May 16th, 2023 Watch List

Stocks closed higher on Monday, with the S&P adding 30%, although the VIX also rose 2%. Asia markets closed mixed overnight while Europe indexes are flat. U.S. futures are pointing to a slightly lower open, the Dollar is higher while Yields, Oil, and Gold are all lower.

Last weeks chop fest resumed this week as stocks traded in another tight range, albeit to the upside. Have to think this tug-of-war will resolve soon and there will be a 3-5% move... I think it will be to the upside, but who knows. It is mostly about retail this week, with major retailers reporting earnings and April Retail sales numbers. The retail sales numbers came out this morning and missed estimates with conflciting revisions on the previous two months. Normally, it would be skewed as a negative for markets, but think this just shows that inflation has peaked and the rate hikes have helped slow demand. Still like the SPY for a move over $415 and the $420 test coming soon:

VKTX reported their NASH data this morning and it did not disappoint, meeting endpoints with not much in the way of adverse side-effects. So many shorts in the name that it seems that are trying to push it south in the pre-market:

If there is a bear case to be made on VKTX it is the time to market. A few years ago GILD spent over $1 bil on early stage NASH companies... here is VKTX with a superior NASH drug and a superior metabolic drug and it sports a $2.2 bil market cap(will be more than that at open). I can't see a path that does not lead this into the $30s and beyond in the coming weeks and months. If premiums come down on later dated strikes I will be looking for some calls to play for that move:

AI was rallying yesterday after announcing preliminary guidance and I went and added some weekly calls in the morning. I joked that they should just spin-off their stock ticker...

Joking aside, it probably adds a few hundred million to the companies valuation. Needless to say, the folks who have recently come out with short reports on AI were not addressed in the press-release yesterday morning... think that is a good sign. I locked most of my calls in and will likely close the rest today. This is a very divisive stock and can be up or down 10% in the coming days so don't want to risk the rest of the profits:

SSYS reported inline earnings this morning but then went and raised full-year guidance. Still holding my underwater May strikes, and will need a big move here, but may look to add some later dated calls again for the move above $18 in the coming weeks:

EDIT was up nearly 10% yesterday before pulling back to close up over 4% on no news. Still holding the last of my May strikes. If EDIT can break 10.72 and then its 200dma at $10.95 think it will be trading north of $14 in the coming weeks. Will look to add more calls today on strength and close the last of my May strikes:

I was looking to add some HD calls for earnings yesterday, but passed, as the stock was weak and I could not find any decent risk/reward strikes. This morning the stocks is gapping lower after posting a mix-bag and reporting its first yearly sales decline in 14 years. The type of headlines that makes me think it will bounce today. It is trading at $281 in the pre-market... may look to add some spec calls for a bounce to $290+ this week:

Still looking to add more SAGE and AXSM calls as well past May expiration:

And this is what I am watching today: HD, SAGE, AXSM, SRPT, ZYME, BLK, EXAS, OLED, RARE, GLD, SPOT, NFLX, W, VKTX, CMG, SHW, ABBV, GLD, ALGN, SAM, EDIT, BLK, SITE, SMG, and ULTA.

Let's have a great day!

-JB

JimmyBob (Scott)has been trading equities for over 15 years, a majority of which were OTC micro-cap stocks. He started trading high risk stock options over the past 7 years, and has proven winning trades in excess of 15,000%.

As one of the Co-Founders of optionmillionaires.com, Scott enjoys sharing his knowledge with other investors through timely blog posts, daily watch lists in the forum, weekly webinars, and helpful advice within the chatroom.

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