Topics covered:
1) 0:00 Announcements
2) 0:15 Market Commentary and Index Review (Nasdaq Composite, S&P 500, and Russell 2000)
3) 6:00 FOCUS LIST: NVDA, MSFT, ORCL, ADBE, CELH, LLY, NOW, UBER
4) 10:25 Stock Review – Software: IGV (ETF), CRM, CDNS, SNPS
5) 11:45 Stock Review – Semiconductors: SMH (ETF), AMAT, AVGO, LRCX, KLAC, MRVL
6) 13:30 Stock Review – Energy: XLE (ETF), XOP (ETF), HAL, SLB, BKR, WFRD, TDW, MPC
7) 15:45 Stock Review – Watch List/General Ideas/Commentary: CLS, EXTR, ABOS, VRT, NVO, DECK, LULU, TSLA, ITB (ETF)
8) 19:20 Conclusion/Summary

Market Summary:
During the market’s recent pullback, I mentioned that I would look for signs of the selling to slow down, and signs of the institutions coming back into the market. We saw the first part happen towards the end of last week. I discussed how last Thursday and Friday (8/17 and 8/18) saw lower volume selling and how I was slowly putting money back to work in some of the relative strength names. So far this week, we have seen a nice bounce, but one problem is the low volume. In other words, we saw the selling slow down last week, but we haven’t seen the big institutions come back in with any consistent strong volume yet. Again, we just have to be patient. We’re getting towards the end of the summer, volume is very light, and we still have to get through Fed Chair Powell’s Jackson Hole speech on Friday at 10AM EST. The conclusion is the same. Be patient, let the market prove itself, and keep positions light until we see better consistency from the institutions.

Regarding “proving itself,” it’s nice to see many names on our watch list getting back above their 50-day moving averages so far this week. It’s a step in the right direction, but I would still like to see those stocks hold above that level. It will be interesting to observe if Nvidia’s earnings will help the Nasdaq Composite get back above its 50-day, or if it will take more time. Either way, I’m going to take this day-by-day and remain patient. I’m happy with the entry points of my new adds last week and I will continue to observe the price action. Thank you and good luck for the remainder of the week.

