Author: Raj Gupta

Raj Gupta is Director, Research Analyst. After joining the firm in 2002 as a research analyst, Raj was appointed senior equity analyst in 2006, and lead senior equity analyst in 2014—largely because of his ability to select outperforming stocks. He acts as an expert in the O’Neil Methodology and contributes to the direction of product and service line development. He recommends securities for addition to or removal from the U.S. Focus List, or USFL, and the associated alerts to clients. During his tenure, he was part of the leadership that developed the Global Focus List, which marked the firm’s successful expansion into international equity recommendations. He is also a lead on the IPO Rewind report and contributes to weekly summaries on the performance of the U.S. market. Much of his expertise is delivered as highly customized service to clients. RAj earned his Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He began working at the firm directly out of college, driven by his passion for investing and stocks. An avid soccer player, he built and managed an adult league in the Los Angeles area, in which he still plays. He also enjoys international travel; he and his wife commit to at least one major adventure a year.

Market View

Posted on October 13, 2017October 20, 2017 by Raj Gupta

The U.S. market is in a Confirmed Uptrend. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq continue to trade at all-time highs with only one distribution day each. Leadership continues to broaden with five of 11 O’Neil sectors hitting a new high this week. We remain positive on the general market.
Stocks on our U.S. Focus List—Current Sentiment.

By Sector
Strength across the USFL came primarily from Technology. Semiconductors continue to grind higher with new highs this week in NVDA, MPWR, CY, AMAT, ON, and MCHP. AVGO is still lagging the group, despite retaking its 50-DMA. We are looking for the stock to break above $260 before adding to positions. Financial ideas within the USFL were also under accumulation this week. GPN, PYPL, and QTWO all hit new highs, and ESNT broke out of a flat base on Friday.

Market View

Posted on October 6, 2017October 7, 2017 by Raj Gupta

The U.S. market is in a Confirmed Uptrend. One of only two distribution days on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq wi expire at the close Monday. Leading ideas across all sectors continue to act well with multiple names hitting ne highs, breaking out of new bases, or bouncing off support levels. We remain positive on the general market. Stocks on our U.S. Focus List—Current Sentiment Our USFL of 69 ideas (two net weekly additions) gained 1.8% on average this week, outperforming the S&P 500 (1.2%) and the Nasdaq (1.5%).

By Sector

The rally continues to broaden with multiple sectors hitting new highs over the past week. Strength across the USFL came primarily from Software-related companies. ADSK, ALRM, NOW, PAYC, RHT, RNG, SSNC, and TTWO all hit fresh highs, while LOGM, RP, TYL, and WDAY all regained their respective 50-DMAs. Financials also led with ESNT, FRC, MS, PYPL, and SCHW all hitting new highs.

Market View

Posted on September 29, 2017October 5, 2017 by Raj Gupta

The U.S. market remains in a Confirmed Uptrend. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 bounced back under heavy accumulation, after a minor sell-off to start the week, while the Russell 2000 jumped out of a nine-month consolidation. All indices broke out into all-time highs. Market strength is due to accumulation in Technology (Semis) and Transports and a re emergence into Financials (Banks/Brokers). With the distribution day count falling to two days on the Nasdaq and S&P 500, we maintain a positive outlook as we head into Q4.

By Sector
Strength across the USFL this week was primarily from three sectors — Transportation, Technology, and Financials. Our lone Transportation idea, FDX, is emerging from cup consolidation after recently reporting Q1 results. Within Technology, a better-than-expected outlook from AMAT has contributed to strength in the entire Semiconductor space including MPWR and ON. In addition, software platform provider SSNC is breaking out of a flat base and remains actionable. Improvement in the 10-year brings many Financial stocks, specifically Banks and Brokers, in focus. FRC, MS, SCHW, and ESNT are all showing positive price action and are at or near a pivot point.

Market View

Posted on September 22, 2017October 5, 2017 by Raj Gupta

The U.S. market remains in a Confirmed Uptrend. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq avoided distribution this week despite pulling back just slightly off their all-time highs. The distribution day count is now very low at just two days on the S&P 500 and one on the Nasdaq. We will be looking for the 21-DMA to act as support should the market pullback again next week. The majority of leadership ideas continue to act well, still holding above short-term support levels. Stocks on our U.S. Focus List—Current Sentiment. Our USFL of 66 ideas gained 0.2% on average this week, outperforming the S&P 500 (0%) and the Nasdaq (-0.3%).

By Sector
Financial outperformed this week with multiple U.S. Focus List ideas regaining their respective 50-DMAs. MS, FRC, and SCHW are all now forming the right side of their respective bases, but have yet to break above resistance and into new highs. The sector continues to be led by the credit card/payment processor industry group. PYPL continues to grind into higher highs, showing no signs of technical weakness. Transportation has been the best performing sector over the last few weeks with our lone idea, FDX, breaking out of a nine-week flat base on Wednesday. Technology was mixed. ADBE, AVGO, and GRUB undercut their respective 50-DMAs, while PAYC and TTWO continue to hit all-time highs. Semiconductor ideas, AMAT and NVDA, remain actionable after breaking out over the last few weeks.

Market View

Posted on September 15, 2017October 5, 2017 by Raj Gupta

The U.S. market remains in a Confirmed Uptrend. Distribution fell to three days on the S&P 500 and just two days on the Nasdaq, with an additional day set to expire on both indexes next week. Leadership across multiple sectors continues to act well, with many ideas breaking out and hitting new highs. We remain positive on the general market. Stocks on our U.S. Focus List—Current Sentiment Our USFL of 65 ideas gained 0.4% on average this week, underperforming the S&P 500 (1.6%) and the Nasdaq (1.4%).

