Q3 statistics in a year with a strong January: https://twitter.com/WayneWhaley1136/status/1680198967181672449
August Statistics: https://twitter.com/WayneWhaley1136/status/1682613673318129665

Topics covered:
1) 0:00 Announcements
2) 0:45 Market Commentary and Index Review (Nasdaq Composite, S&P 500, and Russell 2000)
3) 9:15 FOCUS LIST: NVDA, MSFT, ORCL, CDNS, ISRG, CELH, LLY, NOW, TSLA, UBER
4) 13:50 Stock Review – Software: IGV (ETF), ADBE, CRM, DT, AI, SNPS, MDB, WDAY, PANW, FTNT
5) 16:20 Stock Review – Semiconductors: SMH (ETF), AVGO, LRCX, MRVL, AEHR, ALGM
6) 18:05 Stock Review – Watch List/General Ideas/Commentary: EXTR, KRYS, ABOS, SDGR, ITB (ETF), PHM, MTH, BZH, XLE (ETF), XOP (ETF), TDW, BKR, SLB, DKNG, ONON, DECK, META
7) 23:05 Conclusion/Summary

Market Summary:
***QUICK ANNOUNCMENT: This week’s MidWeek Video will be posted a day early on Tuesday, August 8th (instead of the normal Wednesday time).***
In my efforts to keep things simple, the best way to describe the market’s current price action is that we’re in the process of visiting the 50-day moving average. After the strong power trend the past three months, I mentioned in several recent videos to expect some consolidation. Timing wise, it would make sense to digest the gains from May, June, and July during the seasonally weak months of August and September. So far, that’s exactly what the market is doing. A few points that I repeat in this video: It won’t be a straight line down. It will likely be choppy and volatile along the way. The main point is that were unlikely to see any sustained progress to the upside until this pullback is complete.

My three guidelines remain the same: 1) Stick to strong stocks. 2) Show some discipline and be patient for those strong entry points. 3) Manage your trades as best as possible. This last point involves using lighter positions until we resume the uptrend. In other words, if you are starting new positions, I suggest using 1/4 or 1/2 your normal position size to help deal with the expected volatility over the near-term. I remain approximately 50% invested and will wait patiently for signs of the selling to slow down and for stocks to set up again. Of course, I will be open-minded and take this day-by-day, but my instincts tell me to continue to be patient, especially as the news cycle shifts from earnings season to geopolitical garbage, interest rates, etc. If you have any questions, you can ask them during the next webinar which will be tomorrow, Sunday, August 6th at 7PM EST. Thank you and enjoy the remainder of your weekend.

Unusual Option Activity:
8/4/23 Energy ETF (XLE) massive trade buys 50,000 Dec $79 puts for $1.76, over $8.5M, looks to be adjusting the $74 puts
8/4/23 Biotech ETF (XBI) buyers of 5000 September $79 puts at $1.69 to $1.85 offers
8/4/23 Regional Banks ETF (KRE) buyer 10,000 Dec. $45 puts 1.95
8/4/23 Monster Beverage (MNST) with 1500 August $55 calls bought
8/4/23 Tesla (TSLA) seeing buyers today for 3000 June $420 calls at $13.60 to $14.10
8/4/23 Occidental (OXY) with large buyers for 1350 Jan 2025 $67.50 calls at $9.75 to $10
8/4/23 Occidental (OXY) also with 5000 Feb $47.50 puts selling to open for $0.87 bids
8/4/23 Occidental (OXY) also with 1000 October $62.50/$72.50 bull risk reversals open for $1.43 credit
8/4/23 Diamondback Energy (FANG) seeing 4300 August $145 puts sell to open at $1.40
8/4/23 Blackstone (BX) seller to open 800 June 90 puts for 6.15
8/4/23 Amazon (AMZN) seeing a buyer of 1600 March $165 calls for $7.00 offer sweeps
8/4/23 Amazon (AMZN) also with 2800 December $145 calls bought for $11.30, adjusting the Sept $125 calls
8/4/23 Microsoft (MSFT) Aug. 25th (W) $330 calls also big buys 10,000X at $9.50+
8/4/23 Nvidia (NVDA) seeing a buyer of 1100 September $545 calls at $8.75 here into the close
8/4/23 Nvidia (NVDA) also an earlier buyer of 1000 Oct $490 calls at $29.04
8/4/23 Oracle (ORCL) buyers 2000 Oct. $120 calls $4.35 to $4.60 offers looking to add to OI
8/4/23 Coherent (COHR) with a midday buyer of 2000 Sept $65 calls at $1.35
8/4/23 Google (GOOGL) seeing 2100 June $137.50 puts sell to open here into the dip for $16.01
8/4/23 Google (GOOGL) also with 1150 Feb $135 puts sell to open for $11.70
8/3/23 Uranium ETF (URNM) rare large option trade sells 3000 January $28 puts to buy the $37/$45 call spreads
8/3/23 Housing ETF (ITB) with over 4000 Oct. $90 puts bought for more than $2M
8/3/23 Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) buyer 4000 Dec. 2025 180/150 put spreads for 6.95
8/3/23 Emerging Markets ETF (EEM) with 25,000 March $41 puts bought today as December adjust
8/3/23 Tesla (TSLA) buyer of 1000 June 2024 $420 calls $12.65 offer
8/3/23 Target (TGT) opening sale 400 March 125 puts for 8.90
8/3/23 Pinduoduo (PDD) buyer 1000 June $135 OTM calls 7.10 to 7.30
8/3/23 Shopify (SHOP) seller 800 March $55 puts for 6.15
8/3/23 DraftKings (DKNG) large opening sale 2500 June $25 puts for $3.45
8/3/23 Home Depot (HD) today with a large buyer 500 January 2025 $340 calls $37.85
8/3/23 MercadoLibre (MELI) opening sale 100 December 1310 puts for $129.90
8/3/23 Booking Holdings (BKNG) buyer 100 Jan. 2025 $4300 calls $76
8/3/23 Chevron (CVX) opening sale 10K Oct. 175 calls 1.65
8/3/23 Schlumberger (SLB) with opening sales of 1800 Feb $65 calls for $3.50
8/3/23 Marathon (MPC) seeing 1000 Aug 25th $136 puts sold to open $3.60
8/3/23 Zillow (Z) seeing 2200 Dec. $50 puts sell to open $3.50 to $3.10
8/3/23 SoFi Technologies (SOFI) buyer of 8000 March $15 calls at $0.85
8/3/23 DexCom (DXCM) with 500 March $120 calls bought to open $16.60
8/3/23 DexCom (DXCM) also opening sellers of 1350 Feb $85 puts at $1.95
8/3/23 Caterpillar (CAT) large buy 1200 January 2025 $280 calls for $45.94
8/3/23 Enovix (ENVX) size buy 5000 January $22.50 calls $6.70 against $40 calls as $15/$25 spreads adjust
8/3/23 Amazon (AMZN) 1000 February $140 calls bought $10 to $10.10
8/3/23 Amazon (AMZN) also large opening buy 1750 April $130 calls $16.30 to $17.10
8/3/23 Apple (AAPL) with 2500 Sep. 8th (W) $190 calls sold to open 7.50 to 7.45
8/3/23 Arista Networks (ANET) with 500 ITM December $170 calls opening $23.90
8/3/23 Nvidia (NVDA) with 2000 January 2025 $590 ITM puts selling to open $177.25 to $175, common strategy this week