Unusual Option Activity:
8/23/23 Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) opening seller 3000 January 2025 $157 puts for $6.88
8/23/23 Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) also 3000 June 2025 $155 puts sold to open $7.82
8/23/23 S&P 500 ETF (SPY) big seller of March $411 puts today 7500X for over $7M premium
8/23/23 Nike (NKE) sale to open 800 April 85 puts for 4.15
8/23/23 Netflix (NFLX) with 1500 March $450 calls sold to open down to $49.50
8/23/23 Halliburton (HAL) opening seller 1100 April 33 puts for 2.02
8/23/23 Cheniere Energy (LNG) with 1400 Sept 22nd $155 puts sold to open $1.45
8/23/23 Devon Energy (DVN) seeing a block of 4500 Sept 29th $44 puts sell to open for $0.45
8/23/23 Novo Nordisk (NVO) 1000 OTM Sep 200 calls bought 1.15
8/23/23 Novo Nordisk (NVO) with 1000 November 200 calls buying $6.90 to $7.70
8/23/23 UnitedHealth (UNH) with 1000 Dec $520 calls bought at $13.20, adjusting $540 calls
8/23/23 Snowflake (SNOW) into earnings seeing 1000 November $180 calls sold to open at $8.21
8/23/23 Workday (WDAY) reports tomorrow PM and seeing buys of 700 March $260 calls for $15.60
8/23/23 Nvidia (NVDA) size buy 1000 Sep. 29th (W) $520 calls $16.55 to $16.60 into earnings
8/23/23 Nvidia (NVDA) large buys 3750 Oct. $470 calls in adjustment trades for over $16M
8/23/23 Meta (META) 1000 Sep. 8th (W) $302.5 calls bought 4.40 offer
8/23/23 Meta (META) also with 2400 Oct $290 calls bought for $20.15
8/23/23 Oracle (ORCL) seeing way OTM March $140 calls buy to open 4500X at $4.80 offers
8/23/23 Microsoft (MSFT) with 1750 Feb. 260 puts selling to open 4.40 to 4.35
8/23/23 Microsoft (MSFT) also buyer of 4000 February $360/$405 call spreads for $10.10
8/23/23 Cadence Design (CDNS) opening sale 700 January $240 puts $17.85
8/22/23 Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) with an opening sale 3000 May $185 puts for $11.41
8/22/23 Nasdaq 100 ETF (QQQ) 2000 March $360 calls bought for $6M, the March $365 calls bought 4500X for $12.5M
8/22/23 Nasdaq 100 ETF (QQQ) also 2500 Dec. 2024 $355 puts sold to open for $25.77
8/22/23 Lululemon (LULU) seeing 200 Oct $390 ITM puts sold to open for $28 down to $26.60, reports 8/31
8/22/23 Nike (NKE) with 1200 April $90 puts sold to open $4.65
8/22/23 Wynn Resorts (WYNN) massive buy 27,900 Dec. $80 calls for $18.30, adjusts Sep 90
8/22/23 Dominos Pizza (DPZ) 300 December $400 puts sells to open $31.02
8/22/23 Apache (APA) with 1000 April $37.50 calls bought 9.78 to open
8/22/23 Diamondback Energy (FANG) large opening seller of 2000 Oct $145 puts for $4.40
8/22/23 Exxon (XOM) with 4000 November $120 calls sold to open $1.68 to $1.66
8/22/23 Apple (AAPL) seeing massive opening sales for 15,000 October $185 ITM puts for $9.44
8/22/23 Unity Software (U) large late day buy of 7000 Nov $37 calls for $3.06, name popular with put sellers lately
8/22/23 Nvidia (NVDA) 1000 Dec. 2025 $850/$400 bull risk reversals for a credit of $16.30
8/22/23 Nvidia (NVDA) also opening sales for 1100 Sept 22nd $395 puts for $9.65 to $9.25,
seeing a floor just under 400 level which has been consistent with a lot of put sales longer term
8/22/23 Nvidia (NVDA) large trades for March 2024 with 3000 of the $400 calls bought, 3000 of the $550 calls sold, and 1000 of the $700 calls bought
8/21/23 Dow Jones ETF (DIA) with 3000 Dec $350 calls opening $8.90 as September adjust
8/21/23 S&P 500 ETF (SPY) block 5000 Dec 2024 $365 puts sold to open 11.63
8/21/23 Nike (NKE) block of 7520 October $105 calls sells to open for 4.60
8/21/23 Chipotle (CMG) buyer 160 October $1860 calls $82 to $82.50
8/21/23 Uber (UBER) unusual buy of 4000 max strike April 70 OTM calls for 0.78 to 0.80
8/21/23 Marathon Petro (MPC) buyer 300 Dec. 2025 $140 calls $32.80
8/21/23 Hess (HES) opening seller 500 September $155 puts 4.10
8/21/23 Phillips 66 (PSX) with 2000 November $105 puts sold to open for $3
8/21/23 AstraZeneca (AZN) opening seller 5000 September $66 puts for 0.65
8/21/23 Meta (META) trading over 3000 December 2025 $270 ITM calls for over $30M
8/21/23 Nvidia (NVDA) with 1500 Sept 8th (W) $450 calls bought $27 to $31.80 ahead of earnings this week
8/21/23 Nvidia (NVDA) also seeing 1000 October $500 ITM puts sell to open $71.50 and lower
8/21/23 Snowflake (SNOW) with 1200 Sep. 1st (W) $130 puts sold to open 2.02 ahead of earnings
8/21/23 Marvell Tech (MRVL) buyers 4850 weekly $66 calls into earnings
8/21/23 Marvell Tech (MRVL) also with 2275 November 50 puts sold to open 2.11
8/21/23 Arista Networks (ANET) with 250 January 2025 $200 calls sold to open $33
8/21/23 Google (GOOG) buyer 3000 Sep. 1st (W) $131 calls for 1.97
8/21/23 Apple (AAPL) with 1000 February 170 puts sold to open down to 8.60
8/21/23 Micron (MU) opening sale 750 June 2025 $52.5 puts for 6.70
8/21/23 Salesforce (CRM) opening seller 1000 November 190 puts $5.65
8/18/23 Oracle (ORCL) late day buyers of 2000 September 1st $117 calls at $2.66, adjusting Aug 25th calls
8/18/23 Amazon (AMZN) buyers for 1150 April $135 calls at $16.25
8/18/23 Meta (META) large late day opening sales of 1550 September 2024 $310 calls for $42.75 bids
8/18/23 Nvidia (NVDA) another massive longer dated opening sale late in the day for 4000 Dec 2025 $430 puts sold at $96.50