.

Laurie’s Abbreviation Index:

** ‘div’ – dividend 

** ‘m/m’ – month over month

** ‘y/y’ – year over year

** ‘Inven’ – inventories

** ‘mfg’ – manufacturing 

** +/- – plus or minus, positive or negative

** Underlined text – higher volume premarket

** ‘d’ – day

** ‘Y’ – year

**govt – government 

Color Key: Positive – Neutral – Negative

Market Setup- Pre-730ET

Global Markets:  USA, Europe, Japan, China, Hong Kong – neutral set-up

·         Commodities:  Gold, Silver, Copper,  Palladium, Oil, natgas, AGGS,  Bitcoin

·         Yields: 30Y Bond +0.36%  Currencies:  USA$ -0.44% CAD +0.18% YEN +1.23%  BTC/USD-1.8%  Vix:18.45

·         Events: USA: CB Consumer confidence 10ET

·         Stock News: GM+4%,  UPS+3.3%,  RTX+3%, AAL+3%, KMB+1%, UNH-16%, BA-0.4%, NUE-2%, ROP-4.3%  EPS

·          Equity: USA indices higher overnight with QQQ outperforming and MAGS led by AAPL (yesterdays idea!) and GOOGL. AI basket is being bought with MU higher on announcement of a new fab in Singapore which though will take years to build, stock spikes premarket:) Smaller software stocks are rising from the dead as either shorts cover ahead of earnings  or someone thinks there is value. IGV, HACK may be turning and companies like TWLO, ZM had big moves and retail fave NET is higher premarket. Meme has been that AI can damage software companies which may be true but Rome is not built in a day. US$ and bonds lower is potentially due to Japanese intervention concerns or foreigners reducing USA exposure. Precious metals continue to be strong with caution that silver intraday vol is off the charts. In theory lower US$ is positive for commodities and foreign stocks, especially commodity producers.  Biggest losers are healthcare insurers which were bludgeoned with Medicaid 2027 pricing increase lower than expectations. UNH which has been in a world of pain -15% and due to it’s price is a big drag in the DIA.  UNH has moved lower 2.5 the expected move so extremely “oversold” but no idea if WH will Taco on Medicaid funding nor what the fair price is given the change in fundamentals. SPX positioning indicates large position at 6980 with potential for large moves on deviation above and below. QQQ 630 is the top of the daily expected move and the call wall so premarket is at a key level where potential to squeeze higher but odds favor reversion. SPY 695 is top of daily expected move and a major gamma level and hence can squeeze, stall or reverse. SPX 6950 would be a level to watch on reversion and 7000 is the call wall glittering in the bull’s eyes.

Daily Expected Move. SPX(6975-6926)  SPY(695-690) QQQ(630-621)  IWM(266-262)

Stocks to watch AAPL GOOGL MSFT MU GLW HUM UNH CVS Speculative RDW NET CRWV RDDT USAR
Indices SLV GDX  ARKX SMH XLK KWEB ARKK EFA UFO GLD QQQ NUKZ MAGS UNG XLV TLT UUP XLE

S&P500 GLW HCA MU GM RTX AKAM UPS INTC CRWD IVZ  HUM UNH CVS ELV MOH BRO ROP CAG NUE
Other RDW NET UMC CRWV QBTS AAL IONQ VNET APLD SBSW IREN NBIS HL RDDT CRML USAR

STX

STX is a storage company that  was a sleepy low growth name until May 2025 when market jumped onto storage for AI and lifted companies like STX by 200% and has lifted WDC, MU, Hynix and Samsung. Option positioning is UBER bullish with calls bid and IV very high. Expected move is +/-36. Call wall is 350 and price can squeeze above and 320 is the put wall which can lead to lower levels. Given the high IV,  STX will need to blow out expectations or potentially pullback even with “beat”. MU and WDC will move in sympathy with STX and can be used as proxies. STX forecast may also spill into AI expectations.  STX has thin options but one could use MU as a proxy and consider calendars as a  strategy for directional trades.