Topics covered:
1) 0:00 Announcements
2) 0:20 Market Commentary and Index Review (Nasdaq Composite, S&P 500, and Russell 2000)
3) 8:45 FOCUS LIST: SMH (ETF), NVDA, PANW, WING, RVNC
4) 13:10 Stock Review – Semiconductors: AMD, ACLS, ALGM, PI, LSCC, CRUS, ON, ASML, SMCI
5) 16:40 Stock Review – Software: MSFT, FTNT, TENB, DUOL, AI
6) 19:20 Stock Review – Biotech: XBI (ETF), VKTX, TERN, ETNB, RCUS, KRYS, AXSM, AUPH, TGTX, AMPH, CBAY, BBIO, APLS, ISEE, ITCI, ACLX, VRNA
7) 25:40 Stock Review – Housing: ITB (ETF), XHB (ETF), DHI, MTH, PHM, MHO, TMHC, KBH, LEN, TOL
8) 28:00 Stock Review – Watch List/General Ideas/Commentary: SGML, ANET, PODD, DXCM, SWAV, TMDX, LNTH, ONON, DECK, LULU, PERI, INOD, ASO
9) 32:00 Conclusion/Summary

Market Summary:
In this video, I review the points discussed in the MidWeek Video. I love many companies right now that I believe have great growth prospects over the next 6-12 months. The problem is the market hasn’t been cooperating because of the macro economic picture. The big institutions are still waiting for clarity on interest rates, inflation, and other economic data. My conclusion is to meet halfway and use the five steps I outlined recently: 1) Use strong stocks. 2) Get strong entry points. 3) Use smaller positions. 4) Keep some cash. 5) Manage risk.

In the Index Review section, I discuss how the Nasdaq Composite has consolidated nicely the past two weeks and on light volume. I feel we can break out of this range over the near-term for the following reasons: 1) There are many stocks acting well across a large number of sectors. 2) This week is the week of regular cycle options expiration, which tends to trend to the upside. 3) Sentiment is fairly muted. 4) Years that start with strong Januarys tend to move out of their consolidations around late April/early May.

So what to do from here? It all depends on how invested you are, how comfortable you are in making decisions, and your overall risk tolerance. Over the past two weeks, I’ve increased my investment levels from 50% to 70% invested. My main reason for doing this is I like the healthy consolidation over the past two weeks. For those who are tactical, this could be an opportunity to increase investment levels, even if it’s for a potential short-term move higher this upcoming week. I realize this type of trading isn’t for everyone, which is why I encourage people to “know thyself.” If you are experienced, then you know how to trade and manage risk. If you have trouble making decisions, please keep in mind you can use smaller positions to help build your decision making muscle. I will try to run a webinar this week. As soon as I finalize the date and time, I will let everyone know. Thank you and enjoy the remainder of your weekend.

Unusual Option Activity:
4/14/23 Oil ETF (USO) buyer 5000 May $70 puts 1.78
4/14/23 Nike (NKE) seeing large buyers of 1000 September $115 ITM calls for $17.15
4/14/23 Coty (COTY) unusual buys of 3500 August $15 calls for $0.28
4/14/23 Monster Beverage (MNST) with 2500 June $52.50 puts sold to open for $2.00 bids
4/14/23 McDonald’s (MCD) large opening sale for 1176 Sept $300 calls at $9.10, adjusting the June $290 short calls
4/14/23 Exxon (XOM) with 1560 May $120 puts sell to open for $6.15
4/14/23 Zillow (Z) with buyers of 5000 August $35 puts $1.33 to $1.40
4/14/23 DigitalBridge (DBRG) 12,000 January $15 calls are bought $1.45 to $1.60
4/14/23 Snowflake (SNOW) July $140 short puts back at it for a third day selling 3180X near $14.70
4/14/23 Snowflake (SNOW) also with 390 November $140 puts sold to open at $21.65
4/14/23 Splunk (SPLK) buyer 1000 August $100 calls for $5.55 into day lows, size trade
4/14/23 Meta (META) seller 1000 November $210 puts for $21.35 bid
4/14/23 ON Semi (ON) with buyers of 1000 May 5th $80 calls at $2.50 to $2.70, captures earnings 5/1
4/14/23 Nvidia (NVDA) seeing buyers of 4000 June $242.50 ITM calls for $34.45 aggressive offers
4/14/23 Apple (AAPL) seeing offer side buys for 5700 May 5th $165 puts at $4.40, large lots and captures earnings on 5/4
4/14/23 Microsoft (MSFT) buyers 2500 May 12th (W) 315 OTM calls for 1.25
4/14/23 Google (GOOG) with 2000 March 2024 $135/$160 call spreads bought for $3.72
4/13/23 Nasdaq 100 ETF (QQQ) 7500 March 2024 $330 ITM puts sell to open at $30 as a massive vote of longer-term confidence
4/13/23 Nasdaq 100 ETF (QQQ) also a massive opening seller 8590 August 308 puts 12.04, follows the seller of Mar. 2024 $330 puts
4/13/23 Retail ETF (XRT) interesting bull trade today sold 10,000 June 61 puts to open 2.48
4/13/23 Netflix (NFLX) buyer 1000 May $395 OTM calls 5.10 to 5.25
4/13/23 Dick’s Sporting Goods (DKS) with 1200 September $95 puts sold to open $2.45
4/13/23 Valero (VLO) opening sale 1000 May $135 puts for 7.40 as April 135 adjust
4/13/23 Exxon (XOM) buyer of 1200 June 2024 $120/$100 put spreads
4/13/23 Marathon Oil (MRO) opening sales of 1800 May $25 puts at $0.99 sweep bids
4/13/23 Iveric Bio (ISEE) buyer of 15,000 May $30 calls for 2.08 as 10,000 May $26 calls adjust
4/13/23 Eli Lilly (LLY) opening seller 300 June $370 puts for $15.45 also seeing 270 June $380 puts sell to open
4/13/23 PTC Therapeutics (PTCT) aggressive upside buy 1000 May $60 calls $2.65 to $2.75
4/13/23 Shockwave Medical (SWAV) with some unusual ITM Apr 240 call buys 265X
4/13/23 Meta (META) with 5000 December 2025 $400 calls opening as some January 2025 $250 start to adjust
4/13/23 Meta (META) also seeing 1500 May $245 calls sell to open at $4.36
4/13/23 Meta (META) December 2025 $400 calls up to 10,000 bought $21.90 as more January 2025 $250 calls adjust
4/13/23 Advanced Micro (AMD) notable opening seller 700 October 90 puts for 10.10
4/13/23 Nvidia (NVDA) opening seller 1000 October $215 puts for 13.20
4/13/23 Snowflake (SNOW) another 2300 July $140 puts sell to open $14.45, major confidence being shown in it
4/13/23 Snowflake (SNOW) seeing large lot buys of over 4500 April 28th $152.50 calls for $2.40 to $2.75
4/13/23 Crowdstrike (CRWD) afternoon buyer of 600 June 2nd (W) $138 calls $9.20 offer
4/13/23 Alibaba (BABA) seeing buyers of 4000 May 12th $100 calls at $3.35
4/12/23 Vertex (VRTX) with 500 May $320/$340 call spreads bought to open
4/12/23 Bridge Bio (BBIO) with 1000 August 17.50 calls bought $3.10 to $3.20 with recent M&A talks, also another 1000 July 20/25 call spreads bought