[video_player type=”embed” style=”1″ dimensions=”640×360″ width=”640″ height=”360″ align=”center” margin_top=”0″ margin_bottom=”20″ ipad_color=”black”][/video_player] U.S. indexes are having a relatively quiet start to this holiday-shortened trading week. We see them spinning their wheels near all-time highs. Bearish sentiment remains elevated, delivering a ready-made “wall of worry” for the bull market to climb. But, while the action (or lack thereof) here in the United States seems sleepy and subdued, events in a certain gigantic country with the world’s second-largest economy demand our attention. There are some absolutely incredible developments unfolding in Chinese stocks right now. If you’ve been with me for a while, you’ll know I’ve been expecting this exactly. What’s happening? Well… let’s just say forget the Magnificent Seven – it’s all about the Terrific Ten. Let’s look at these names and make sure we’re in position to capitalize going forward…

[video_player type=”embed” style=”1″ dimensions=”640×360″ width=”640″ height=”360″ align=”center” margin_top=”0″ margin_bottom=”20″ ipad_color=”black”][/video_player] Right out of the gate today we hit the upper edge of the SPX 97-point expected move… and stopped. The VIX is sloshing around on the floor, below 15 and falling. For the week, we’re “massively unchanged” on very low volume. For weeks on end we’ve been trading in more or less a 200-point range, a box. And that’s weird for a market that’s getting ready to hit new all-time highs. I’m going to share a chart with you that shows we’ve stuck our heads up over the top of a kind of trench this tight range has dug for us… …and we all know what happens in the movies when the first guy sticks his head up, right? We’re all over it in tonight’s video…

[video_player type=”embed” style=”1″ dimensions=”640×360″ width=”640″ height=”360″ align=”center” margin_top=”0″ margin_bottom=”20″ ipad_color=”black”][/video_player] The market reaction was fairly muted, but the data’s there to see: According to CPI and PPI, inflation’s heating back up. Fed Chairman Powell’s relatively hawkish Congressional testimony this week indicated the central bank is still concerned with it. But hey, even if you don’t trust the data – or Powell, for that matter – you can easily tell inflation’s anything but “tamed” when you compare the dollar’s purchasing power to things like equities, precious metals, and even other currencies. But by the same token, as I’ll show you in just a second, you can use most of these as safe, profitable investments in inflationary environments. So we’re going to jump into bonds, utilities, financial stocks, and precious metals trades we can make to pad our bottom lines. We can do more than simply offsetting the decline in purchasing power

[video_player type=”embed” style=”1″ dimensions=”640×360″ width=”640″ height=”360″ align=”center” margin_top=”0″ margin_bottom=”20″ ipad_color=”black”][/video_player] Headline risk… geopolitical chaos… a shakeup of the international order… trade war… radical surgery for the federal government… inflation… There’s a lot going on right now, but the markets have barely budged. As of today, we’re still well inside the weekly expected move – more on that in a few. That’s led a lot of perma-bulls to conclude that this market is simply invincible. With that outlook, what could go wrong? Well, a lot. I think a lot of traders who think this thing’s unsinkable are getting set up for failure. Because they’re overlooking what I’ll show you in tonight’s video…

[video_player type=”embed” style=”1″ dimensions=”640×360″ width=”640″ height=”360″ align=”center” margin_top=”0″ margin_bottom=”20″ ipad_color=”black”][/video_player] Traders flipped the script for the big indices, and we saw a nice bid take shape under stocks coming out of the weekend. The past two weeks have been a kind of slow-motion Groundhog Day for stocks – selling on Monday, rallying Tuesday to Thursday, and selling on Friday. We’ll see if we can break that short-term pattern in just a few days. Taking in the lay of the land, I see precious metals continue to look great, while crypto is still trying to get its legs under it, at least in the near-term. We’re being presented with some interesting opportunities regardless. I like what I’m seeing in Chinese stocks and in my services we’ve been increasing our exposure there; I think U.S. investors could be blindsided by under-performance in American stocks for a good chunk of 2025. That said,

