Recently, I had the pleasure of joining Michael Martin on his Trader Mindset podcast for a deep and honest conversation about what it really takes to trade in volatile markets.

One of the biggest takeaways I shared — and something I’ve been reflecting on a lot lately — is that these days, I’m more focused on finding strategies to keep my head on straight than I am on searching for new trading strategies with some theoretical edge.

Because here’s the hard truth: without a clear, steady mindset, even the best strategy in the world will eventually fail me.

Of course, Michael and I also dug into how volatility — especially as measured by the VIX — shapes the playing field for traders, particularly those of us in the options world. We explored how elevated VIX levels impact trade selection, timing, and risk management, and why high volatility environments demand a different, more nimble approach.

One of the key themes we kept circling back to was the psychological side of trading. Because let’s face it: when the market’s flying all over the place and my P&L is jumping around just as fast, my internal state can become my biggest...

US equities are officially the laggards of the world.

The S&P 500 is underperforming just about every stock market around the globe this year.

After four months of steady underperformance, a growing list of international indexes are making new 52-week highs relative to the US.

While these ratios might be stretched over the short-term, when you zoom out, they are taking the shape of primary trend reversals.

All this tells us is to expect more leadership from international stocks in the future. I think we should get used to a global market of stocks that is no longer dominated by the United States.

And this is great news. Participation broadening around the world simply means more investment opportunities for us.

So I’m all about international these days. The first watchlist and chartbook I’m looking at most mornings is our international ETF universe. 

From the Desk of Steve Strazza @Sstrazza and Ricardo Sarraf @nullcharts

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...

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

1. New position in USO.
2. No adjustments are needed today.
3. No exits since the last report.
4. Current status of open campaigns.
5. Volatility Snapshot.

Let’s dig in!

The bulls are saying its global rotation, and the bears are saying it won’t work without US stocks.

Both takes make sense. But, they’re just takes. 

Here’s where we are…

Stock markets around the world experienced fierce selloffs back in March. 

Then in April, this bearish action was followed by some of the most historic rallies in recent history.

There was broad participation to the downside. And now we’re seeing the same in the opposite direction. We’re in the middle of a synchronized global rebound rally.

And every country, region, factor, sector, and industry group looks different. They all come with their own unique characteristics in terms of how much they sold off, how resilient they were, and now, how strong they are, measured by the bounce.

So, while some things obviously look better than others, and some groups still look...

Do you remember when The Economist magazine cover had a rocket ship covered in United States dollars last year?

They said the United States was "The envy of the world."

It was so cringe...

The dollar got blasted over the next several months, and the U.S. stock market had its worst quarter in decades relative to the rest of the world.

Like any other type of market analysis, fading magazine covers is more of an art than a science.

We don't want to fade a trend just because there's a magazine cover.

The dollar was extremely overbought in the prior example, and the COT positioning tipped us off to a potential move in the opposite direction.

We waited for the market to confirm our bias, managed our risk, and made a ton of money.

Fast forward to today, and the latest Barron's magazine cover highlighted a stack of Gold bars and said:

"Investors are loading up on the metal as a haven in chaotic times. How long can it last?"

This comes as Gold futures are running into...

This weekend, I shared a story about a young woman who asked me how she could set herself up for future financial success. I told her that the best education comes from living life fully—scars, stories, and all. Your response to that post was overwhelming, and I’m grateful for the thoughtful feedback. Today, I want to highlight one reader’s note that struck a chord and dive deeper into what it means to embrace our “life education.”

A reader, Julius, wrote to me with this reflection:

I agree with you about life. From my experience and perspective, the greatest education doesn’t come from school, books, courses, or TED talks but from living life to the fullest…

As you stated, the best education comes from the life you have lived and the scars to show for it. Then you’re left with the story to tell about it. Years ago, I stopped thinking of those scars as mistakes, failures, or regrets. Instead, I think of them all as outcomes…

Had I kept beating myself up over all my so-called mistakes and failures,...

Today's trade is in a name that has been on my radar for a couple of weeks. I've been waiting for a trigger. And today, we're getting it.

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 April 25, 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.

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

1. No new positions today.
2. Rolling ARKK into June options.
3. Closed XLP at profit target.
4. Current status of open campaigns.
5. Volatility Snapshot.

Let’s dig in!

Yesterday, I was flat on my back, getting professionally stretched, my body creaking like an old door. It’s a bi-weekly ritual I lean into hard—it keeps me flexible, and helps me heal from years of grinding through life’s chaos. The woman working me over, a 24-year-old just starting her career, hit me with a question out of nowhere: “You’ve been around—what’ve you done to set yourself up financially that I should know?”

I laughed. A real, barking laugh.

“You’re asking me? You think I’ve got my shit together?” Her question caught me off guard, like a jab to the ribs. I’m no sage. My financial path looks more like a drunken stumble than a victory lap.

All I could give her at the moment was a half-assed list of regrets. “Here’s what I didn’t do,” I said, my voice trailing off. Don’t skip saving early, even if it’s just a few bucks a month. Don’t bet big on “sure thing” investments that crash and burn—I’ve got scars from those. Don’t let pride stop you from asking for help when you’re drowning...

It wasn’t the TED Talk she deserved. It felt like I was reading my failures out loud, each one a reminder...