Still no Quantamentals this week… and here’s why:

Turns out, a lot of you have been missing the old format a little too much.

So, with the market looking like it’s about to shimmy out of this months-long (wait, has it really only been months??) tariff tightrope… we’re staying the course.

This issue, we’ll be looking for:

a) stocks that have been bucking the market’s upward trend but may soon join the party as clarity improves; and

b) stocks that have ridden this rally a little too hard—and could soon face a quick reality check.

And we’ll be using our trusty Zone Scanner to spot them. Let’s get to it.

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What’s in this issue:

• High-potential opportunities

• This week’s most actionable setup

This week’s hot setups

Assurant Inc. (AIZ)

Financial • Insurance - Property & Casualty • USA • NYSE

View full chart

While most of its Financials brethren have been strutting their stuff as of late, AIZ has been quietly drifting lower since early June—its P/S ratio now relegated to the 8th percentile vs the sector.

For the past couple weeks, the stock has been idling right at its May 2024 support zone—a level that’s been catching its dips since last September.

Apart from that strong base, there’s honestly not a ton going on with AIZ’s technicals. But with more trade and market clarity (hopefully) coming soon, this zone could be the launchpad for this laggard to catch up with everyone else.

If a bounce occurs and AIZ reclaims the September 2024 zone, we could be looking at a potential 9-12% gain.

Equity Residential Properties Trust (EQR)

Real Estate • REIT - Residential • USA • NYSE

View full chart

Since May, EQR hasn’t exactly been lighting up any screens. It’s been on a limp sideways shuffle that, in most cases, wouldn’t get a second gaze.

But look a little more carefully and you’ll see that the zone it’s currently consolidating in has history—it’s actually been around since the Obama administration. And in more recent years, it’s been acting as a pretty solid deterrent to penetrations—both up and down.

With more economic stability potentially setting in, a decent earnings print next week could trigger some reversion for EQR.

Plus, because the stock hasn’t seen much attention lately—valuation-wise, it’s now fallen to the very low percentiles relative to its 10-year range…

Making this July 2012 zone a potentially strong entry point for a long.

Stryker Corp. (SYK)

Healthcare • Medical Devices • USA • NYSE

View full chart

SYK has been running wild lately—up more than 20% off its Liberation Day lows and currently flirting with its 52W high of $406.19.

The problem is, its doing so while carrying some of the heaviest valuation baggage in the entire US market.

And right now, it’s about to bump up against the roof of its November 2024 resistance zone while heading into earnings.

If results disappoint, it could trigger a quick SYK drop down to the September 2024 support zone. On the other hand, if it rips through resistance… best step out of the away.

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That’s it for today’s issue of Zone Alert. We’ll be back next week with fresh setups nearing key zones.

In the meantime:

Want to find more immediate setups?

The Trading Places platform is live—and free! Head on over and check out the Zone Scanner and Live Hot Picks.

Try Trading Places for free

Disclaimer: This isn't financial advice. This shouldn’t be news to you.

Welcome back to Zone Alerts.

Yes, you read that right—just Zone Alerts this time.

But don’t you worry, we’re not already abandoning our Quantamental screens... but with how overextended our market has been lately, we figured we’d run it back and hammer out a quick Short alert this week.

So we dusted off our good ol’ Zone Proximity Scanner and went hunting for stocks that took full advantage of the market’s recent risk-on rally—but are now closing in on major resistance.

So if you’re one of our more impatient subscribers, this issue’s for you. Let’s get to it.

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Enjoying this format of Zone Alert?

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What’s in this issue:

• High-potential opportunities

• This week’s most actionable setup

This week’s hot setups

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD)

Technology • Semiconductors • USA • NASD

AMD’s been on an absolute heater since bouncing off its August 2020 zone back in April. It’s exploded nearly 80% since then—cutting through resistance levels with barely any… er, resistance. Heck, if you squint a little, you’d swear this was NVDA circa 2024.

But right now, the setup’s looking a bit shaky for AMD. Price is about to crash into a long-term resistance zone that’s proven tricky for the stock in the past.

Technically, it also doesn’t look too good for AMD. Apart from its red-hot RSI, we’re also seeing a bigger drop-off in volume compared to earlier legs of the move.

Not exactly what you want to see if you were waiting for the breakout.

And looking under the hood, this isn’t exactly a cheap chip stock. With a P/FCF near 89x—50th percentile against its own 3-year history and 90th percentile vs. its IT peers—AMD’s riding high expectations without much valuation cushion.

So for now, we’re watching for a stallout here, with the December 2021 support zone as a potential short target.

Alphabet Inc. (GOOG)

Communication Services • Internet Content & Information • USA • NASD

GOOG’s rally has been a bit stealthier than our previous pick—but still nothing to scoff at. The stock’s climbed ~25% in under two months, and with yesterday’s strong green candle, you’d think it’s gearing up for more.

But zoom out of the chart a little bit, and this rally’s strength suddenly goes out the window. This latest run is now colliding with the same resistance zone that marked the top back in July 2024.

And—more importantly—that July 2024 zone isn’t just any resistance. It’s the right shoulder of what could be a year-long head-and-shoulders pattern.

If the stock fails to break through here, the setup implies downside toward the H&S neckline around $170—a 10–12% move.

GOOG has great fundamentals, no doubt. But even strong compounders need to cool off sometimes. This might be one of those times.

Rithm Capital Corporation (RITM)

Real Estate • REIT - Mortgage • USA • NYSE

RITM is the oddball on our list—a sleepy real estate play that’s suddenly ripped ~30% off the May lows. But that sprint has got it poking right into a heavy resistance zone from September 2024—one that it’s never managed to conquer.

Momentum looks like it’s fading fast. Volume is thinning out, and RSI has crept into overbought territory. Unless something new sparks interest, the setup looks ripe for a reversal.

With that $12 zone historically acting as a seller’s fortress, we’re looking at this as a classic momentum fade.

If that resistance holds, it’s lights out for this rally—a 10-11% move lower is well within reach.

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That’s it for today’s issue of Zone Alert. We’ll be back next week with fresh setups nearing key zones.

In the meantime:

Want to find more immediate setups?

The Trading Places platform is live—and free! Head on over and check out the Zone Scanner and Live Hot Picks.

Try Trading Places for free

Disclaimer: This isn't financial advice. This shouldn’t be news to you.

Welcome back to our Quantamental Zone Alert.

We’re kicking off the week with the market looking pretty chipper—stock futures soared thanks to Daddy Jensen’s dealmaking, CPI data is looking not-as-painful-as-once-thought, and there’s a fresh wave of optimism around the new earnings season.

But under the surface, cracks are forming.