[video_player type=”embed” style=”1″ dimensions=”640×360″ width=”640″ height=”360″ align=”center” margin_top=”0″ margin_bottom=”20″ ipad_color=”black”][/video_player] The mainstream media is having a freakout about the tariffs. We usually hear volumes about the potentially inflationary impact of the policy. Breathless, panicked headlines abound. One of my biggest takeaways here at the outset of the Trump administration is that the playbook has changed. The debt-based economy that we’ve become so accustomed to has changed, and likely for the better. For instance… I bet nobody’s really told you that tariffs can be bullish, right? The truth is there’s a hugely bullish tariff trade unfolding right under our nose. One of the biggest impacts that the threat of tariffs is creating is within the gold and silver market. As U.S. suppliers scramble for supply, we’re seeing London vaults empty and prices (in U.S. dollar terms) surging. Naturally, some are calling a top, but this is probably just the beginning. Let’s

[video_player type=”embed” style=”1″ dimensions=”640×360″ width=”640″ height=”360″ align=”center” margin_top=”0″ margin_bottom=”20″ ipad_color=”black”][/video_player] Another week with a wild start… and a weak finish, down about 1% for the day. This market is trading in an extremely tight range and has been for a looong time now. It’s a market desperate for a catalyst just isn’t finding any – not in data, not in news, not in Tweets. In fact, “Trump Tweets” are actually helping keep a floor under volatility right now. And yet headline risk remains as high as it’s ever been. This is the new normal. And you know what? I’m 100% cool with it. Like I’ve been saying, we’re fightin’ in a phonebooth here. This is a textbook trader’s market. We’re seeing plenty of juicy two-sided trade – I’m stacking up double- and triple-digit wins for my followers. Once you’re oriented, making money in this market is easy. Here’s how it’s

[video_player type=”embed” style=”1″ dimensions=”640×360″ width=”640″ height=”360″ align=”center” margin_top=”0″ margin_bottom=”20″ ipad_color=”black”][/video_player] The S&P 500 is in a funny place right now. On the chart I’ll show you in a second, it appears the market’s ready to make a breakout… or drop… by about 5%. I won’t claim to have a crystal ball; it could go either way. That means we need to find a setup that’ll treat us right in either case. I think we’re seeing something in the ongoing release of very mixed employment data that’s likely to point us in the right direction. Tomorrow we’ll get confirmation of whether America’s still hiring, still growing and expanding… or beginning to slow down. Consumer discretionary stocks are the key to this. Good data will tell us to play them one way, disappointing data will prompt us to use them in another. Here’s where I think we’ll get the best results…

[video_player type=”embed” style=”1″ dimensions=”640×360″ width=”640″ height=”360″ align=”center” margin_top=”0″ margin_bottom=”20″ ipad_color=”black”][/video_player] After getting knocked down this morning stocks began to creep up slightly in the hour or so before the close, but don’t read too much into that. This market is desperate for two things – a catalyst and some clarity. Trouble is, there’s not much of either right now. The market just can’t get a grip on forward risk; it’s not able to exit the box. And so we’re back in a place we’ve been before and it’s no fun – unless you’re a trader. We’re livin’ and dyin’ in a 200-point range between 5900 and 6100 on SPX. Those levels bookending us are important – pay attention to them. What I’ve got to show you tonight depends on it…

[video_player type=”embed” style=”1″ dimensions=”640×360″ width=”640″ height=”360″ align=”center” margin_top=”0″ margin_bottom=”20″ ipad_color=”black”][/video_player]   Another week… another gap down to start. This time, however, the bulls reasserted control of the tape much more quickly than before, and now we see stocks pressing back and onward to new highs. I said last week that I expected software to emerge as a leader in the wider tech sector, and I haven’t changed my mind – I’m more convinced than ever, in fact. I’ve got a lot of interest in downtrodden stocks and assets, too; AMD in the semiconductor space, for one. I think crypto is about to get its legs back under it, and Ethereum is particularly attractive with Trump’s announcement that the U.S. should establish a sovereign wealth fund. Gold continues to achieve all-time highs, too, but the importance of this is being drowned out by a lot of noise out there right now.