Sunday edition · week of Mon, Oct 19

Fear & Greed: the week

• Stocks: 33 Fear (−9 vs a week ago, 42 → 33). Last sessions: Oct 9 42 · Oct 12 43 · Oct 13 42 · Oct 14 33 · Oct 15 39 · Oct 16 33
• Futures: 45 Neutral (−9 vs a week ago, 54 → 45). Last sessions: Oct 9 54 · Oct 12 54 · Oct 13 54 · Oct 14 48 · Oct 15 50 · Oct 16 45

Rating changes

Thu, Oct 15 close to Fri, Oct 16 close · 6 changes · threshold: score move of 3+ points, or any grade change

• GOOGL Entered the rules-based Top 5 (score 70, A, rank #11; was 70 A, rank #12)
• CBOE Left the Top 5: score 71→70, A→B, rank #11→#15
• CBOE Downgrade A→B (score 71→70, rank #11→#15; A = top-5% rank cutoff among names with ≥80% data): Cash flow pillar 74→70; no new filing; sector-relative percentiles moved with the latest closes
• EXPE Upgrade B→A (score 70→70, rank #15→#14; A = top-5% rank cutoff among names with ≥80% data): small moves across pillars; no new filing; sector-relative percentiles moved with the latest closes
• JNJ Downgrade C→D (score 50→49, rank #114→#127): Valuation pillar 49→46; no new filing; sector-relative percentiles moved with the latest closes
• KMI Downgrade D→F (score 35→34, rank #229→#230): Valuation pillar 19→16; no new filing; sector-relative percentiles moved with the latest closes

Top 5 Weekly Picks for the week ahead

Rules-based: House Rating 65+, no earnings within 7 days, at most two per sector.

• MU 88 A · Information Technology · no exit-rule flags
• SNDK 86 A · Information Technology · no exit-rule flags
• CF 74 A · Materials · no exit-rule flags
• TPR 72 A · Consumer Discretionary · watch: Trend: close below 200-day average
• GOOGL 71 A · Communication Services · NEW this week · watch: Trend: close below 200-day average

Last week's picks: price change

Last 5 sessions to the Fri, Oct 16 close. Price only, before dividends; a rules check, not a track record.

• MU −14.6%
• SNDK −17.9%
• CF +8.3%
• TPR +3.4%
• CBOE +3.6% · left the Top 5
• Average −3.4% vs SPY −2.0%

Cash-secured put watchlist

2026-11-20 monthly expiration (35 days) · 1 of 110 stocks rated 65+ pass every rule

• MU 88 A · passes every rule · strikes and est. credit in Premium
• SNDK near miss: reports before expiry
• NVDA near miss: reports before expiry
• AGX near miss: fails: Buy-leaning analyst consensus

The week ahead: OPEX, macro, earnings

Mon, Oct 19 to Fri, Oct 23 · 117 rated names report · shown: picks and names rated 65+

• No monthly OPEX this week (weekly options expire Friday); next monthly OPEX Fri, Nov 20
• MLI reports Tue, Oct 20 · estimated · 76 B
• VICR reports Tue, Oct 20 · estimated · 75 A
• PM reports Tue, Oct 20 · estimated · 68 B
• VKTX reports Wed, Oct 21 · estimated · 77 B
• NEM reports Thu, Oct 22 · estimated · 77 A
• DAR reports Thu, Oct 22 · estimated · 76 B
• DECK reports Thu, Oct 22 · estimated · 69 A
• FIX reports Thu, Oct 22 · estimated · 66 A
• NXT reports Thu, Oct 22 · estimated · 66 B
• VLO reports Thu, Oct 22 · estimated · 65 B