JPow’s catching heat from all sides—the Trump camp is ramping up calls for his ousting, the market is practically hounding him for that rate cut, and now housing experts are warning that high rates are suffocating an already brittle real estate market.

So while the rally looks good now… weaknesses are just waiting for their moment to pounce.

That’s why instead of chasing momentum, we’re playing it smart and bringing back our first Quantamental screen—focused on ROIC, Revenue, Growth, P/FCF, and this time with the Altman Z-score—to help flag companies with strong financial footing.

All while nearing key Zones, of course.

That’s just a long way of saying: we want names that can actually hold up, even if this rally decides to roll over.

And we’ve got a few solid setups in this week’s issue. Let’s get to it.

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Enjoying this new format of Zone Alert?

🖤 Give this post a like to let us know!

Still prefer the old one? We’d love to hear your thoughts—join our subscriber community to drop your feedback. You can help us shape what comes next!

New to our Quantamental zone alerts? Here’s everything you need to know:

Each week, we screen for longer-term setups using a Quantamental approach—basically combining quantitative techniques and solid fundamental analysis.

Using our different Quantamental screens, we surface high-potential names with a strong track record, trading at a discount—and of course, with the timing lining up in our favor.

Last week, we used a mix of P/S, 1M Returns, Beta, and Zones to find a few promising stocks:

Trading Places

These 4 Frothy Tech Stocks Might Be Due for a Reality Check Soon (July 9 2025)

Good morning friends…

Read more

10 months ago · 1 like · Trading Places

This week, here’s what we’re looking for:

• High ROIC (>5%)

  We’re after companies that know how to turn capital into real value. A high ROIC tells us management isn’t just sitting on assets, but using them to generate returns. And when that return consistently beats the company’s cost of capital? That’s the compounding engine we want to ride.

• Sustainable Revenue Growth (3Y CAGR >5%)

  We want businesses that aren’t just riding short-term trends but have proven they can grow the top line steadily over time. Paired with a high ROIC, it’s a combo that rarely disappoints.

• Attractive Valuation (P/FCF within the 20th percentile rank)

  A great business is good. A great business that’s also cheap relative to its own history? Sign us up. We’re looking for setups where the market’s been sleeping—because if the business quality is solid, that discount usually doesn’t last long.

• Altman Z-score (>3.0)
  Think of this as a sniff test for balance sheet durability. A high Z-score suggests financial strength and low bankruptcy risk. That way we’re not walking into a potential ticking time bomb.

• Approaching key zones (near a strong resistance)

  Once the fundamentals check out, we zoom in on the charts. If a stock’s nearing a tried-and-tested support zone, it’s often a spot where buyers step in. It helps us time our entry and reduce downside risk. Even great businesses are better buys when they’re technically primed.

Btw, you can replicate our first four Quantamental criteria using any stock screener out there (we’re using Koyfin, but you can also use free ones like Finviz).

As for which stocks are nearing zones, you can find all that and more in the Trading Places platform:

Try the app for free

What’s in this issue:

• High-potential opportunities

• This week’s most actionable setup

Our Quantamental screen results

Here are some of the names that popped up on our screens this week:

1. Adobe Inc. (ADBE)

• ROIC (LTM): 36.36%

• Total Revenues, CAGR (3Y FQ): 10.22%

• P/FCF (3Y Rank): 2

• Altman Z-Score: 12.26

2. United Therapeutics Corporation (UTHR)

• ROIC (LTM): 16.31%

• Total Revenues, CAGR (3Y FQ): 19.81%

• P/FCF (3Y Rank): 4

• Altman Z-Score: 11.75

3. Universal Health Services, Inc. (UHS)

• ROIC (LTM): 11.71%

• Total Revenues, CAGR (3Y FQ): 7.58%

• P/FCF (3Y Rank): 9

• Altman Z-Score: 3.17

Most actionable setup this week: ADBE

Technology • Software - Infrastructure • USA • NASD

Adobe’s that one company we all love to hate—for how bloated the apps are, how overpriced the subscriptions feel, or how every update manages to find new ways to ruin your workflow. But somehow… we all still end up using it. (Well maybe not us, personally. Have you even seen our memes??)

And that’s likely why ADBE shows up as a beast on the fundamentals—standing out this week as the most well-rounded name on our screen.

First, let’s talk about its ROIC. At 36.3%, ADBE isn’t just “solid”—it’s in elite territory when it comes to capital efficiency. That’s the kind of number you typically only see with software giants with high margins and a wider moat… and Adobe is definitely that.

Then there’s the top line. A 10.2% 3-year revenue CAGR might not seem explosive, but it’s strong enough for a company of Adobe’s size. Growth like that at scale suggests its ecosystem still commands loyalty—and has the pricing power to back it up. So far at least, it appears the rise of AI hasn’t derailed its momentum.

And despite all that strength, ADBE is trading at a P/FCF that ranks in the 2nd percentile vs. its past three years. That’s seriously cheap for a business with this kind of financial firepower… which probably means the market’s pricing in fears of emerging AI challengers. (But other than Veo 3, have you seen the slop going around these days?)

That said, if there’s one thing investors should not be worried about with Adobe, it’s balance sheet health. The company clocks in with an Altman Z-score of 12.5—quadruply above the 2.99 “hmm maybe reconsider” threshold, and well within the “don’t even worry about it” range.

So while gen-AI companies are lining up to chip away at the Photoshop Empire, Adobe’s still a fortress that’s got the war chest to make it a fair fight.

Now it’s time to look at the charts and talk zones.

Just a few months ago, ADBE bounced cleanly off a major support zone from June 2022—the same level that once triggered a monstrous 7-month, 87% climb. That zone’s clearly got some strength behind it, and the stock respected it again this past April.

Sure, ADBE doesn’t look like much right now—it’s hovering around its May 2022 zone, cooling down after an RSI spike from its most recent rally.

This zone seems to be holding for now, with multiple bounces in past weeks—suggesting dip buyers are still showing up.

And while volume’s tapered a bit, that kind of quiet consolidation is often what long-term base formations look like.

If this level holds—and especially if price can start pushing above this current zone—we could be looking at the early stages of another grind upward.

This ADBE setup may not scream urgency, but it’s one of the most structurally sound profiles out there right now.

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That’s it for today’s issue of our all-new Quantamental Zone Alert. We’ll be back next week with fresh setups nearing key zones.

In the meantime:

Want to find more immediate setups?

The Trading Places platform is live—and free! Head on over and check out the Zone Scanner and Live Hot Picks.

Try Trading Places for free

Disclaimer: This isn't financial advice. This shouldn’t be news to you.

Welcome back to Quantamental Zone Alerts.

