CBOE Intraday Statistics: https://www.cboe.com/us/options/market_statistics/#current-stats?mkt=cone

Topics covered:
1) 0:00 Announcements
2) 0:15 Market Commentary and Index Review (Nasdaq Composite, S&P 500, and Russell 2000)
3) 7:25 Answering Member Questions on Relative Strength and Sentiment Interpretation
4) 15:35 Stock Review – Energy: BKR, FANG, DVN, HES, SU, HP, TDW, IMO, HAL, SLB, OIH (ETF), XLE (ETF), XOP (ETF)
5) 20:30 Stock Review – Biotech: ACAD, RXDX, BHVN, AMLX, AMPH
6) 24:15 Stock Review – Software: PANW, DDOG, CHKP
7) 25:20 Stock Review – Semiconductors: ACLS, AOSL, AVGO, ON
8) 26:40 Stock Review – Watch List/General Ideas/Commentary: HSIC, NVST, THC, CF, MOS, BG, MP, SRTS
9) 30:05 Conclusion/Summary

Market Summary:
In this video, I review the market’s price action over the past month. Since the January 31st Follow Through Day, I emailed members and mentioned several times that I expected it to fail. Why? Because there were no stocks setting up, the major indexes were still below their key moving averages, and the Fed is still hawkish. I continued to discuss patience and defense and we eventually had a retest of the January 24th low this week. Some members emailed me that they were defensive and it helped them to protect capital. Other members told me they didn’t stick to their loss cutting discipline and unfortunately got hurt over the past few weeks. If you fall into that latter group, DO NOT beat yourself up! Just do some post analysis of your work, correct the mistakes that you have made during this correction, and make sure to protect your confidence. Staying mentally tough is very key in order to be ready for the eventual new, sustained uptrend.

That leads me to the big question: Have we bottomed and are ready for that new uptrend? Or are we in a normal, oversold snapback short-covering rally? Of course, no one knows the answer, but my instincts are telling me to continue to be patient and defensive. It’s hard to see a follow through day in the next week or two because I can’t see the big institutions committing significant capital ahead of the March 16th Fed meeting. I will definitely be open-minded, but I would like to see the market and growth stocks prove themselves a little better before I get more invested in this market. Most of the trading I did this week was in index/sector ETFs and light stock positions. I explain this in more detail starting at the 7:25 mark of this video. Bottom line: Stay defensive and be patient until the market proves itself. Thank you and enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Unusual Option Activity
2/25/22 Freeport McMoran (FCX) the March $42.50 ITM calls bought 1000X for $3.15/$3.25
2/25/22 Freeport McMoran (FCX) also with buyers of 5000 April $50 calls up to $1.33
2/25/22 US Steel (X) with 2000 September $28 calls bought $3.50 to $3.65
2/25/22 Teck Resources (TECK) with 2000 April $39 calls bought for $1.33
2/25/22 Texas Instruments (TXN) with the April $170/$190 call spread bought 1500X3000 for $4.80
2/25/22 Advanced Micro (AMD) sale of 1400 July $130 puts $21.95 bid
2/25/22 Datadog (DDOG) opening sale 400 July $150 puts for $18.10
2/25/22 Pfizer (PFE) with 4,000 May $37.50 puts sold to open today near $0.51
2/25/22 Upstart (UPST) with 1175 April $135 calls bought this morning up to $19.50
2/24/22 Applied Materials (AMAT) buyers of 1175 March $130 calls for $5.25 as the February 25th (W) calls adjust out
2/24/22 Applied Materials (AMAT) also 650 May $135 calls bought $8.30 offer and the $120 puts being sold to open
2/24/22 Taiwan Semi (TSM) with 1450 October $95 puts sold to open $8 to $7.95
2/24/22 Taiwan Semi (TSM) also sweep buyers 1800 March $112 calls $3.65 offer this morning
2/24/22 Apple (AAPL) with 8000 April 8th (W) $160 put selling to open $9.80 to $9.50
2/24/22 Freeport McMoran (FCX) opening sales of 2,650 April $40 puts for $2.17 to $2.15
2/24/22 Johnson and Johnson (JNJ) buyer 2600 January $175 calls for $5.05
2/24/22 Biotech ETF (XBI) aggressive buys of nearly 2000 June $95 calls $3.70
2/24/22 Tesla (TSLA) afternoon buyer of 1000 December $950 calls for $10.4M, also 2000 Dec. $1000 calls for $18M
2/24/22 Tesla (TSLA) also with 1400 of the Dec. $1050 calls for $12M and a buyer of 1000 July $1050 calls for $34
2/23/22 Advanced Micro (AMD) with 3000 January $82.50 deep ITM calls bought late day $36.45