Overview
The 20-Week Breakout scan logged 137 total signals on 2026-09-28, split between 57 bullish (dollar_20_wk + pct_20_wk) and 80 bearish (dollar_d20_wk + pct_d20_wk) breakouts. That places the bullish share at roughly 41.6%, landing squarely in the Balanced (40-70%) zone — institutional sentiment is mixed rather than one-directional, and opportunities need to be selected carefully rather than chased broadly.
This aligns with the SA regime read of Correction, with only 18.3% of stocks above their SMA-40 and sentiment flagged Bearish/Oversold. Leadership is narrowing into Health Care (2.1% ATR%) and Technology (1.5% ATR%), while Financials, Real Estate, and Utilities are bleeding volatility to the downside. Notably, every ticker in today’s scan shows 0 institutional funds reporting increases — a lack of fresh institutional confirmation that reinforces caution in this environment.
Quality Score: 2/5 (capped per correction-regime rules). Signal breadth is solid, but the absence of institutional fund accumulation data and the bearish skew in raw signal count (80 vs 57) argue for defensive positioning and tight risk control on new entries.
Top 5 Bullish Picks
CDNS ($326.70) — SOFTWARE / Computer Sftwr-Design
Weekly Momentum: CDNS posted a dollar-based breakout with an ADR% of 3.5% despite below-average relative volume (0.8x), suggesting steady accumulation rather than a volume spike. The stock sits 21.6% off its 52-week high but 24.3% above its 52-week low, indicating a mid-range recovery within a Technology sector currently leading in ATR%.
| Level | Price |
|---|---|
| Current | $326.70 |
| Risk (1x ATR) | $315.87 |
| Target (2x ATR) | $348.36 |
Institutional Interest: 0 funds reporting; bucket funds_1000 — institutional data undefined, so this remains a technically-driven setup.
MPWR ($1351.20) — CHIPS / Elec-Semicondctor Fablss
Weekly Momentum: A 3.6% ADR% and 0.86x ATR multiple mark a controlled breakout in the semiconductor space, a Technology subsector benefiting from sector leadership. MPWR is 62.2% above its 52-week low but still 21.2% below its 52-week high, leaving room to run if Technology strength persists.
| Level | Price |
|---|---|
| Current | $1351.20 |
| Risk (1x ATR) | $1295.17 |
| Target (2x ATR) | $1463.26 |
Institutional Interest: 0 funds reporting; bucket funds_1000 — fund flow data currently unavailable.
LLY ($1185.98) — MEDICAL / Medical – Pharmaceuticals
Weekly Momentum: LLY’s breakout carries a modest 0.27x ATR multiple with a 42.3% LOD Risk ATR%, reflecting a steady grind higher rather than a volatile spike. Trading just 8.3% below its 52-week high and 65.6% above its low, LLY is a standout in Health Care — today’s top-performing sector by ATR%.
| Level | Price |
|---|---|
| Current | $1185.98 |
| Risk (1x ATR) | $1154.27 |
| Target (2x ATR) | $1249.40 |
Institutional Interest: 0 funds reporting; bucket all_unique_bucket_1_stocks.
DDOG ($268.70) — SOFTWARE / Comp Sftwr – Enterprise
Weekly Momentum: DDOG’s 2.21x ATR multiple and 4.9% ADR% signal an aggressive breakout, with a 102.4% LOD Risk ATR% indicating a wide intraday range. Sitting only 8.2% below its 52-week high and 174.2% above its low, this is the highest-conviction momentum name in the Software group.
| Level | Price |
|---|---|
| Current | $268.70 |
| Risk (1x ATR) | $255.81 |
| Target (2x ATR) | $294.48 |
Institutional Interest: 0 funds reporting; bucket bucket_0_youth_ipo_less_5yrs — a younger, higher-volatility name warranting tighter risk control.
COST ($922.92) — RETAIL / Retail – General
Weekly Momentum: COST’s breakout came with above-average relative volume (1.1x) and a tight 1.5% ADR%, typical of large-cap, low-volatility accumulation. Just 15.8% off its 52-week high and only 9.3% above its 52-week low, COST offers a defensive quality play suited to the current correction regime.
| Level | Price |
|---|---|
| Current | $922.92 |
| Risk (1x ATR) | $907.03 |
| Target (2x ATR) | $954.70 |
Institutional Interest: 0 funds reporting; bucket funds_1000.
Bearish Alerts
Bearish breakdowns dominate the tally at 80 signals. META ($715.62) shows the most aggressive breakdown with a 4.08x ATR multiple and elevated 1.4x relative volume, signaling forceful distribution in Internet-Content despite being only 8.2% below its 52-week high. INTU ($269.40) is deeply extended to the downside at -3.39x ATR multiple and sits 61.7% below its 52-week high, the weakest technical posture in the group. DAVE ($320.70) and CACI ($616.48) both reflect Business Services weakness, while NUGT ($147.95), a leveraged gold miner ETF, shows elevated volume (1.7x) amid broad risk-off flows.
Sectors showing weakness: Business Services, Internet, Software (Financial), and leveraged commodity ETFs — consistent with the broader bottom-sector readings in Financials, Real Estate, and Utilities.
Sector Theme
Cross-sector momentum confirms a bifurcated tape: Health Care and Technology are absorbing capital and producing the cleanest bullish breakouts (LLY, CDNS, MPWR, DDOG), while Financials, Real Estate, and Utilities anchor the downside alongside pockets of Software/Internet distribution (INTU, META). Retail names like COST and CASY show resilience, suggesting defensive rotation is underway even as broader breadth remains weak at 18.3% above SMA-40.
Institutional Summary
No tickers in today’s scan reported active institutional fund accumulation (all show 0 funds and undefined fund-increase percentages), limiting confidence in near-term follow-through. Until fund-level data reappears, today’s breakouts should be treated as technically-driven setups rather than institutionally-confirmed trends — favor tighter stops and partial position sizing across all Top 5 picks.