This week—with TACO sentiment in full mast (thanks to another round of tariff backpedaling), the Nasdaq back at record highs, and the market showing early signs of rotating out of tech—we figured, why not capitalize on what could be a ticking time bomb?

So instead of hunting for undervalued gems, today’s Quantamental screen focuses more on the exact opposite:

Tech stocks with sky-high valuations, recent price surges, and volatility cranked all the way up to eleven—all while nearing major resistance zones.

And it’s got four new names for you in this issue. Let’s get to it.

Subscribe now

Enjoying this new format of Zone Alert?

🖤 Give this post a like to let us know!

Still prefer the old one? We’d love to hear your thoughts—join our subscriber community to drop your feedback. You can help us shape what comes next!

New to our Quantamental zone alerts? Here’s everything you need to know:

Each week, we screen for longer-term setups using a Quantamental approach—basically combining quantitative techniques and solid fundamental analysis.

Using our different Quantamental screens, we surface high-potential names with a strong track record, trading at a discount—and of course, with the timing lining up in our favor.

Last week, we used a mix of Div yield, Payout ratio, P/FCF, and Zones to find a few promising stocks:

This week, here’s what we’re looking for:

• High Price-to-Sales multiple (top 10% vs 3Y history)

  We’re looking for stocks trading at the high end of their own 3-year valuation range. A stretched P/S ratio—especially when it touches the high 80s to 90s, percentile-wise—means the stock is not just expensive in absolute terms, but pricey relative to how it’s been valued historically.

  It tells us that the market’s betting big on its future. But if that narrative falters, these names often fall the hardest.

• Strong 1-month price performance (Returns >15%)

  We’re looking for stocks that have gone near-vertical recently. Explosive short-term moves quickly run into resistance and are often unsustainable. We’re after those that look like they’ve overextended themselves.

• High beta (>1.5)

  Volatile stocks move big in both directions. Which is great both for catching sharp reversals and avoiding dead money. These names can drop just as quickly as they climb, depending on sentiment.

• Approaching key zones (near a strong resistance)

  Once our fundamentals check out, we look to the charts. If a stock’s barreling toward (or was just in a head-on collision with) a well-tested resistance zone, we’ll be watching for signs of a reversal.

Btw, you can replicate our first three Quantamental criteria using any stock screener out there (we’re using Koyfin, but you can also use free ones like Finviz).

As for which stocks are nearing zones, you can find all that and more in the Trading Places platform:

Try the app for free

What’s in this issue:

• High-potential opportunities

• This week’s most actionable setup

Our Quantamental screen results

Here are some of the names that popped up on our screens this week:

1. Oracle Corporation (ORCL)

• P/S (3Y Rank): 100th percentile

• Total Return (1M): 34.75%

• Beta (1Y): 1.51

2. Credo Technology Group Holding Ltd (CRDO)

• P/S (3Y Rank): 92nd percentile

• Total Return (1M): 27.96%

• Beta (1Y): 3.27

3. IonQ, Inc. (IONQ)

• P/S (3Y Rank): 97th percentile

• Total Return (1M): 15.25%

• Beta (1Y): 2.45

4. SoundHound AI, Inc. (SOUN)

• P/S (3Y Rank): 91st percentile

• Total Return (1M): 25.72%

• Beta (1Y): 3.11

Most actionable setup this week: SOUN

Technology • Software - Application • USA • NASD

Unlike our quiet-but-confident picks from previous issues, our featured stock today is a bit more… amped.

SOUN checked, shaded, and circled each and every box on our “frothy, twitchy, and flying high” watchlist… twice.

It’s also looking a bit overdue for a comedown.

The stock just notched a +25.7% gain over the past month—a monster move that’s great for anyone with a time machine… but for us, it only means it’s now firmly in overextension territory.

Meanwhile, its Price-to-Sales ratio is 49.9x—investors are paying nearly 50 times every dollar of revenue. But what you should really look at is where that sits relative to its history: right near the top of its 3-year P/S range.

That implies the market is pricing in a lot of future growth… perhaps too much? And SoundHound would need to pull off some serious revenue magic to justify where it’s trading today.

Now, we’re not saying it’s impossible—but do us a favor and check your iPhone for a sec. Which one do you have on your control center again? SoundHound or Shazam? Oh right…

Then there’s the volatility. A beta of 3.11 tells us that this thing moves. More than three times as much as the broader market, in fact. And while that could be a good thing in an upward market… in this market—one where sentiment can turn 180 based solely on a tweet—it just makes the stock incredibly vulnerable to sharp reversals, especially around major resistances.

And speaking of resistances, let’s now turn to our zone chart.

If you look real close at yesterday’s close (and today’s open), you’ll see that SOUN (currently $13.03 as of writing) is already above its January 2025 zone.

But—and this is important—our algorithm hasn’t marked it as a clean penetration just yet (no ⚡ symbol). Which means this could still be a failed attempt.

And it wouldn’t be the first. This same zone, albeit new, has already served as a strong deterrent to breakouts back in May, sparking a 20% drop over the following week.

If it holds again, it could send SOUN tumbling down back to single digies.

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That’s it for today’s issue of our all-new Quantamental Zone Alert. We’ll be back next week with fresh setups nearing key zones.

In the meantime:

Want to find more immediate setups?

The Trading Places platform is live—and free! Head on over and check out the Zone Scanner and Live Hot Picks.

Try Trading Places for free

Disclaimer: This isn't financial advice. This shouldn’t be news to you.

Welcome to the second-ever issue of our Quantamental Zone Alerts—and honestly, we weren’t too sure this format would make it past the pilot.

We figured this mid-to-longer-term approach might not hit the same way as the classic, shorter-term alerts you’re used to.

But turns out… we couldn’t have been more wrong.

So at least for the time being, it looks like this new format is here to stay. And we’ve got a new batch coming your way.

Subscribe now

New to our Quantamental zone alerts? Here’s everything you need to know:

Each week, we screen for longer-term setups using a Quantamental approach—basically combining quantitative techniques and solid fundamental analysis.

Using our different Quantamental screens, we surface high-potential names with a strong track record, trading at a discount—and of course, with the timing lining up in our favor.

Last week, we used a mix of ROIC, Growth, P/FCF, and Zones to find five promising stocks:

This week, here’s what we’re looking for:

• Dividend yield (>4%)
  We want businesses that consistently return real capital to shareholders. A solid div yield signals financial health, cash flow stability, and management confidence. These payouts can also provide a bit of downside cushion—which, in this kind of market, is invaluable.

• Payout ratio (<100%)
  This tells us that a good chunk of a company’s earnings are being returned as dividends. These names typically have consistent cash flows or operate in mature industries. We’re looking for firms that prioritize shareholder returns—without completely bleeding themselves dry.

