Link to FREE MarketSmith Access this week: https://shop.investors.com/offer/splashresponsive.aspx?id=MarketSmith-Free-Access&src=A00459A&refcode=JF_Links

The 10 Worst S&P 500 Weeks of the Year: https://twitter.com/WayneWhaley1136/status/1698774223823528164

Topics covered:
1) 0:00 Announcements
2) 1:00 Market Commentary and Index Review (Nasdaq Composite, S&P 500, and Russell 2000)
3) 9:15 FOCUS LIST: NVDA, MSFT, ORCL, ADBE, CELH, LLY, NOW, UBER
4) 14:05 Stock Review – Software: IGV (ETF), CRM, CDNS, SNPS, WDAY, APP, AYX, GWRE
5) 16:10 Stock Review – Energy: XLE (ETF), XOP (ETF), OIH (ETF), SLB, HAL, MPC, VLO, DINO
6) 17:15 Stock Review – Watch List/General Ideas/Commentary: SMH (ETF), ONTO, CLS, FN, VRT, NVO, TSLA, CAMT
7) 19:40 Conclusion/Summary

Market Summary:
Over the past several videos, I discussed the reasons to expect weakness in the markets during the second half of September. Two options I presented to members had to do with your timeframe. If you are a shorter-term trader, I discussed reducing exposure and using lighter positions for any new buys. If you are a longer-term investor, I mentioned that you will likely have to deal with some volatility over the near-term. Either way, I said many times to be patient as we get through this seasonally weak period. I also discussed the theme of using lighter positions for any new buys.

I received some emails from members telling me they are very frustrated with this market. I can’t stress this enough: Don’t beat yourself up and protect your confidence! We’re all going to make mistakes in the markets. They key is to learn from those mistakes, so we can minimize them in the future and constantly make progress. Please understand there are times when the market will be consolidating and pulling back. It’s not only important to identify these times, but also important to show some patience and discipline during these periods. Again, protect your mind and please be patient.

From here, I am looking for more stocks to set up, signs of the selling to slow down, and for sentiment to reach higher levels of bearishness. I will continue to work for you and present the strong relative strength names that are holding up well during this consolidation, but please be patient. I still think we will see strength in the fourth quarter. We just have to wait for better signs of health to show up and eventually a follow through day. If you have any questions, you can ask them during the next webinar, which will be this Monday, September 25th at 7PM EST. Also, don’t forget that MarketSmith is providing FREE access this week. You can use the link above to sign up. Thank you and good luck for the remainder of the week!

