Games Which Have Been Around for a While

Even in the strongest of bull markets we must brace for standard mid/late-summer games, meaning periods of seemingly endless choppy price action and new ranges tediously being formed on the indices, sectors, and even leading stocks alike. For this reason, we often see options players burned during the late-July/August interval, even if the broad market itself remains largely intact for bulls. Simply put, the action can either slow down to a near-halt, or we instead get a few jolts of volaitlty. 

The latter scenario may be in play in the next two weeks as we approach the earnings report for some of the most visible names in the entire market. Stocks like AMZN CMG FB GOOGL SNAP V SBUX TSLA TWTR all reports this week, among many others. And next week will feature another wave of marquee firms reporting, too. 

Thus, even though we have a fairly benign open this morning I am keeping a close eye on any fades in the small caps, as they flip back to red as I write this. 

Moreover, even though I have high hopes for a name like TTD, up 3% or so here and shaking off last week's downgrade and subsequent dip, the chart may simply take the rest of the summer build out a larger base with earnings coming up August 8th. 

As you can see, I am open to a near-term bull case but will not be stubborn with it given the seasonal backdrop combined with daily fades in IWM and a smorgasbord of earnings coming these next few weeks.