• Attractive valuation (P/FCF near 5-year lows)
  A good business is great. But a good business trading cheap is even better. We want names where the market hasn’t caught up yet—measured by how low their Price-to-Free Cash Flow is compared to the past few years.

• Approaching key zones (near a strong support or resistance zone)
  Once the fundamentals check out, we look to the charts. Zones help us time our entries—whether it’s a bounce or a breakout, we want to be there before the move starts.

Btw, you can replicate our first three Quantamental criteria using any stock screener out there (we’re using Koyfin, but you can also use free ones like Finviz).

As for which stocks are nearing zones, you can find all that and more in the Trading Places platform:

Try the app for free

What’s in this issue:

• High-potential opportunities

• This week’s most actionable setup

• What are zones?

Our Quantamental screen results

Here are some of the names that popped up on our screens this week:

1. Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ)

• Div Yield (Ind): 6.26%

• Payout Ratio (FY): 64.26%

• P/FCF (5Y Rank): 7th percentile

2. United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS)

• Div Yield (Ind): 6.50%

• Payout Ratio (FY): 93.38%

• P/FCF (5Y Rank): 21st percentile

3. PepsiCo, Inc. (PEP)

• Div Yield (Ind): 4.31%

• Payout Ratio (FY): 75.47%

• P/FCF (5Y Rank): 3rd percentile

4. The Kraft Heinz Company (KHC)

• Div Yield (Ind): 6.20%

• Payout Ratio (FY): 70.37%

• P/FCF (5Y Rank): 6th percentile

Most actionable setup this week: PEP

Consumer Defensive • Beverages - Non-Alcoholic • USA • NASD

PEP isn’t the sexiest and trendiest stock in the market, but that’s kind of the point.

While everyone on WSB and X are flipflopping between the PLTRs and the HOODs of the world, Pepsi’s just… there—trudging by, printing, and consistently returning it to shareholders.

Right now, PEP is yielding 4.31% and paying out just a bit over 75% of its earnings.

Not too aggressive that they’re stretching themselves thin, but still generous enough to matter to hodlers. It means they’re still leaving room for flexibility and reinvestment—also hallmarks of a well-run, capital-disciplined business.

It’s exactly the kind of dividend profile you’d expect from a steady, cash-rich behemoth like PepsiCo.

As for valuation, right now PEP is trading at ~$133, with a P/FCF in the 3rd percentile vs. its past five years. In other words, you’re getting this gem at one of its cheapest levels in recent history.

Next, looking at our zone chart, you’ll see that PEP has recently bounced off the April 2019 support zone.

This is a key zone that has not broken since the COVID crash. It’s also where PEP has been consolidating tightly since May.

That it’s finally managed to break away from it could signal a potential turnaround for the stock—if it holds, that is.

This isn't a “to the moon” play—but well, it’s not really supposed to be. This one’s more about durability, divs, and a dependable setup for longer-term players.

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That’s it for today’s issue of our all-new Quantamental Zone Alert. We’ll be back next week with fresh setups nearing key zones.

In the meantime:

Want to find more immediate setups?

The Trading Places platform is live—and free! Head on over and check out the Zone Scanner and Live Hot Picks.

Try Trading Places for free

Enjoying this new format of Zone Alert?

🖤 Hit the like button and let us know!

Still prefer the old one? We’d love to hear your thoughts—join our subscriber community to drop your feedback. You can help us shape what comes next!

Disclaimer: This isn't financial advice. This shouldn’t be news to you.

If you’ve been hanging around here long enough, then you probably already know the drill every Tuesday: stocks near zones, bounce or penetrate, rinse and repeat.

But since the Trading Places app already does a great job providing real-time alerts for short-term trades anyway… we figured, why not switch up the newsletter a bit?

So in this all-new Zone Alert, we’re zooming out and focusing on the bigger picture—longer-term, high-conviction setups you can sit on for months, not days.

But don’t worry, the classic Zone Alerts aren’t going anywhere—you’ll still catch them on X and Substack Notes from time to time.

So what’s new?

Starting this week, we’re rolling out a more in-depth series using a Quantamental methodology—basically combining quantitative techniques and fundamental analysis in order to surface setups with serious mid-to-long term potential (6-24 months).

What we’ll be looking at

Instead, our focus is going to be on solid, efficient and undervalued companies that tend to hold up (or even outperform) during periods of uncertainty. 

There are a lot of ways to define that kind of setup—but to avoid overcomplicating things, we’ll keep it simple with these three core criteria:

• High ROIC (15%+)

• Good growth (5%+ CAGR)

• Attractive valuation (P/FCF in the top 20th historical percentile rank)

We’re using Koyfin, but you can use any stock screeners (Finviz is free) to replicate what we’re doing here.

Why these three?

High Return on Invested Capital (ROIC)

ROIC (Return on Invested Capital) measures how effectively a company turns its invested capital into profit. When a company’s ROIC exceeds its Cost of Capital (WACC), it creates value for shareholders.

Think of it this way: if a business can deploy capital at a 25% return while its WACC is just 10%, it earns a 15% value-creating spread. And if those returns can be reinvested at similarly high rates, the company becomes a compounding cash-generating engine, a hallmark of long-term wealth creation.

In a nutshell, ROIC tells us how good the business and its management is in generating value.

MSFT and AMZN are among the most efficient of the large cap companies with ~27% ROIC year after year. TSLA and PLTR, meanwhile—two popular names among retail traders—are in the low single digits. 

And ROIC’s not just theoretical. As you can see from the Morgan Stanley chart above (and as discussed in more detail in this paper), the market tends to assign higher multiples to stocks with a higher ROIC.

In other words, the stock market clearly recognizes ROIC as a value metric.

Sustainable growth (Total Revenues CAGR)

Forget flashy one-offs; we’re looking for at least three years of compound top-line growth.

If margins and working-capital demands stay in check, that steady climb tends to kick out extra cash the company can reinvest at the usual ROIC.

It’s a solid clue that customers genuinely want what it’s selling.

Attractive valuations (P/FCF)

We’re also checking where these stocks are trading compared to their respective histories, i.e. whether their Price-to-Free-Cash-Flow is the cheapest it’s been in the last few years (or at least close to it).

No sense paying up for potential if the market’s already priced it in—especially in this uncertain climate.

You could actually use different metrics for valuation (P/E or P/S for example). But since we’re screening for mature, cash-generating businesses, P/FCF is often a better metric.

Nearing a potential bounce/penetration (Zones)

Well this wouldn’t be a Trading Places newsletter if it didn’t involve Zones.

So once we’re certain about the fundamental solidity of our picks, we’ll also be letting our zones to do what they do best: time our moves.

