From the Desk of Kimmy Sokoloff

The rally we had this morning completely faded.

We're still stuck under major resistance.

The more time we spend below can send us lower.

This is the video recording of the August 9, 2023, Hot Corner Insider Weekly Strategy Session.

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.

Welcome to the Short Report.

The largest insider transaction on today’s list comes in a Form 4 filed by HF Direct Investments Pool, LLC.

The investment unit of the direct response marketing firm reported a purchase of $50 million in Westrock Coffee Company $WEST, increasing its ownership stake to 17.15%.

From the Desk of Kimmy Sokoloff

The indices had a dead-cat bounce yesterday afternoon, then rolled back over.

We have CPI data for July coming out at 8:30 a.m. ET.

I'll wait till after the print to see how things look. 

From the Desk of Kimmy Sokoloff

This morning I mentioned in the Live Trading Room that if we fill the gap on $QQQ down to 368.63 we can potentially have a bounce trade.

That's what happened, and $SPY bounced as well.

I alerted the room at 12:35 p.m. ET that both indices can rally at least a point.

I was slow on entering short trades, as the market was moving slowly.

We've got CPI tomorrow morning.

The largest insider transaction on today’s list comes in a Form 4 filing from Steven J. McLaughlin of fintech-focused investment banking firm FT Partners.

McLaughlin revealed a purchase of $2.9 million in Expensify Inc $EXFY.

From the Desk of Kimmy Sokoloff

It's been slim pickings with regard to stocks to trade, as the indices are in a holding pattern.

I'm sure they'll pick a direction soon.

As we know, August is typically a bumpy month, as is September.

Over the past few weeks we've been positioning ourselves for a Regime Change.

It's not so much the end of the world that's coming, as it is just healthy, normal sector rotation.

See: If not Tech, then What?

The most important chart that helps to explain what's going on is the S&P500 and Nasdaq100.

This is what being stuck below overhead supply looks like:

From the Desk of Kimmy Sokoloff

It was a tough day today, with a lot of stop-outs.

The indices are still stuck under their respective resistance zones.

I did come out ahead today by a few points, but it was a struggle.

$LLY saved trading today.

The largest insider transaction on today’s list comes in a Form 4 filing from the CEO and chief business and strategic operations officer of Cerevel Therapeutics Holdings $CERE.

The two executives reported purchases for a combined amount of $2.5 million.

From the Desk of Kimmy Sokoloff

Moody’s hampered the mood of the market by downgrading a few of the banks' credit ratings.

Late in the day yesterday, $QQQ started to lift higher, but that's a no-go this morning.