Ethereum has been a disaster.

Relative to the benchmark in crypto (Bitcoin), Ethereum has trended straight down for the last two and a half years.

If the ETHBTC ratio was a chart of a company's stock versus the S&P 500, shareholders would question the CEO's ability to deliver value.

And I think this trend of Ethereum underperforming continues.

UNLESS, the Ethereum / Solana ratio can get back above these lows.

Thinking out loud, you know what would be absolutely hilarious?

If this was in the fact the bottom.

Just like how energy bottomed and commodities finally began outperforming stocks when Crude went negative, imagine if this trend of Solana outperformance ended on the President launching a Solana memecoin.

Honestly, it makes sense symbolically.

I just need to see this trend reverse. And in order for that to happen, the ETHSOL ratio needs to reclaim these lows.

And until it does, I think there are better opportunities in crypto outside Ethereum.

But it’s not just crypto where opportunities are appearing. Retail stocks are catching my attention, and there’s no one better to break it all down than JC...

In today's Flow Show, Steve Strazza and I discuss what feels like the birth of a new leg higher for this ongoing, but recently struggling bull market.

And while I was lamenting the performance of $AAPL lately, Steve showed me the mirror opposite: $AMZN.

Watch this video to see how we arrived at today's trade, and see the details below: 

Here's the Play:

I like buying an $AMZN June 250/300 Bull Call Spread for an approximately $9.65 net debit. This means I'll buy the June 250 calls and sell an equal amount of the 300 calls. And this debit I pay today represents the most I can lose if I'm dead wrong:

Amazon has earnings coming up on Thursday, February 6th. I'm mindful of this, in fact, I think it could be the catalyst that shoots this stock higher. But if I'm wrong, my risks are defined to the debit I paid.

For risk management purposes, I'll exit this spread if either one of the following conditions is met:

1. $AMZN sees a closing price below $215 at any time during my hold. Or,

2. The value of this spread...

In today’s Daily Digest, we’ll review the following:

1. No new positions today.
2. Rolled TLT position to March options.
3. Exited KRE position.
4. Current status of open campaigns.
5. Volatility Snapshot.

Let’s dig in!

The replay of last night's LIVE video Conference Call is now available for Premium Members of ASC Research. 

Click here to sign up and catch up on the replay, download the 100+ charts and review each of the new trade ideas.

It's really something fascinating to witness.

Both retail investors and the professionals are scared shitless, in the middle of a bull market!

We just saw the...

From the Desk of Steve Strazza @Sstrazza

When investing in the stock market, we always want to approach it as "a market of stocks."

Regardless of the environment, there are always stocks showing leadership and trending higher.

We may have to look harder to identify them depending on current market conditions. But there are always stocks that are going up.

The same can be said for weak stocks. Regardless of the environment, there are always stocks that are going down, too. 

We already have multiple scans focusing on stocks making all-time highs, such as Hall of Famers, Minor Leaguers, and the 2 to 100 Club.

We filter these universes for stocks that are exhibiting the best momentum and relative strength characteristics. 

Clearly, we spend a lot of time identifying and writing about leading stocks every week, via multiple reports.

...

As precious metal investors, it's paramount to rotate between the metals themselves and mining companies to maximize our long-term gains.

The miners have historically treated shareholders poorly, but sometimes, it pays handsomely to own them.

Last week, we outlined a key level of interest in one of our favorite intermarket ratios. Based on this chart, we believe now is the time to buy the miners.

But it's not just the miners that've rewarded us for being long. The futures contracts are also trending higher, and we're looking to buy more on strength.

Donald Trump gets inaugurated today as the next president of the United States.

This comes after a historic republican landslide that betting markets had absolutely correct going into the election.

Anyone who thought it was 4 guys in a room manipulating the markets were actually just hoping that was the case, because they didn't like what the betting markets were saying.

Tough shit.

You ignored the market and it cost you. 

Bitcoin is making new all-time highs this morning as the first Publicly Pro-Crypto President in history is about to take office.

You don't have to like the guy. In fact, you can hate Trump. Or love him. It doesn't matter when it comes to how we're going to profit from it.

And that's what this is all about.

If you let your politics influence your decision making in the market, you're an extremist. And there's no room for extremism in turning a profit.

Separate the two, or it will not end well. That I promise you.

And we've seen it over the last year.

Many of the...

From the Desk of Steve Strazza @Sstrazza.

Welcome back to Under the Hood, where we'll cover all the action for the two weeks ended January 3, 2025. This report is published bi-weekly, in rotation with The Minor Leaguers.

What we do here is analyze the most popular stocks during the week and find opportunities to either join in and ride these momentum names higher, or fade the crowd and bet against them.

We use a variety of sources to generate the list of most popular names.

There are so many new data sources available that all we need to do is organize and curate them in a way that shows us exactly what we want: a list of stocks that are seeing an unusual increase in investor interest.

Click here for a behind-the-scenes look at our process.

Whether we’re measuring increasing interest based on large institutional purchases, unusual options activity, or simply our proprietary lists of trending tickers, there’s...

This is a bull market for stocks. If you're not making money in this environment, then you should probably reevaluate your strategies. 

I know for a fact that I've witnessed individuals, who are clearly mentally ill, fight this historic rally pretending that there's some kind of epic credit crisis coming any day now (for over 2 years lol).

Whether it's fake breadth deterioration, or the "yen carry trade", or lies about Gold sending some kind of warning, or the Fed ruining everything, or small-caps underperforming, or Trump and his Magas. 

It's always something. 

These people will make up anything in their heads, no matter how outrageous, in order to justify poor decisions. Their egos are too fragile. 

Good.

It might be a little sad to have to watch them ruin their lives. But it's great for us who recognize their vulnerabilities and have chosen to just profit from it all instead.

You see, when I hear credit crisis, I naturally look at credit spreads to see what's going on.

The answer is: NOTHING.

Still nothing...

Credit spreads are as tight as they've been this entire bull market:

If...

From the shores of New Zealand, the political landscape of the United States unfolds like a peculiar theater production. Not the usual drama of left versus right, we've all seen enough of that, but rather a new kind of spectacle that blurs the lines between leadership, technology, and what can only be described as digital gambling.

Look, I'm not here to claim some kind of moral high ground from my corner of the South Pacific. New Zealand, for all its postcard perfection, grapples with its own demons: poor economic productivity, a culture of tall poppy syndrome, and mental health statistics that would make any policymaker wince. Every nation carries its own burden of imperfection.

But the United States? It has managed to craft something uniquely concerning in the intersection of power and profit.

Take the long-standing tradition of American politicians trading stocks. While this practice isn't exclusive to the U.S., what sets it apart is the conspicuous absence of robust conflict of interest controls. The response from the trading community has been surprisingly cavalier: "Why complain? Just follow their disclosures and profit alongside them." It's a...