As usual, we’ll optimize potential entries, exits, and stops by positioning them around key zones… because otherwise, what is even the point?

Tl;dr: we’ll be looking at capital efficiency, real growth, value, and timing.

Disclaimer: This is by no means an exhaustive list of criteria for evaluating the quality of a business. Always do your own research—dig deeper into the company’s financials (especially debt sustainability), listen to earnings calls, and ensure you have a clear understanding of the types of risks the company is exposed to.

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What’s in this issue:

• High-potential opportunities

• This week’s most actionable setup

• What are zones?

Btw, you can always cross-check our zone analysis by heading over to the app and exploring the Scanner, Hot Picks, and Chart features for yourself. It’s free!

Try the Trading Places app for free

Our Quantamental screen results

Here are some of the names that popped up on our screens this week:

1. Colgate-Palmolive Company (CL)

• ROIC: 37.24%

• Revenue CAGR (3Y): 3.74%

• P/FCF (3Y Rank): 3rd percentile

2. Adobe Inc. (ADBE)

• ROIC: 36.38%

• Revenue CAGR (3Y): 10.22%

• P/FCF (3Y Rank): 3rd percentile

3. Crocs, Inc. (CROX)

• ROIC: 28.65%

• Revenue CAGR (3Y): 12.40%

• P/FCF (3Y Rank): 9th percentile

4. Erie Indemnity Company (ERIE)

• ROIC: 27.45%

• Revenue CAGR (3Y): 13.76%

• P/FCF (3Y Rank): 8th percentile

5. RLI Corp. (RLI)

• ROIC: 17.50%

• Revenue CAGR (3Y): 15.47%

• P/FCF (3Y Rank): 1st percentile

Most actionable setup this week: CROX

Consumer Cyclical • Footwear & Accessories • USA • NASD

We can’t blame you for not wanting to waste eye health looking at Crocs (the sandals), but you’d be amiss not to take a second look at CROX (the stock).

With a 28.65% ROIC, the company seems to be doing quite well putting their capital to work. This puts Crocs comfortably above some of its Consumer Discretionary peers such as SKX, UAA, SHOO, and even NKE.

The 12.4% revenue CAGR over the last 3 years, on the other hand, tells us that there’s nothing slow-footed about this footwear company.

Thanks to product-market fit with Gen Z and healthcare workers everywhere, Crocs has seemingly attained sustainable, multi-year growth—with plenty of room to run.

Despite that, CROX is trading at a P/FCF at the 9th percentile vs. its 3-year history—meaning its current price (as of writing) of $99.12 appears to be a pretty good deal for a business with its quality.

Now turning back to our chart, you’ll see that CROX has very recently bounced off its May 2021 zone. It’s a support that—for the most part—has held up reliably over the past few months.

Buyers have consistently stepped in and pushed it higher whenever the stock dipped into this area. And the way Monday’s candle left a long tail ending right at the bottom of the zone only reinforces that strength.

If this bounce holds, it could mark the beginning of a bigger, longer move up.

—

All things considered, CROX stands out as one of the top profiles on this week’s list—strong fundamentals, attractive valuation, and great timing.

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That’s a wrap for today’s issue of our all-new Quantamental Zone Alert. We’ll be back next week with fresh setups nearing key zones.

In the meantime:

Want to find more immediate setups?

The Trading Places platform is live—and free! Head on over and check out the Zone Scanner and Live Hot Picks.

Try Trading Places for free

Like this new format of Zone Alert?

Or do you still prefer the old one? We’d love to hear what you think! Join our subscriber community to drop your feedback.

Disclaimer: This isn't financial advice. This shouldn’t be news to you.

Between Bibi still threatening to target Iran’s supreme leader and Donnie calling for a city-wide exodus in Tehran… it looks like the Middle East’s up for some rough goings yet again.

Thankfully though, the markets have stayed hella resilient to A LOT of our recent headlines. Which means—as long as we don’t jinx it—our zones are still very much in play.

And we’ve got three new ones to walk you through this week.

Let’s get to it.

New here? Welcome to Zone Alerts.

This is where we highlight stocks that are approaching key support and resistance zones and analyze where the action might lead.

These weekly alerts help you zero in on high-potential setups while keeping risk management in check.

What’s in this issue:

• This week’s three new hot zones

• What are zones?

Btw, you can always double-check our zone play analysis by heading over to the app and exploring the Scanner, Hot Picks, and Chart features for yourself. It’s free!

Try the Trading Places app for free

Bentley Systems Inc. (BSY)

Technology • Software - Application • USA • NASD

Despite the ever-present cloud that is the Trump tariff comeback, BSY has been on a pretty good roll—recording a more than 35% gain since its post-Liberation Day bottoms.

But currently, it’s hit a wall.

Its February 2021 zone—a resistance that has not been penetrated convincingly in a year—is standing between BSY and a potential push toward its 2024 highs.

And frankly, it could go either way right now.

One one hand, the two most recent retests of the zone have come with stronger volume than all previous attempts, suggesting momentum is building.

On the other, RSI during the June retests is notably higher—signaling possible exhaustion soon. Add to that a subtle bearish divergence between the recent peaks.

So what now?

Well, we kinda need to wait for confirmation.

If BSY convincingly breaks above in the coming days—maybe around $52 or so—the path to the July 2021 zone opens up for a potential 12% gain.

But if the zone holds off another attempt, then a short down to the December 2021 zone could be the play for around 8% downside.

Franklin Resources, Inc. (BEN)

Financial • Asset Management • USA • NYSE

This BEN setup is just about as simple as they come.

The stock is once again retesting its June 2022 resistance zone. It’s a zone that BEN has struggled to get past since August of last year.

And like previous attempts, it’s doing so with weak volume and a high RSI. This time though, it’s come with a bearish divergence kicker.

So if it ain’t obvious yet, it means BEN is looking like a good bounce candidate.

Archer Daniels Midland Co. (ADM)

Consumer Defensive • Farm Products • USA • NYSE

This near-vertical rally you’re seeing is ADM reacting to the EPA’s recent announcement regarding new biofuel blending requirements for 2026.

In just a few days, RSI shot up from a calm 53 to screaming 76—the highest it’s been in nearly two years.

Now, we’re usually quick to say that rallies like this are never sustainable.

But given the big headlines and the somewhat solid volume behind it… maybe it could—but probably not just yet.

For now, we’re still leaning toward a bounce off resistance—if only to cool off its red-hot RSI.

If that happens, a potential short target could be the bottom of its September 2014 zone (which also lines up with the peaks of its past swings) for a quick 6%.

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WTF are Zones, anyway?

Zones are key price levels where the market has reacted strongly in the past—such as sharp reversals or sudden swings.

