The Closing Print live trading and financial blog during market hours.

The Top 10 stocks from the Nasdaq 100 represent 53 percent of the index weight. Therefore, following these stocks during the trading session can help us analyze market breadth and direction. Note Alphabet has two classes listed.

Growth was “in-play” Monday as most of these stocks caught a bid early in the trading session. We alerted members as the majority remained above a bullish VWAP, a key to our “day-trading” strategies.

Components of the Nasdaq 100
# Company Symbol Weight       Price Chg % Chg
1 Apple Inc AAPL 11.138   152.77 -0.35 (-0.23%)
2 Microsoft Corp MSFT 10.139   303.90 0.31 (0.10%)
3 Amazon.com Inc AMZN 7.587   3,417.00 -4.57 (-0.13%)
4 Alphabet Inc GOOG 4.202   2,914.00 4.61 (0.16%)
5 Facebook Inc FB 4.01   379.87 -0.79 (-0.21%)
6 Alphabet Inc GOOGL 3.89   2,897.30 5.49 (0.19%)
7 NVIDIA Corp NVDA 3.855   226.33 -0.55 (-0.24%)
8 Tesla Inc TSLA 3.812   730.76 -0.15 (-0.02%)
9 PayPal Holdings Inc PYPL 2.235   289.30 0.83 (0.29%)
10 Adobe Inc ADBE 2.151   666.89 0.90 (0.14%)

Breakout Stocks

Apple, Inc. (AAPL) broke out to fresh highs on Monday, surging (+3.04%) while recording its best session since March 01 of this year. Reports from Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo filtered through the markets before the market opened for trading.

Kuo noted the iPhone 13 could use LEO, or low-Earth orbit, satellite connectivity to service hard-to-reach consumers without good cellular coverage. In addition, it was reported that Apple TV+ secured an exclusive deal with Scarlett Johansson and comedian Jon Stewart. The Street also reported that third-party research firm IDC highlighted elevated expectations for smartphone shipments in 2021, with the iPhone in particular standing out against key competitors in the Android family.

Technically speaking, the stock broke out on above average volume, with RVOL surging more than 2 times that of Friday. Three massive $30 million dollar prints of 200,000 shares each were recorded at 11:31 AM. Options activity was bullish as well, with several dozen large prints in September and October with strikes between 150 through 160 as the opening bell rang.

AAPL-breakout

RSI is rising and MACD had a bullish cross, as the bears succumbed to the change in direction. Apple’s 9/21/50d moving averages are stacked and rising. Stochastic turned as well, forecasting closes in the upper half of the daily range for the short-term.

Paypal, Holdings, Inc. (PYPL) recorded a 3.64% gain, as the company is  exploring a “potential” stock-trading platform. The news hit the tape at 11:34 AM as we were broadcasting LIVE. It was also noted that Paypal management approved the hiring of Rich Hagen, Co-founder of online brokerage company, TradeKing. Hagen is now the CEO of Invest at PayPal, which allows him to explore opportunities in the consumer investment business. Sources, CNBC and LinkedIn.

Price action closed above its 50d moving average on Monday, while MACD crossed above its bullish signal line. Momentum is with the bulls and strength of trend is improving as RSI trends solidly above 50 percent. 

PYPL-breakout

Volume was above average at 14.6 million shares, printing a very obvious “pocket pivot” by the close. A pocket pivot is defined as a day where bullish volume exceeds that of the previous 10 trading days. Monday volume was the highest since reporting earnings on July 28.

Paypal (PYPL) reported 2nd Quarter June 2021 earnings of $1.18 per share on revenue of $6.2 billion. The consensus earnings estimate was $1.14 per share on revenue of $6.3 billion. Revenue growth was 18.6% on a year-over-year basis.

Join us today in the trading room for our LIVE broadcast during market hours, as we navigate the current environment. Watch, listen, and trade from 9:20 AM to 4:15 PM Monday through Friday.

Happy Trading,

Vinny

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