By Sector Technology, Retail, and Health Care ideas across the U.S. Focus list performed well this week. Within Technology, semiconductors are leading. MCHP and new idea ON both broke out from cup-with-handle bases and are both trading at all time highs. MPWR is back above its 50-DMA and is working on the right side of a new cup base. Within Retail, Internet names are outperforming. BABA broke out from an ascending base, and JD and AMZN both regained their respective 50-DMAs. Within Health Care, CELG, ALXN, ALGN, and ILMN are all trading at or near YTD highs.

Global Health Care Sector

Posted on September 13, 2017September 13, 2017 by Raj Gupta

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Market View

Posted on September 8, 2017October 17, 2019 by Raj Gupta

The U.S. market remains in an Uptrend Under Pressure. Next week, three distribution days will expire on the Nasdaq and two on the S&P 500. We are still looking for a heavy volume break into new highs before upgrading the market status. Conversely, if the market trades lower, we view the 100-DMA as a key level of support. Stocks on our U.S. Focus List—Current Sentiment Our USFL of 63 ideas lost 0.8% on average this week, underperforming the S&P 500 (-0.6%) but outperforming the Nasdaq (-1.2%).

By Sector Health Care led all sectors this week breaking into YTD highs. ABMD and RGEN both found support just below their respective 50-DMAs and are now both actionable. Among our five biotech ideas, ALXN, CELG, and VRTX remain actionable at or near new highs. New addition, ILMN, continues to trend higher after breaking above $200 late last week. Technology ideas also continue to act well with multiple USFL ideas reaching new highs this week. WB, ADBE, TTWO, MCHP, NOW, CRM, RHT, ATVI, and WDAY all hit fresh highs. Conversely, Financials came under heavy pressure. WAL and MKTX were removed from the USFL due to technical deterioration, while FRC and SCHW are now both trading below their respective 200-DMAs.

Market View

Posted on September 1, 2017September 6, 2017 by Raj Gupta

The U.S. market remains in an Uptrend Under Pressure. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq are now testing all-time highs after regaining their respective 50-DMAs earlier in the week. We will be looking for each to break into new highs in strong volume next week before shifting the market back into a Confirmed Uptrend.
Stocks on our U.S. Focus List—Current Sentiment
Our USFL of 63 ideas gained 3.1% on average this week, outperforming the S&P 500 (1.4%) and the Nasdaq (2.7%).

By Sector
Technology and Health Care led all sectors this week. 15 of our 26 Technology ideas hit new highs including WB, ADBE, CRM, RHT, PAYC, NOW, TTWO, RP, RNG, and ATVI. Health Care jumped on the back of big accu-mulation within the Biotech industry group. CELG and VRTX are both actionable, while REGN has retaken its 50-DMA. Basic Material also outperformed on the week. Our lone idea USCR broke above $80 resistance on 4x the average daily volume.

Market View

Posted on August 25, 2017August 25, 2017 by Raj Gupta

The U.S. market remains in an Uptrend Under Pressure. Distribution on the Nasdaq remains elevated at seven days. The index still has an A/D Rating of E and price continues to hit resistance around its 50-DMA and a newly formed downward trending channel line. Additionally, the U.S. Focus List count has fallen from 68 to 60 names over the past three weeks, with ~30% of the current list trading below their 50-DMAs. Going forward, we will be looking for distribution to subside and for price/volume action to improve on both the major averages and lead-ership ideas alike. We maintain our cautious stance on the general market.

Stocks on our U.S. Focus List—Current Sentiment
Our USFL of 60 ideas gained 0.7% on average this week, in-line with the S&P 500 (0.7%) and the Nasdaq (0.8%).

By Sector
Multiple Technology ideas on the U.S. Focus List continue to act well. QTWO, WB, PAYC, NOW, RHT, CRM, TTWO, ALRM, and ADBE are all trading at or near new highs. MDSO and VEEV are the two outliers, each under pressure following Q2 earnings results from VEEV. Health Care ideas also improved, though all ideas remain in consolidation. VRTX continues to consolidate constructively above its 50-DMA. Conversely, our lone Basic Mate-rial name, USCR, broke its 50-DMA in heavy volume on the back of weakness across the Cement group. The stock is now sitting just above its 200-DMA.

Market View

Posted on August 18, 2017October 5, 2017 by Raj Gupta

The U.S. market remains in an Uptrend Under Pressure. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq each picked up an additional distribution day this week and closed back below their respective 50-DMAs on Thursday. Distribution on the Nasdaq has now reached seven days with no expiration next week. We are now looking for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq to find support at their respective 100-DMAs, less than 1% below current levels. We continue to recommend a cautious approach, avoiding new buys in extended ideas (third-/fourth-stage bases) and reducing posi-tion sizes in ideas that have been living beneath their 50-DMAs.

Stocks on our U.S. Focus List—Current Sentiment
Our USFL of 61 ideas (including four removals) lost 0.4% on average this week, outperforming the S&P 500 (-0.6%) and the Nasdaq (-0.6%).

By Sector
Multiple Technology ideas on the U.S. Focus List acted well this week despite Thursday’s sell-off. WB, ALRM, RP, TTWO, RHT, RNG, and CRM are all trading at or near new highs. Retail ideas also acted well, with BABA, BZUN, and WING also all reaching new highs. JD, on the other hand, closed below its 50-DMA for the first time since December after posting Q2 results. Health Care ideas also suffered losses. BIVV and REGN continue to live below their respective 50-DMAs, while RGEN and CELG both broke that level of support this week. Financial ideas also traded lower. FRC and MS are both trading below their 50-DMAs, while SCHW and WAL both broke their respective 200-DMAs.