They’re areas where actual supply and demand met in the past, and likely will meet again.

“Why are these significant?”

Well, it all comes down to three key principles. We like to call them The Principles of:

1. When I Dip, You Dip, We Dip (aka psychology)

Traders are aware that others are watching these levels (zones) too. With everybody paying attention, this creates a self-fulfilling prophecy where everybody acts in anticipation of everybody else’s actions.

2. Markets Gonna Market ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (aka technical factors)

If the first price rejection at the top of a zone was violent, it’s likely that buyers who entered at that level are now holding losses.

But with each retest, the rejection weakens, as there are fewer buyers remaining underwater. This weakens that resistance (or support for all you short-sellers), and could eventually lead to a break through.

3. Killer Whales (aka institutional plays)

Big players need liquidity in order to place massive orders without moving the market against themselves. So they wait for these zones, knowing a lot of us small fry (retail traders) will come to play.

This allows them to buy low or sell high without causing a lot of waves.

But remember: Zones are NOT guarantees but rather regions of increased probability for market moves. So always, ALWAYS use proper risk management.

Trading Places: Launch coming soon!

Stop obsessively refreshing your charts like it’s your ex’s Instagram.

By combining historical patterns with real-time market data, Trading Places identifies zones and assigns probabilities to each one—helping traders spot potential plays with higher chances of success.

It automates all of the curation, chart-plotting, and alerting for you, so you can actually have a life (or at least pretend to)!

Stay tuned!

Disclaimer: This isn't financial advice. This shouldn’t be news to you.

Hope everyone’s having a great week.

First off, just one minor update to the Trading Places platform: now that we’ve got a bunch more folks coming in and using the tool regularly, we’ve enabled savable layouts in Chart view. That way, you don’t have to redo your drawings and annotations every time you revisit your zone trading setups.

Access the app for FREE

And speaking of zone trade setups, we’ve got three new ones for you right now.

Let’s dive straight in.

New here? Welcome to Zone Alerts.

This is where we highlight stocks that are approaching key support and resistance zones and analyze where the action might lead.

These weekly alerts help you zero in on high-potential setups while keeping risk management in check.

Subscribe now

What’s in this issue:

• This week’s three new hot zones

• What are zones?

Btw, you can always double-check our zone play analysis by heading over to the app and exploring the Scanner, Hot Picks, and Chart features for yourself. It’s free!

Try the Trading Places app

Pinterest Inc. (PINS)

Communication Services • Internet Content & Information • USA • NYSE

We oughta be making Pinterest boards out of PINS because this setup is looking mighty beautiful to us.

Even though the stock is currently already a few ticks above the December 2021 zone, the lack of a convincing breakout (so far) tells us that it’s still technically “at” the zone—still “attempting” a penetration.

But since April 2024, the only way this resistance zone has been broken was via a big, likely news-driven gap up. Every other attempt has failed.

Right now, we think it’s gonna be more of the same.

Volume is looking decidedly meh, and RSI is showing hints of a bearish divergence… not to mention it’s already at 72.

If this retest falls flat yet again, the drop back to the January 2022 support zone could potentially yield around 8%.

Wingstop Inc.

Consumer Cyclical • Restaurants • USA • NASD

WING’s recent multi-day win streak has come to a screeching halt courtesy of its March 4, 2024 zone.

As a resistance, this zone’s been quite remarkable—registering more bounces than penetrations over its lifetime.

That makes this a tough hurdle for WING’s rally—because while the stock has shown it can sustain long periods of high RSI, this will be the first time (in a while) that it will do so while also facing a key resistance.

And while this recent rally has looked strong, the latter part of it had barely any volume behind it.

If it does get rejected off the zone again, our first potential target is the March 19, 2024 support zone, about 13% down.

Edison International (EIX)

Utilities • Utilities - Regulated Electric • USA • NYSE

EIX’s April 2013 zone has held as a support since 2020 (or since 2014, if we ignore COVID and that one day in November 2018).

In more recent news, it also stopped the stock from digging an even deeper hole back in early February—triggering a 20% rally.

Now—after yesterday’s -8% slide—EIX is once again retesting this same support zone, and doing so with a borderline-oversold RSI.

If this mirrors what happened on April 30 (massive red candle + huge volume spike), we could be looking at another promising bounce.

A potential move back up to the April 2014 zone could offer an upside of around 12-18%.

Subscribe now

WTF are Zones, anyway?

Zones are key price levels where the market has reacted strongly in the past—such as sharp reversals or sudden swings.

They’re areas where actual supply and demand met in the past, and likely will meet again.

“Why are these significant?”

Well, it all comes down to three key principles. We like to call them The Principles of:

1. When I Dip, You Dip, We Dip (aka psychology)

Traders are aware that others are watching these levels (zones) too. With everybody paying attention, this creates a self-fulfilling prophecy where everybody acts in anticipation of everybody else’s actions.

2. Markets Gonna Market ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (aka technical factors)

If the first price rejection at the top of a zone was violent, it’s likely that buyers who entered at that level are now holding losses.

But with each retest, the rejection weakens, as there are fewer buyers remaining underwater. This weakens that resistance (or support for all you short-sellers), and could eventually lead to a break through.

3. Killer Whales (aka institutional plays)

Big players need liquidity in order to place massive orders without moving the market against themselves. So they wait for these zones, knowing a lot of us small fry (retail traders) will come to play.

This allows them to buy low or sell high without causing a lot of waves.

But remember: Zones are NOT guarantees but rather regions of increased probability for market moves. So always, ALWAYS use proper risk management.

Trading Places: Launch coming soon!

Stop obsessively refreshing your charts like it’s your ex’s Instagram.

By combining historical patterns with real-time market data, Trading Places identifies zones and assigns probabilities to each one—helping traders spot potential plays with higher chances of success.

It automates all of the curation, chart-plotting, and alerting for you, so you can actually have a life (or at least pretend to)!

Stay tuned!

Disclaimer: This isn't financial advice. This shouldn’t be news to you.

First off, huge thanks to everyone who supported our launch on Product Hunt and BetaList.

And to everyone who just got here through those platforms, welcome to the community! Perfect timing too—because just when we thought the drama has cooled off post-TACO rollbacks… turns out, we’ve already got a few new things to worry about.

Thankfully, you’ve just found a secret weapon against all this chaos: Zones.

And as you’ll soon see, they’re pretty good for catching some emotionless, high-conviction setups, no matter what’s going on in and around the market.

Let’s get to it.

New here? Welcome to Zone Alerts.

This is where we highlight stocks that are approaching key support and resistance zones and analyze where the action might lead.

These weekly alerts help you zero in on high-potential setups while keeping risk management in check.

