Topics covered:
1) 0:00 Announcements
2) 0:35 Market Commentary and Index Review (Nasdaq Composite, S&P 500, and Russell 2000)
3) 9:50 Stock Review – Aerospace/Defense: SHLD (ETF), RTX, PLTR, KTOS, RKLB, MRCY
4) 12:15 Stock Review – Others/General Ideas/Commentary: SFM, NGVC, UBER, WGS, GH, CRWD, RYTM, SMMT, ADMA, NFLX, VRTX, SPOT, META, TSLA, NVDA, GOOGL, SEZL, TMDX
5) 16:55 Conclusion/Summary

Market Summary:
Over the past 6 to 8 weeks, I’ve been emphasizing “defense, defense, defense.” Why? Because the major indexes are below their 200-day moving averages, and the price action of growth stocks is very poor. From here, I would like to see 5 things in order to feel more confident that a new SUSTAINED uptrend might be coming: 1) Signs that the selling is slowing down. 2) One (preferably two) follow through days (FTD). 3) The major indexes to regain their 50-day. 4) The price action of stocks to improve. 5) Sentiment to get washed out. Again, this will take time to develop, but in the meantime, I will keep curating a list of stocks holding up well and observe how they act.

In this video, I discuss four topics: 1) I remind members that the major indexes are still below their 200-day moving averages, and that defense is still required. 2) The technical break we had in the market over the past two months will take time to recover from. I’ve been estimating that the next powertrend will occur in the second half of this year. 3) Of course, I will be open-minded. If we get more clarity on tariffs and/or accommodative measures from the Fed, I have no problem changing my mind if the facts change. 4) In the meantime, I will always curate a list of stocks holding up well. Just please keep in mind that breakouts rarely work in corrective markets. If they DO start to work, don’t have FOMO. There will be plenty of time to make money once we see healthier conditions. Thank you and enjoy the remainder of your long weekend.

Unusual Options Activity:
4/17/25 Nasdaq 100 ETF (QQQ) 1500 Dec 2026 $549.78/$404.78 bull risk reversals open for $8.80 credit
4/17/25 Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) buyers of 33,000 May $177 puts at $3.28 to $3.50
4/17/25 Dow Jones ETF (DIA) opening sales of 1300 June $380 puts at $9.80 to $9.45
4/17/25 Silver ETF (SLV) with 20,000 Oct $27 calls bought at $4.12 as April $25 adjust
4/17/25 China ETF (ASHR) opening sale of 25,500 May $26 calls at $0.57
4/17/25 China Internet ETF (KWEB) 10,000 July $27 puts bought up to $1.20
4/17/25 China Internet ETF (KWEB) also 26,000 June $28/$22 put spreads bought
4/17/25 Pharma ETF (PPH) 5000 May $80 puts bought $1.11
4/17/25 Estee Lauder (EL) 600 July $55 calls buy $5.75 offer
4/17/25 Roblox (RBLX) 2000 April 25th (W) $59 calls bought $2.45 offer
4/17/25 Elf Beauty (ELF) spreads selling 2000 June $40 puts to buy the $60/$75 call spreads
4/17/25 Netflix (NFLX) into earnings seeing a large buyer of 1800 June $1180 calls at $10.25
4/17/25 Sweetgreen (SG) 2,625 July $18 calls buying to open up to $3.60 offers
4/17/25 Cava Group (CAVA) 1325 May $80 puts sold to open $4.05
4/17/25 MGM Resorts (MGM) 1500 Jan 2027 $30 puts sold to open $6.22
4/17/25 Marathon Petro (MPC) opening sale 500 Sept $130 calls at $11.75
4/17/25 Cheniere Energy (LNG) buyer of 1000 May $240 calls $6.20 to $6.40
4/17/25 Citigroup (C) 3750 May 30th (W) $67 calls buy $1.24 offers
4/17/25 Visa (V) buyer of 350 Jan $310 ITM calls at $47.30 offer
4/17/25 Coinbase (COIN) 1500 August $145 puts selling to open $12.80
4/17/25 Novo Nordisk (NVO) buyers of 1000 August $65 calls at $4.15 to $4.25
4/17/25 Eli Lilly (LLY) buyers of 1300 July $890 calls
4/17/25 Rocket Lab (RKLB) buyers 2200 July $25 calls at $1.70
4/17/25 Oracle (ORCL) buyer 1000 May $135 calls $4.25
4/17/25 Nvidia (NVDA) buyer of 2700 Sept $100/$126 call spreads at $9.69
4/17/25 Nvidia (NVDA) massive buyer of 7000 June 2026 $59 calls at $49.95, adjusting the $60 calls
4/17/25 Arm Holdings (ARM) buyers of 2000 Jan $125 calls 12.90 to 13.10
4/17/25 Amazon (AMZN) 2870 May 9th (W) $165 calls sell to open $14.70
4/17/25 CrowdStrike (CRWD) buyer of 250 Dec 2026 $610 calls $37.30
4/17/25 Taiwan Semi (TSM) buyer of 1850 Oct $175 calls $9.39
4/17/25 Dell (DELL) opening sale of 1000 Dec 2027 $50 puts at $7.65
4/17/25 Meta (META) 2000 Jan 2027 $1000 calls bought $12.55 and higher
4/17/25 Vistra (VST) 400 July $135 calls bought $9
4/16/25 Russell 2000 ETF (IWW) buyers of 2400 August $190 calls at $10.70, over $2M
4/16/25 Nasdaq 100 ETF (QQQ) buyer of 1000 Nov $525 calls at $10.18
4/16/25 China Internet ETF (KWEB) sees 10,500 Sept $27 puts buying at $1.70
4/16/25 Walmart (WMT) 5800 May 23rd (W) $80 puts sell to open $0.80
4/16/25 Shopify (SHOP) buyer 1700 Jan $130 calls $4.35
4/16/25 Uber (UBER) large buyer of 3000 Nov $95 calls at $3.55 offers
4/16/25 Berkshire Hathaway (BRK/B) buyer of 600 July $520 calls at $28.10
4/16/25 Vertex Pharma (VRTX) large buyer of 1250 May $400 deep ITM calls at $96.70 as the April calls adjust
4/16/25 Google (GOOGL) buyer 1000 Oct $170/$190 call spreads
4/16/25 Oracle (ORCL) 5700 June $100 puts sell to open 1 .71
4/16/25 Nvidia (NVDA) block of 3000 June 2027 $80 puts sell to open at $14.05
4/16/25 Micron (MU) 1000 Jan 2027 $40 puts sell to open $4.25
4/16/25 Applied Materials (AMAT) buyer of 450 Dec $170 calls at $9.80, recent large insider buy
4/16/25 Taiwan Semi (TSM) block of 3000 July $110 puts sell to open $2.30
4/16/25 Vistra (VST) 200 October $115 puts sold to open for 19.70