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 27, 2017November 3, 2017 by Raj Gupta

Market Overview
The U.S. market is in a Confirmed Uptrend. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq moved back into new highs Friday after finding support around their respective 21-DMAs. Distribution days remain low with one on the S&P 500 and three on the Nasdaq. Leadership also remains strong with the majority of ideas continuing into new highs post earnings results. We remain positive on the general market.
Stocks on our U.S. Focus List—Current Sentiment
Our USFL of 71 ideas (two net additions) gained 0.9% on average this week, outperforming the S&P 500 (0.2%) and in-line with the Nasdaq (1.1%).

By Sector
Strength across the USFL came primarily from Technology for a second straight week. GOOGL, GRUB, and LOGM all broke out post earnings. MPWR and CY also moved into all-time highs following earnings. Converse-ly, Health Care came under heavy pressure due to Biotechs selling off after their respective earnings results. ALXN and BIVV both reported numbers ahead of consensus, but still sold off below their respective 50-DMAs. VRTX also put in a big beat-and-raise quarter, but also sold off before recovering on Friday. On the opposite

Market View

Posted on October 20, 2017October 17, 2019 by Raj Gupta

The U.S. market is in a Confirmed Uptrend. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq continue to show resilient action, staging upside reversals on Thursday and continuing into all-time highs to close the week. The Nasdaq did pick up one distribution day, but the count still remains very low at just one day on the S&P 500 and two on the Nasdaq. Leadership has been very strong, with multiple U.S. Focus List ideas gapping up into all-time highs after earnings. 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 and Financial. Software led with major gap ups in ADBE and TEAM this week. ADSK, RHT, CRM, NOW, PAYC, and SSNC all hit new highs. Financial was led by ESNT, which has rallied for nine straight sessions. Payment Processors and Banks were also under accumulation. MS remains at a pivot, but becomes extended above $51. PYPL gapped into an all-time high after earnings.
New Ideas or Deletions
We added Zayo Group and removed Celgene from the U.S. Focus List this week.

IPO Rewind

Posted on October 20, 2017March 27, 2019 by Raj Gupta

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.