Subscribe now

What’s in this issue:

• This week’s three new hot zones

• What are zones?

Btw, you can always double-check our zone play analysis by heading over to the app and exploring the Scanner, Hot Picks, and Chart features for yourself. It’s free!

Try the Trading Places app

Tesla Inc. (TSLA)

Consumer Cyclical • Auto Manufacturers • USA • NASD

Yes, we know. We just said “emotionless” setups. How could TSLA be in here when it’s the literal epicenter of all this craziness?

Well, just because a stock’s caught in the turmoil doesn’t mean we can’t use zones to make sense of it.

Take yesterday’s price action. Despite the epic blowout between Elon and Trump, which could’ve sent the stock crashing harder throughout the day—that long tail suggests that buyers knew that the $271-278 range (a.k.a. the April 2022 zone) was a key level, and promptly stepped in.

As of writing—just as the market opened—TSLA is now 4.8% up.

With RSI still very low and rumors of a possible “talk” between the two ex-BFFs swirling hard today, there’s a chance this bounce keeps going—back up to the February 2025 zone.

If it does, that’s still a potential 9+% move, even though we’re late.

Voya Financial Inc. (VOYA)

Financial • Financial Conglomerates • USA • NYSE

VOYA is currently sitting on its March 2021 zone—a support that has not* been penetrated since 2023.

*not counting the black swan event-induced zone breakdown due to the Liberation Day tariffs

After recovering from said penetration in early May, the stock has not really done much. It’s been lingering around the zone without any real indication where it’s headed.

But zooming out a bit, you’ll see that there was also a long consolidation around this same level back in October 2023.

That resulted in a ~14% rally up to its January 2022 zone.

Right now, volume and RSI is looking roughly similar to what we saw back then.

So considering that the stock’s P/E is stellar relative to its 20-year history, its industry peers, and the US market in general—not to mention that the March 2021 zone is historically very strong (or did we say that already?)—it’s fair to say another bounce off support is on the table.

A run back up to the January 2022 resistance could yield upside of around 8-14%.

Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (MAA)

Real Estate • REIT - Residential • USA • NYSE

This one’s a pretty textbook zone play.

MAA has been pinballing between its February 2020 support and June 2021 resistance since late last year—delivering swings of around 9% almost every time.

True to form, MAA is back retesting its support zone again, with RSI nearing oversold levels.

At this point, it’d already be blatant spoonfeeding if we still have to spell out what we think happens next.

Subscribe now

WTF are Zones, anyway?

Zones are key price levels where the market has reacted strongly in the past—such as sharp reversals or sudden swings.

They’re areas where actual supply and demand met in the past, and likely will meet again.

“Why are these significant?”

Well, it all comes down to three key principles. We like to call them The Principles of:

1. When I Dip, You Dip, We Dip (aka psychology)

Traders are aware that others are watching these levels (zones) too. With everybody paying attention, this creates a self-fulfilling prophecy where everybody acts in anticipation of everybody else’s actions.

2. Markets Gonna Market ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (aka technical factors)

If the first price rejection at the top of a zone was violent, it’s likely that buyers who entered at that level are now holding losses.

But with each retest, the rejection weakens, as there are fewer buyers remaining underwater. This weakens that resistance (or support for all you short-sellers), and could eventually lead to a break through.

3. Killer Whales (aka institutional plays)

Big players need liquidity in order to place massive orders without moving the market against themselves. So they wait for these zones, knowing a lot of us small fry (retail traders) will come to play.

This allows them to buy low or sell high without causing a lot of waves.

But remember: Zones are NOT guarantees but rather regions of increased probability for market moves. So always, ALWAYS use proper risk management.

Trading Places: Launch coming soon!

Stop obsessively refreshing your charts like it’s your ex’s Instagram.

By combining historical patterns with real-time market data, Trading Places identifies zones and assigns probabilities to each one—helping traders spot potential plays with higher chances of success.

It automates all of the curation, chart-plotting, and alerting for you, so you can actually have a life (or at least pretend to)!

Stay tuned!

Disclaimer: This isn't financial advice. This shouldn’t be news to you.

So today’s a big day for us.

We just launched on Product Hunt and BetaList—two platforms that allow cool new stuff (like our online tool) to reach a wider audience of early adopters (like yourselves).

We know some of you might prefer to gatekeep this. And we can’t blame you—winning consistently in the market is a pretty nice flex.

But we’d really appreciate your support today to get our launch higher up the charts.

If you’ve ever saved time trade prepping with our Zone Scanner, caught a clutch setup off Hot Picks, or even just chuckled at one of our Zone Recaps or Alerts…

A quick comment or upvote from you would help us out big time!

So if you can, please consider checking out our listings:

Product Hunt | BetaList

—

Thank you for rolling with us from the start!

Now onto what you actually came here for… our latest zone alerts—

New here? Welcome to Zone Alerts.

This is where we highlight stocks that are approaching key support and resistance zones and analyze where the action might lead.

These weekly alerts help you zero in on high-potential setups while keeping risk management in check.

Subscribe now

What’s in this issue:

• This week’s three new hot zones

• What are zones?

Btw, you can always double-check our zone play analysis by heading over to the app and exploring the Scanner, Hot Picks, and Chart features for yourself. It’s free!

Try the Trading Places app

Eagle Materials Inc. (EXP)

Basic Materials • Building Materials • USA • NYSE

The December 2023 zone has been quite the price magnet for EXP this year. After catching a falling knife earlier in March, it hasn’t allowed the stock to drift too far away.

This is actually a good example of how a strong, well-established zone influences price action—when many traders are camping around a proven level, price tends to hover and bounce there repeatedly, as buyers and sellers duke it out.

Right now, EXP is retesting that same December 2023 zone—a key zone that’s technically a “virgin” support (meaning it’s never been penetrated as a support).

Although that red candle (and the accompanying volume) from yesterday is concerning, it’s roughly similar to what we saw on April 8—and even that offered a 10+% rebound.

Moreover, RSI is currently at 34, bordering oversold.

If the zone manages to hold off this penetration attempt in the next few days, we could see another bounce from EXP—with the trip up toward the July 2024 zone offering a potential upside of 15-20%.

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALNY)

Healthcare • Biotechnology • USA • NASD

One of the biggest advantages zones have over traditional S/R lines is that they take into account real-world volatility.

And ALNY is a perfect case in point.

Although the stock did not technically “hit” the October 2024 resistance zone, our algo still registered a bounce:

Which means an ALNY zone play could again be… uh… in play.

The stock’s most recent rally, although explosive, had a weaker volume vs. the two that came before it (specifically the ones in October 2024 and March 2025)—so if you were hoping for an upward penetration, this isn’t really confidence-inspiring.