Unusual Option Activity:
9/20/23 S&P 500 ETF (SPY) block of 1500 June 2025 $410 puts sold to open for $20.43
9/20/23 Nasdaq 100 ETF (QQQ) block of 1000 June 2025 $370 puts sold to open for $31.75
9/20/23 Nasdaq 100 ETF (QQQ) also buyers in Oct $369 calls today for over $3.5M
9/20/23 Homebuilders ETF (ITB) large opening seller of 1750 Jan 2025 $80 ITM calls at $13.25
9/20/23 Tesla (TSLA) Sept 29th (W) $277.50 calls sold to open 10,000X $3.65 to $3.50
9/20/23 Tesla (TSLA) also large buys in Oct 27th (W) $270 calls 5000X trading $9.5M premium
9/20/23 Walmart (WMT) buyer of 2700 Oct 27th $170 calls for $0.75 offers
9/20/23 Pinduoduo (PDD) seeing 1875 June $115/$75 bull risk reversals open at $5 debits
9/20/23 MGM Resorts (MGM) opening seller 500 December 2025 $38 puts $6.15
9/20/23 Schlumberger (SLB) opening seller 2500 Oct. 58 puts for 0.98
9/20/23 Morgan Stanley (MS) large buyer of 1750 April $70 deep ITM calls for $20.60
9/20/23 Citigroup (C) afternoon buyer 2000 November $40 calls ITM 3.55 to 3.60
9/20/23 Pfizer (PFE) with 1640 January 2026 $32.50 puts sold to open $3.90
9/20/23 Viking Therapeutics (VKTX) buyers of 3900 October $16 calls at $0.40 to $0.45 offers
9/20/23 Union Pacific (UNP) seller to open 1000 February 190 puts for 3.20
9/20/23 Amazon (AMZN) with 1400 April $115 puts sold to open at $3.85, adjusting Oct $120 short puts
9/20/23 Advanced Micro (AMD) 1350 Oct $101 calls bought for $5.50
9/20/23 Meta (META) buyer 1000 January 2025 $300/$500 call spreads
9/20/23 Texas Instruments (TXN) December $150 puts sold to open 2000X at 2.70
9/20/23 Datadog (DDOG) with 1000 January 2025 $92.5 puts sold to open $17.85
9/20/23 Microsoft (MSFT) large opening sale of 500 Dec $370 deep ITM puts at $44.27, adjusting $275 puts
9/20/23 Lam Research (LRCX) opening sale of 100 Jan 2025 $630 puts at $95.60
9/19/23 On Holding (ONON) buyers 2000 April $25 puts 2.05 to 2.15
9/19/23 On Holding (ONON also 1300 April $30 puts bought $4.50 offer
9/19/23 Toyota Motor (TM) with 825 January $190 calls bought $14.20
9/19/23 Target (TGT) buyer of another 1500 Nov $120 calls $5.89 where size bought yesterday, adjusting Oct 125
9/19/23 Target (TGT) trade opens 1500 Sept 2024 $160/$100 bull risk reversals for a 2.20 credit
9/19/23 Kellogg (K) with 1000 Jan 2025 $55 puts sold to open $3.31
9/19/23 Nike (NKE) opening seller of 500 Dec 2024 $92.50 puts at $9.20, earnings 9/28
9/19/23 Uber (UBER) block of 5000 November $40 puts sold to open 0.74
9/19/23 Halliburton (HAL) with 650 April $50 calls bought at $1.93 offers
9/19/23 Noble (NE) with 1200 March $55 calls bought $4.20 to $4.30
9/19/23 DexCom (DXCM) opening seller 300 March 90 calls $14.40 to $14.30
9/19/23 Bristol Myers (BMY) trade opens 1500 Jan 2025 $65/$57.5 bull risk reversals at a credit of 1.20
9/19/23 Boeing (BA) opening sale 500 April $170 puts at $5.80 and 500 of the $150 puts at $2.82
9/19/23 US Steel (X) opening sale 10,000 Dec $26 puts $0.54 after guidance raise and reports of 3 to 4 bidders
9/19/23 Sigma Lithium (SGML) buyer of 1500 November 42/50 call spreads for $1.95
9/19/23 Arista Networks (ANET) opening sale 700 December $160 puts $4.50
9/19/23 Meta (META) seeing 3700 Dec $345 calls sell to open at $8.10, adjusts the $360 short calls
9/19/23 Meta (META) also with 1500 February $220 puts sold to open $3.85
9/19/23 Salesforce (CRM) with 1000 December $230/$260 call spreads bought for $4.97
9/19/23 Salesforce (CRM) also with 1450 April 160 puts selling to open 2.66
9/19/23 Camtek (CAMT) continues to see unusual bull flow with 1000 Feb $60/$75 call spreads bought for $4.20
9/19/23 Amazon (AMZN) with 1100 January 2026 $130 calls bought near $38 on average
9/19/23 Palo Alto (PANW) massive buy 2950 Jan. 2025 $280 calls for $28.69
9/18/23 Colgate (CL) opening seller 10,000 June $60 puts for 0.70 to 0.65
9/18/23 Colgate (CL) also with 10,000 May $60 puts selling to open 0.65 to 0.55
9/18/23 Shopify (SHOP) opening sales 5000 November $50 puts $0.99 to $0.95
9/18/23 Shopify (SHOP) also with opening sales of 5000 Oct 6th $62 calls for $1.48
9/18/23 Papa John (PZZA) opening sale 3375 November $67.5 puts $1.30
9/18/23 Las Vegas Sands (LVS) buyer 1500 January $50 calls here for $3.60 offer
9/18/23 Dicks Sporting (DKS) opening seller 1200 Jan. 2025 $150 calls 7.20 bid
9/18/23 Citigroup (C) with 5000 December $42 calls bought $2.47 to $2.50
9/18/23 Visa (V) buyer 1500 November $255 calls for $2.95
9/18/23 UnitedHealth (UNH) opening sales of 480 March $520 calls at $17.60 to $17.10
9/18/23 Boeing (BA) with 5000 November $205 puts sold to open $7.97 as October $205 short puts adjust
9/18/23 US Steel (X) opening seller 5000 April $24 puts 0.56
9/18/23 Nvidia (NVDA) seeing 1920 Oct. 13th (W) $470 calls bought $6.80 offers
9/18/23 Advanced Micro (AMD) seeing large late day buyers here for 1100 March $95 ITM calls at $17.25 to $17.75
9/18/23 Amazon (AMZN) seeing a midday buyer of 6000 October $148 calls at $1.49
9/18/23 Nasdaq 100 ETF (QQQ) size buyer in Oct. 6th (W) $371 calls $6.52 to $6.60 to open 5000X
9/18/23 Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) with 7500 October 6th $179/$169 put spreads bought for $1.18, adjusting Sept 29th spreads
9/18/23 Dow Jones ETF (DIA) large opening sale of 1000 December 2025 $310 puts for $14.61
9/18/23 S&P 500 ETF (SPY) large buyer of 5110 Sept 2024 $410 puts at $14.04, adjusting out from March $370 puts and a likely hedge