply buying Anything in Yen.

Today, we’ll follow up by outlining three tactical setups to bet on further yen weakness.

Boy do I have a treat for you today.

Last week I was a guest on the Investopedia Express Podcast with Caleb Silver and Kenny Polcari.

Kenny is known around wall street and the floor of the NYSE as the guy who would include recipes in his research notes.

How do you not already love the guy!

Caleb and I have also gotten to know each other well over the years.

So this was a ton of fun.

Between the market conversation, Kenny's recipe and Dex McBean rapping, this was one of the best podcasts to ever be a part of.

I think you'll enjoy this one:

From the Desk of Steve Strazza @sstrazza

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.

From the Desk of Steve Strazza @Sstrazza

Welcome to our latest Minor Leaguers report.

We've had some great trades come out of this small-cap-focused column since we launched it back in 2020 and started rotating it with our flagship bottom-up scan, Under the Hood.

For the first year or so, we focused only on Russell 2000 stocks with a market cap between $1 and $2B.

That was fun, but we wanted to branch out a bit and allow some new stocks to find their way onto our list.

We expanded our universe to include some mid-caps.

To make the cut for our Minor Leaguers list, a company must have a market cap between $1 and $4B.

These days it seems like Energy stocks are acting strong regardless of whether there is strength or weakness in the broader markets.

I'm sure you've noticed.

The Long Energy trade remains in full force if the Sector Index $XLE is above those former highs from 2016-2018:

There's one major catalyst that can be a wrecking ball in a potential bull market for stocks.

What's going to stop a year-end rally?

I think if there's anything that can stop it, it's further strength in the US Dollar.

This summer, the markets have only reiterated the negative correlation between stocks and the US Dollar.

A little bit of dollar weakness over the past 6 weeks, or lack of progress to be more accurate, sparked a rally in stocks and crypto assets.

But as Dollar strength came back recently, the pressure on stocks and crypto has returned.

So let's take a closer look.

This is the weekly post that aggregates all the charts we put together throughout the week and organizes them all into one, easy to flip through deck.

From the Desk of Ian Culley @IanCulley

Back in early July, we were looking to buy a bounce in natural gas. Let's just say it was a success, as our target was hit within weeks.

But you have to remember the environment back then. Commodities had experienced a broad sell-off. And natural gas and agricultural contracts such as wheat and cotton had recently experienced drawdowns exceeding 40%.

It might have seemed like a tough call at the time, but for us it was clear. The risk/reward was in our favor as natty pulled back to test a key level. It was that simple.

Fast forward almost two months, and we’re back for more. Our risk is well-defined, and cyclical areas of the market are assuming leadership.

Today, I’ll share how we’re gearing up for a fresh leg higher in natty gas.

First, let’s take a look at the weekly chart of natural gas futures.