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 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.

Market View

Posted on August 11, 2017October 5, 2017 by Raj Gupta

The U.S. market has been downgraded to an Uptrend Under Pressure. On Thursday, the Nasdaq closed below its 50-DMA, picking up its sixth distribution day in 11 sessions. By comparison, when we downgraded the market on June 29, the Nasdaq had six distribution days in 18 sessions. We recommend a cautious approach as multiple leading ideas are now trading below their respective 50-DMAs, and no distribution will expire for over three weeks.

Stocks on our U.S. Focus List—Current Sentiment
Our USFL of 65 ideas (including one net removal) lost 1.6% on average this week, underperforming the S&P 500 (-1.4%) and the Nasdaq (-1.5%).

By Sector
Technology and Financial ideas suffered the largest pullbacks with the U.S. Focus List. Within Technology, NTES, MDSO, OLED, NOW, AVGO, CRM, VEEV, and SSNC all undercut their respective 50-DMAs. Within Financial, SCHW, MKTX, and FRC also undercut their 50-DMAs, while WAL and CFG undercut their respective 200-DMAs. Very few ideas were able to buck the general market sell-off. Within Medical Products, ABMD and ALGN contin-ue to trend higher and within Aerospace/Defense, HEI continues to hit new highs. Within Cyclical, PLNT was able to break above resistance at $24.58 post earnings and is now actionable. Also, our lone Consumer Staple idea, MNST, found support at its 50-DMA moving back into YTD highs.

Market View

Posted on August 4, 2017October 5, 2017 by Raj Gupta

The U.S. market remains in a Confirmed Uptrend. Distribution on the S&P 500 fell to zero, while the Nasdaq remains at four days. Both indexes continue to hold above support along their respective 21-DMAs, trading sideways now for three straight weeks. The majority of leadership is also holding above short-term support levels, despite mostly negative reactions to Q2 earnings. Our positive stance will remain until we see technical deterioration occur in a larger number of leading ideas and the major averages alike.

Stocks on our U.S. Focus List—Current Sentiment

Our USFL of 66 ideas (including two net removals) was flat on average this week, underperforming the S&P 500 (0.2%) but outperforming the Nasdaq (-0.4%).

By Sector

The Financial sector led this week, aided by a strong move in the Banks Friday. MS reached new highs, FRC and WAL are trending higher off their 50-DMAs, and CFG is now finding support at its 200-DMA. ESNT and GPN also both broke out on earnings. Building related ideas also performed well, aided by the jobs number on Friday. PHM hit another new high. Conversely, Health Care and Technology continue to slow. REGN and BIVV both broke their respective 50-DMAs despite big beat-and-raise quarters. We removed IDXX, NUVA, and IART after all three broke down post earnings. MU and WDC also broke their respective 50-DMAs and were removed from the USFL.

Market View

Posted on July 28, 2017October 5, 2017 by Raj Gupta

The U.S. market remains in a Confirmed Uptrend. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq continue to trade above short-term support levels with relatively low distribution days counts. Two distribution days are set to fall off on each index next week. We will be looking for individual ideas to continue trading above support along key moving averages and for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq to avoid a clustering of distribution over the next several days.

Stocks on our U.S. Focus List—Current Sentiment

Our USFL of 68 ideas (one net addition) lost 0.4% on average this week, underperforming the S&P 500 (0%) and the Nasdaq (-0.2%).

By Sector
Chinese Internet Retail ideas continued to move higher despite the pullback in AMZN. BZUN, JD, and BABA all made new highs on the week. AMZN found support at its 50-DMA post earnings. Energy also rallied this week, with our sole recommendation, NEP, making new highs after reporting Q2 results this week. Conversely, Data Storage names, WDC and MU, closed below their respective 50-DMAs. Health Care also pulled back with multiple Medical Products ideas gapping down post earnings. IART and NUVA were both removed from the U.S. Focus List. ALGN, on the other hand, posted another stellar quarter, gapping up into all-time highs.

Market View

Posted on July 21, 2017July 21, 2017 by Raj Gupta

The U.S. market remains in a Confirmed Uptrend. Volume remains light, but leadership continues to act well and distribution remains muted. There is a heavy dose of earnings hitting the market next week that will drive market direction in the near-term. We are looking for short-term support along the 21-DMA to hold on both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq should we get a pullback.

Stocks on our U.S. Focus List—Current Sentiment
Our USFL of 67 ideas gained 1.3% on average this week, outperforming the S&P 500 (0.5%) and the Nasdaq (1.2%).

By Sector
Biotech ideas led this week aided by a 20% move in VRTX following positive clinical trial results. CELG is now breaking into new YTD highs ahead of earnings Thursday. BIVV also looks poised to breakout, now testing re-sistance just above $63. Consumer Cyclical ideas also acted well. NFLX gapped up into all-time highs on earn-ings. MGM regained its 50-DMA after news of its inclusion into the S&P 500. Technology was again mixed. FB, RP and POWI continued higher after breaking out last week. Conversely, MDSO and NOW pulled back after reaching new highs last week. The Transportation sector weakened this week. Our sole Transportation idea, FDX, pulled back to its 50-DMA after stating that their FY 2018 results would be impacted by the cyber attack on TNT Express last month.

Global Health Care Sector

Posted on July 19, 2017July 19, 2017 by Raj Gupta

On June 20, the Ishares Nasdaq Biotech ETF broke out of a 10-month consolidation on 4x the average daily volume. Since, the ETF has constructively pulled back in light volume to its 21-DMA before bouncing back into new highs again. Our four biotech buy recommendations include Bioverativ , Celgene , Regeneron , and Vertex

IPO Rewind

Posted on July 14, 2017March 27, 2019 by Raj Gupta

Market View

Posted on July 14, 2017July 15, 2017 by Raj Gupta

The U.S. market has been moved back into a Confirmed Uptrend. Though volume continues to come in below average, the S&P 500 closed at a new all-time high and the Nasdaq closed above resistance at 6303. The ac-tion of leadership remains strong, with multiple ideas forming the right side of their respective bases or even breaking out into new highs. Q2 earnings season has begun and will drive market direction over the next sever-al weeks.

Stocks on our U.S. Focus List—Current Sentiment
Our USFL of 66 ideas gained 2.3% on average this week, outperforming the S&P 500 (1.4%) and in-line with the Nasdaq (2.6%).

By Sector
Technology ideas across the USFL outperformed this week. Internet-Content led as FB gapped up into all-time highs. WB, GRUB, and GOOGL all regained their respective 50-DMAs. Chinese Retail-Internet also outper-formed. BZUN and BABA moved further into all-time highs, while JD bounced off its 50-DMA. Conversely, the Banks all pulled back after multiple earnings were released Friday morning. All four USFL Banks (CFG, FRC, MS, WAL) remain above their respective 50-DMAs and technically still intact.