Overview
The 20-Week Breakout scan identified 270 total signals for August 20, 2026: 102 bullish (dollar_20_wk + pct_20_wk) versus 168 bearish (dollar_d20_wk + pct_d20_wk). That puts the bullish share at 37.8%, placing today firmly in “mostly bearish” territory (>60% bearish signals), consistent with institutional distribution and a defensive posture.
This aligns with the SA Regime backdrop: breadth of just 52.9% above SMA-40, and Bearish/Bearish sentiment readings. Leadership is narrow and rotating into Energy (3.8% ATR%), Health Care (3.2%) and Communication Services (2.3%), while Industrials, Technology and Utilities are contracting. In a Cautious regime, only the highest-conviction setups deserve capital commitment.
Quality Score: 2/5. The elevated bearish-to-bullish ratio, weak breadth, and lack of visible institutional fund accumulation (all featured names show undefined fund-flow data) argue for selectivity. The bullish setups that do qualify are concentrated in the leading Health Care and Energy sectors, which is the primary reason this scan isn’t scored lower.
Top 5 Bullish Picks
VRTX ($540.26) — Medical / Profitable Biotech
Vertex posted a $16+ weekly dollar move on ATR Multiple 3.55 despite below-average relative volume (0.7x), suggesting steady accumulation rather than a volume-driven spike. Sitting just -2.4% from its 52-week high and +44.4% above its 52-week low, VRTX is a leadership name in the top-ranked Health Care sector, with a tight LOD Risk ATR% of 12.3% indicating controlled intraday risk.
| Level | Price |
|---|---|
| Entry | $540.26 |
| Risk (Stop, 1x ATR) | $524.17 |
| Target (2x ATR) | $572.44 |
| ATR | $16.09 |
Institutional Interest: Fund count data undefined; bucket funds_1000 indicates large-cap institutional coverage tier, though no incremental fund increase was reported this period.
TMO ($627.64) — Medical / Research
Thermo Fisher advanced on an ATR Multiple of 6.42, one of the strongest in today’s scan, with above-average relative volume (1.2x) confirming real demand. Just -2.5% off its 52-week high and +44.2% above its low, TMO reflects broad-based strength in the Medical-Research group within the leading Health Care sector.
| Level | Price |
|---|---|
| Entry | $627.64 |
| Risk (Stop, 1x ATR) | $611.50 |
| Target (2x ATR) | $659.92 |
| ATR | $16.14 |
Institutional Interest: Bucket funds_1000 signals institutional-grade coverage; fund count/increase data currently undefined.
REGN ($826.64) — Medical / Profitable Biotech
Regeneron delivered the scan’s highest ATR Multiple among top picks at 7.96, with an exceptionally tight LOD Risk ATR% of just 2.9% — the cleanest risk profile in this list. Trading -2.2% from its 52-week high and +52.8% above its low, REGN’s move reflects concentrated buying in a top-sector biotech leader.
| Level | Price |
|---|---|
| Entry | $826.64 |
| Risk (Stop, 1x ATR) | $806.38 |
| Target (2x ATR) | $867.16 |
| ATR | $20.26 |
Institutional Interest: Bucket funds_1000; fund count and % increase undefined, warranting monitoring for confirmation.
PNRG ($213.97) — Energy / Oil & Gas Explorers-Producers
PNRG’s $10+ weekly move (ADR% 4.9%) came with relative volume of 1.2x, aligning with Energy’s status as today’s top-ranked sector by ATR% (3.8%). Still -23.3% below its 52-week high but +69.3% above its low, PNRG shows constructive early-stage trend strength with a manageable LOD Risk ATR% of 18.8%.
| Level | Price |
|---|---|
| Entry | $213.97 |
| Risk (Stop, 1x ATR) | $203.93 |
| Target (2x ATR) | $234.05 |
| ATR | $10.04 |
Institutional Interest: Bucket N/A; fund tracking data unavailable for this smaller-cap name.
AU ($115.11) — Mining / Gold-Silver-Gems
AnGold Resources posted the largest ATR Multiple of the entire scan at 8.19, backed by relative volume of 1.7x confirming genuine breakout participation. Trading -10.9% from its 52-week high and a striking +121.2% above its 52-week low, AU represents a defensive-growth hybrid trade as gold miners often outperform in cautious macro regimes.
| Level | Price |
|---|---|
| Entry | $115.11 |
| Risk (Stop, 1x ATR) | $110.30 |
| Target (2x ATR) | $124.73 |
| ATR | $4.81 |
Institutional Interest: Bucket all_unique_bucket_2_stocks; fund count/increase undefined, but volume confirmation is a positive proxy.
Bearish Alerts
Distribution outnumbers accumulation nearly 2-to-1 today. Notable weakness includes EVR (-3.39 ATR Multiple, Finance-Invest Bnk/Bkrs, -26.1% off 52W high), SAIA (-2.87 ATR Multiple, Transportation-Truck, -27.3% off high), and DDOG (-1.03 ATR Multiple, Enterprise Software, -20.6% off high). AVAV (Aerospace/Defense) and ONTO (Semiconductor Equipment) show milder ATR Multiples (-0.19, -0.21) but remain sharply below highs (-61.8% and -22.7% respectively), reflecting deteriorating trend structure in Industrials and Technology-adjacent groups.
Sector Theme
Today’s cross-sector picture is bifurcated: Energy, Health Care, and Communication Services are exhibiting genuine leadership (ATR% 2.3%-3.8%), directly supporting the bullish picks above. Conversely, Industrials, Technology, and Utilities are contracting (ATR% -0.3% to -1.3%), and this weakness is visible in the bearish list via AVAV (Aerospace/Defense), DDOG and ONTO (Tech-adjacent). Rotation out of cyclical/growth Tech into defensive Health Care and commodity-linked Energy/Mining is the dominant theme.
Institutional Summary
Fund-flow metrics were undefined across all featured tickers today, limiting direct accumulation confirmation. However, bucket classifications offer a proxy: NDSN, VRTX, TMO, REGN all sit in the funds_1000 tier, denoting broad institutional coverage typical of large-cap names. AU and RGLD fall into smaller unique-bucket tiers, consistent with their mid-cap mining profiles. With explicit fund-count data unavailable, relative volume (VRTX 0.7x, TMO 1.2x, REGN 0.6x, AU 1.7x, PNRG 1.2x) remains the best available signal — AU stands out with the strongest volume confirmation among top picks.