Here we go with another round of our Top-Down Take post. At All Star Charts we like to keep things simple and look at the bigger picture. We let the charts speak to us and then decide what to do. Always remember, the Trend is our Friend.

Today we’re taking a look at the sector that seems to be rallying with a vengeance! The PSU Banks are out and about, finally enjoying their moment in the sun.

From the desk of Steve Strazza @Sstrazza.

We recently held February’s Monthly Conference Call which our Premium Members can access and rewatch here.

In this post, we’ll provide a summary of the call by highlighting 5 of the most important charts/topics we covered along with commentary on each.

Let’s dive into it.

The need to be right vs wanting to make money. Every trader has to solve this problem and it's not easy.

On this week's podcast I sit down with Dr. Andrew Menaker to talk about what he refers to as "Your Inner Market".

You guys already know how much I love a good chat about investor psychology, so this was really fun for me.

I hope you enjoy!

From the desk of Willie Delwiche.

Key takeaways:

• Both sales and earnings coming in better than expected
• Rising bond yields and higher inflation put pressure on valuations
• Excesses unlikely to be unwound while breadth remains strong & surprises are to the upside

Nearly three-quarters of the stocks in the S&P 500 have issued Q4 2020 earnings reports. The results have provided some cause for celebration. Earnings are now seen as rising 3%, versus an expected decline of 10% as of Dec. 31st. This is not strictly a function of shifting costs, write-offs and other methods of financial engineering. Sales in the quarter have surpassed expectations by more than 3%, the largest amount on record (going back to 2008). This eclipses the previous record which was set in Q3 2020. Companies in the S&P 500 have weathered the COVID-crisis much better than analysts had expected and that is being reflected in stock prices.

...

We're getting long oil.

There I said it. Now I'm going to go hide behind my oil derrick while the EV bros throw their rechargeable batteries at me.

Don't hate the player, hate the price action.

In lieu of our regular monthly options conference call to kick of February, as promised, here is a recording to the latest Members Only All Star Charts Conference call, hosted by JC Parets.

We held our February Monthly Conference Call on 16th which our Premium Members can access and rewatch here.

In this post, we'll share five of the most important charts along with JC's commentary of them and a brief explanation for each.

This is the video recording of the February 2021 Conference Call.

From the desk of Steve Strazza @sstrazza

At the beginning of each week, we publish performance tables for a variety of different asset classes and categories along with commentary on each.

Looking at the past helps put the future into context. In this post, we review the absolute and relative trends at play and preview some of the things we’re watching to profit in the weeks and months ahead.

We continue to harp on the risk-on themes that support our bullish macro thesis.

Rotation down the market-cap scale, commodity strength, and defensive alternatives making new relative lows have been some major themes we continue to see play out.

As participation continues to expand in both the US and abroad, we're being given more and more avenues to position ourselves in order to profit in the current environment.

While Tech and Growth still remain the secular leaders, even the perennial laggards such as...

From the desk of Willie Delwiche.

Key Takeaway: There is ample evidence of investor complacency, optimism, and aggressive risk-taking.

The behavior of the broad market (another breadth thrust last week and the weekly NYSE + NASDAQ new high list is at its highest level ever) suggests some of this may be justified.

Sentiment is likely to become a more acute headwind when rally participation narrows and/or optimism remains elevated in the face of market volatility.

For now, optimism has been revealed as a mile wide but only an inch deep, with concern rising the moment the market stops rallying.

If you're ignoring the Indian Stock Market, I think you're doing yourself a huge disservice.

Even if you never plan on trading stocks in India at any point in your life, it doesn't matter. There's amazing information coming from there.

For example, take a look at that relative strength in Indian Bank stocks before US Stocks, and Stocks in general, rallied throughout 2019. That was an epic rally, if you recall.

The Indian Banks had already been telling us that it was coming!