Topics covered:
1) 0:00 Announcements
2) 0:40 Market Commentary and Index Review (Nasdaq Composite, S&P 500, and Russell 2000)
3) 9:50 Stock Review – Energy: XLE (ETF), XOP (ETF), OIH (ETF), USO (ETF), DVN, OXY, MRO, MPC, VLO, EQT, APA
4) 14:15 Stock Review – Watch List/General Ideas/Commentary: ALB, LTHM, ENVX, LLY, BMY, MRK, PRCT, LNTH, SWAV, HALO, CELH, OLN, ON, WWE, GH, WDC, TPTX, CYTK, EA
5) 29:30 Conclusion/Summary

Market Summary:
In last weekend’s video, I pointed out that the Russell 2000 was down significantly less than the other major indexes, and how they were all down on lighter volume than the previous week. In addition, the week prior to holiday weekends tends to trend to the upside. As a result, the markets saw a very strong week this past week. The reason I wasn’t adamant about aggressively playing the upside is that the market has been so weak as of late, and I prefer to let it prove itself before increasing my exposure levels. On Thursday, we saw steps towards that improvement with a FTD on the Nasdaq Composite and Russell 2000. I emailed a Market Note saying that I increased my exposure levels from approximately 10% to 30%. I finished the week closer to 50%, as many of the stocks I discussed broke out towards the end of the week.

From here, I am open-minded to a few scenarios: 1) The past few days could be a short-covering rally before heading back down. I’m not leaning towards this scenario because stocks are acting better and I don’t think we will fail right away. 2) A counter-trend rally over the next 2-3 weeks into the 50-day moving average. This is the scenario I’m leaning towards. 3) We’ve bottomed for the year. It’s possible, but tough to see with the Fed still being so hawkish. Again, I am open-minded but rather than predicting, I will focus on what I would like to see. Specifically, above-average volume on the up days, minimal distribution, and more stocks setting up. As always, I will take this day-by-day and I’m happy with my exposure levels until the market proves itself a little better. Again, be patient and don’t forget that the Fed is still raising rates. If you have any questions, you can ask them during the next webinar which will be Tuesday, May 31st at 7PM EST. Thank you and enjoy the remainder of your long weekend!

Unusual Option Activity
5/27/22 Livent (LTHM) seeing buyers in the August $45 calls for $1.00 up to $1.30, collaboration with Lilium today
5/27/22 Dutch Bros (BROS) seeing 1000 June $38 ITM calls bought for $2.90
5/27/22 Oil ETF (USO) buyer of 5000 July $86/$95 call spreads as June spreads adjust
5/27/22 Energy ETF (XLE) with 5760 September $95/$75 bull risk reversals opening at $0.68
5/27/22 Semiconductor ETF (SMH) with 3500 September $180 puts sold to open $3.75, also 3400 Nov. $171 puts selling to open $4.85
5/27/22 ChargePoint (CHPT) next week’s $12.50 calls hot early ahead of 5-31 earnings, 7500 trading with buyer flow up to $0.96
5/27/22 Western Digital (WDC) more June $62.50/$75 call spreads bought today for $2.40, 2400X
5/27/22 Occidental Petrol (OXY) with 3500 August $90 calls being bought for $2.10 with the $100 calls sold for $0.96
5/27/22 Enovix (ENVX) attracting some more longer-dated bull flow today
5/27/22 Zillow (Z) more bull flow today as 1000 June 3rd (W) $40 puts sold to open $1.24 to $1.22
5/27/22 Snowflake (SNOW) opening sales 780 November $70 puts $4.80
5/27/22 Apple (AAPL) seeing over 17,500 Aug $145 puts sold to open from $9.35 down to $9, already has some size put sales in the Aug expiration
5/27/22 Lam Research (LRCX) buyer of 1000 August $550 calls for $39.20, adjusting the $460 calls bought on 5/12
5/26/22 Vanguard S&P ETF (VOO) opening seller 1600 Oct. $325 puts for $9.70
5/26/22 Albemarle (ALB) with 550 July $270 calls bought up to $14.40, follows the large put sales yesterday
5/26/22 SM Energy (SM) buyers of 1850 June $45 calls for $2.85 as the $40 calls adjust higher
5/26/22 Acadia Pharma (ACAD) buyer of 3000 June 24th (W) $20 calls for $1.90 as the June $22 calls bought on 5/2 adjust out
5/26/22 Micron (MU) with 2700 September $50 puts being sold to open from $1.28 to $1.25
5/26/22 Zillow (Z) bull spreads are selling 1000 July $35 puts and buying the $40/$50 call spread for a net $0.27 debit
5/26/22 Microsoft (MSFT) with over 6000 July 1st (W) $290 calls sold to open from $2.05 down to $1.95
5/26/22 Texas Instruments (TXN) with 2000 July $180/$170 bull risk reversals opening for an $0.80 net credit
5/25/22 Mosaic (MOS) also with 8000 September $70/$95 call spreads bought
5/25/22 Advanced Micro (AMD) sale of 1200 March $90 puts to open $16.55