Situation Awareness: Bearish. A powerful one-day thrust opened the week — the S&P 500 rose +1.5%, the Nasdaq Composite surged +2.3%, and the DJIA added +0.7% — as the PHLX Semiconductor Index rocketed +4.3% and mega-caps ran, all while crude oil collapsed -4.5% to $95.77 and the 10-yr yield eased to 4.96% (SPY/QQQ/IWM ETF prices and 200-day levels are data unavailable today). Trade mode for tomorrow: selective and opportunistic — respect the momentum but demand confirmation, because breadth has not caught up to price. The defining context was a triple relief trade: Jensen Huang’s “0% chance” AI-doom pushback, softer oil on U.S.-Iran diplomacy hopes, and a “successful” Bessent–He Lifeng meeting ahead of the Sept. 24 Trump-Xi summit. Regime context — 23.0% of stocks closed above their 40-day SMA (vs 23.1% prior day, regime held at Bearish), and the 4% Bull/Bear gauge shows 88 bulls vs. 41 bears. The 5-day trend turned up sharply to start the week after a volatile, mixed prior week, signaling an early recovery attempt led by a narrow set of large-caps.
SIP: AMD INTC META MRNA
- What’s working: 2LYNCH: 2 (FSLY, LNG), D9M: 2 (FSLY, BB), Reversal Bullish: 1 (SLB), 9M Catalyst: 1 (SHOP), Darvas Box: 29 — trend/breakout setups dominated.
- Leading sectors (briefing): communication services +3.9%, information technology +2.5%, consumer discretionary +1.5%; leading themes: Security Software +3.1%, Medical Systems & Equipment +2.8%, Fabless Semiconductors +2.4%.
- Key event: AMD +9.95% to a record $615.52 (>$1T cap), INTC +12.14%, META +11.34% — semis and mega-caps drove the tape with no company-specific catalyst.
- Regime threading: morning SA called Bearish (23.1%), closing is Bearish (23.0%) — held; the rally was concentrated (20-day breadth jumped to 58% but 40-day stuck at 23%).
- DEP watchlist: FSLY, BB, SHOP.
- SIPS: FSLY, LNG.
Market Breadth — 2026-09-21
| Sentiment 4% | Bullish | 40SMA | Neutral |
| Bull 4% | 88 | Bear 4% | 41 |
| % > 20 SMA | 58% | % > 40 SMA | 22.99% |
| Bull 9M | 16 | Bear 9M | 1 |