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.
In case I haven't been obnoxious enough, we are in the early stages of a new bull market.
I cannot be more clear about this. I feel it in my bones.
Today, the Fed had their first meeting of the year, and did exactly what everyone thought they would do. The market flew straight into rally mode as soon as the press conference began. There were no surprises.
This is because, very much unlike 2022, the path of least resistance for risk assets is now higher.
We're seeing risk-on action characterize the tape on a regular basis.
Breakouts are sticking. The list of new highs is growing longer and longer. Meanwhile, new lows are almost non-existent, and the breakdowns from December have failed and followed through higher.
It's all bull market stuff.
Along the same lines, we're seeing more and more stocks offer bullish chart setups that we want to be buying. And we're entertaining all of them.
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.
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.
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.
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.