In order to invest or trade successfully, you have to have conviction. Conviction does not equal stubbornness. It’s very important to remain objective and occasionally question your conviction and adjust your strategy from time to time if signals warrant it. But I cannot trade personally if I believe there’s a 50/50 chance the market is going higher. That doubt will resonate with each and every swing in the market. I’ll chase at the wrong time and get whipsawed out of positions.
Instead, I evaluate those signals that work best for me – the same signals that have allowed me go against the grain and call significant market tops and bottoms over the past 5-7 years. Few were saying it was time to be long in early April, but I was quite clear. Topping signals were just as evident to me earlier this year, leading me to tell EarningsBeats.com members that I was 100% cash at the end of January. The technical confirmation of a market top occurred on Friday, February 21st. I published my belief of that confirmed market top in this same blog – again rather clearly:
You can click on this headline and read the whole story, if you’d like. After letting EB.com members know that I was fully committed on the long side in early April, because of bullish market maker manipulation, I have continued to track that market maker manipulation. Through Friday, it’s still telling me the same thing – BUY US STOCKS!
The Manipulation Continues
Listen, we’ve seen a massive run higher off that early-April low and profit taking and pullbacks will occur. That cannot deter us and should not be misconstrued as distribution ahead of a major market decline. In fact, there are a lot of technicians and market analysts talking about the big selling that’s taken place over the past week and how that will lead to further selling ahead. I completely disagree with this crew. We’ve seen almost zero selling or distribution in recent days. What we’ve seen are more gap downs, just like the ones that occurred after the March 13th low. Those opening and early morning selloffs saw subsequent buying throughout trading sessions. Check out the accumulation/distribution indicator on both the S&P 500 and NASDAQ 100 below:
S&P 500
You can see the AD line take a bit of a hit during the true period of distribution in 2025. Currently, however, the AD line is very near its all-time high. Last week (since Monday’s close), the SPY lost 15.74, falling from 594.85 to Friday’s close at 579.11. That was roughly a 2.5% pullback, but here’s what’s interesting. The SPY had gap downs the past four trading days that totaled 13.65. Nearly all of last week’s drop occurred at the opening bell. There was little selling during the trading day. We track this manipulative behavior in our “2025 Key Stocks Manipulation” excel spreadsheet, which we update for our members every Monday morning, so our members can clearly see the manipulation taking place on the SPY, QQQ, IWM, and 11 individual stocks, including Mag 7 stocks and a few others. It’s independent research and has helped us completely ignore the bearish and biased media. They’re interested in viewership and clicks and will scare the heck out of everyone to achieve their own selfish, money-making goals. EarningsBeats.com is interested in helping folks navigate a landscape designed to misinform and mislead. We’re interested in making money, that’s it. Follow the charts, not the headlines.
NASDAQ 100
The AD line exploded higher on the NASDAQ 100, mostly because Mag 7 stocks were heavily accumulated during the early-April massacre. The same thing occurred in March 2020 during the pandemic, prior to these stocks skyrocketing later in 2020. Then we saw a repeat in 2022, before a massive explosion higher in 2023. Once again, we’re seeing Wall Street’s “rinse and repeat” strategy of effectively stealing shares from unsuspecting retail traders. And once again, these stocks have been flying again.
It’s up to us to learn these lessons and not make the same mistakes over and over again during cyclical bear markets. At EarningsBeats.com, we take advantage of these selloffs before they occur. First, we move to cash. Next, we watch the stocks tumble. Third, we buy back in much cheaper at the same time that Wall Street does. Doesn’t this sound like a much better strategy? Follow what Wall Street is buying, not what they’re saying.
This manipulation applies to an even greater extent to individual stocks. One of my favorite stocks has been ridiculously-manipulated in 2025. Over the past four trading days, while the S&P 500 has been under pressure, this stock has gapped down 3.13, but has moved 8 bucks higher during the trading day. It’s one of our 12 individual stocks that we track each week and showed the most manipulation last week. Its AD line is soaring again and its relative strength vs. its industry peers has exploded higher since the first week of March. Owning stocks like this help us significantly outperform the S&P 500.
I’m featuring this stock in our FREE EB Digest newsletter on Tuesday morning. To register for our newsletter and receive this stock Tuesday morning before the market opens, simply CLICK HERE and provide your name and email address. Again, it’s free, there’s no credit card required, and you may unsubscribe at any time.
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Happy trading!
Tom