RSI also hit near-overbought levels a few days ago—another sign the stock might need to cool off before making another run.

If the rejection holds, our first target for this setup is the September 2024 support zone—around 14% down.

BWX Technologies Inc.

Industrials • Aerospace & Defense • USA • NYSE

This alert came fresh out of today’s Hot Picks - Extreme Conditions.

(If you haven’t explored it yet, Hot Picks is a feature inside the Trading Places platform that highlights the most actionable setups, based on our favorite—and most profitable—backtested presets.)

There isn’t really a lot to unpack hare.

BWXT has been on an absolute tear—up nearly 50% since April, capped off by a near-vertical ascent in the past few days.

But right now, it’s smacked right against the October 2024 resistance zone, with a severely overbought RSI of 78. That’s even higher than the last time it tested this level (which, for the record, resulted in a 25% drop).

Now, you don’t need us to tell you that meteoric runs like this are hardly sustainable.

If it bounces again, a move back down to the May 2024 support zone could be quite profitable—a 21% downside.

Subscribe now

WTF are Zones, anyway?

Zones are key price levels where the market has reacted strongly in the past—such as sharp reversals or sudden swings.

They’re areas where actual supply and demand met in the past, and likely will meet again.

“Why are these significant?”

Well, it all comes down to three key principles. We like to call them The Principles of:

1. When I Dip, You Dip, We Dip (aka psychology)

Traders are aware that others are watching these levels (zones) too. With everybody paying attention, this creates a self-fulfilling prophecy where everybody acts in anticipation of everybody else’s actions.

2. Markets Gonna Market ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (aka technical factors)

If the first price rejection at the top of a zone was violent, it’s likely that buyers who entered at that level are now holding losses.

But with each retest, the rejection weakens, as there are fewer buyers remaining underwater. This weakens that resistance (or support for all you short-sellers), and could eventually lead to a break through.

3. Killer Whales (aka institutional plays)

Big players need liquidity in order to place massive orders without moving the market against themselves. So they wait for these zones, knowing a lot of us small fry (retail traders) will come to play.

This allows them to buy low or sell high without causing a lot of waves.

But remember: Zones are NOT guarantees but rather regions of increased probability for market moves. So always, ALWAYS use proper risk management.

Trading Places: Launch coming soon!

Stop obsessively refreshing your charts like it’s your ex’s Instagram.

By combining historical patterns with real-time market data, Trading Places identifies zones and assigns probabilities to each one—helping traders spot potential plays with higher chances of success.

It automates all of the curation, chart-plotting, and alerting for you, so you can actually have a life (or at least pretend to)!

Stay tuned!

Disclaimer: This isn't financial advice. This shouldn’t be news to you.

You can still be a part of our beta and try out the new Trading Places online platform—where you can make full use of our Zone Algorithm—for free

Try the Trading Places app

Who here had a good week? Us too.

Turns out dialing down the tariff craziness could do wonders for the market.

BUT—don’t go closing those shorts just yet…

Because if stock futures are anything to go by, we might be in for another tumble. Concerns over the lower-but-still-high tariffs, plus the non-zero chance of the trade war flaring back up, could wipe these collective smiles off our faces.

So for this week’s alerts, we’re gonna focus on a few stocks that could shape up to be strong short candidates.

Let’s get to it.

New here? Welcome to Zone Alerts.

This is where we highlight stocks that are approaching key support and resistance zones and analyze where the action might lead.

These weekly alerts help you zero in on high-potential setups while keeping risk management in check.

Subscribe now

What’s in this issue:

• This week’s three new hot zones

• What are zones?

Here’s what our zone algo picked up for you this week:

Carvana Co. (CVNA)

Consumer Cyclical • Auto & Truck Dealerships • USA • NYSE

View CVNA’s zones here

CVNA is currently retesting a major resistance zone from January 2021.

This is the same zone that once acted as the ‘shoulders’ of the H&S pattern CVNA formed back in 2021—which, if you recall, led to a massive breakdown later that year.

Good news: After about four years, it's finally recovered—thanks to that monstrous 100+% rally since April.

Bad news: This redemption arc might be losing steam.

CVNA is entering the zone not only on weakening volume, it’s also exhibiting a clear bearish divergence forming on the RSI.

The stock’s also been hovering around overbought territory (70-ish) for a few days now—even though it’s shown the potential to reach extreme levels (90 in a previous rally).

All this points to a potential reversal—where even a pullback down to just the November 2024 support zone could offer a 10+% downside.

3M Co. (MMM)

Industrials • Conglomerates • USA • NYSE

View MMM’s zones here

MMM’s July 2016 resistance zone is about as battle-hardened as they come.

In 2025 alone, it’s faced multiple attempts at penetration—and managed to withstand all of them.

In this latest retest, MMM has approached the zone with gradually rising—but relatively low—volume. This means that while there is growing interest during the rally, it doesn’t look like it’s enough to break through a zone this strong (or at least not yet).

RSI is also at 66 currently. Technically not yet overbought, but getting there. That said, MMM has sustained multiple days of 80+ RSI back in February… so we can’t rule anything out.

But based on what we’re seeing now, another bounce back to the December 2014 support could be more likely. That’s a 12-15% return if it plays out.

Zscaler Inc. (ZS)

Technology • Software - Infrastructure • USA • NASD

View ZS’ zones here

We’re getting exhausted just looking at ZS’ recent rally.

This near-vertical 50% run, which only started a few weeks ago, has brought the stock back to a familiar foe—the August 2021 zone.

Since the zone’s inception, ZS has only managed to beat it once (twice if you’re gonna count the recovery from a faux-breakdown back in February 2022—we won’t).

At the moment, ZS is attempting to break out of this resistance at extremely overbought conditions (RSI 78). It’s actually higher than the last time it retested this zone—and even that bombed.

Volume, while above-average, has been flat throughout this rally—a sign of indecision from traders.

We’re gonna need to wait a bit more before pulling any triggers here, but regardless of whether the move is headed down or up—it’s likely going to be big.

If it bounces hard, the trip back to the December 2020 support zone could net a whopping 20-24%.

Subscribe now

WTF are Zones, anyway?

Zones are key price levels where the market has reacted strongly in the past—such as sharp reversals or sudden swings.

They’re areas where actual supply and demand met in the past, and likely will meet again.

“Why are these significant?”

Well, it all comes down to three key principles. We like to call them The Principles of:

1. When I Dip, You Dip, We Dip (aka psychology)

Traders are aware that others are watching these levels (zones) too. With everybody paying attention, this creates a self-fulfilling prophecy where everybody acts in anticipation of everybody else’s actions.

2. Markets Gonna Market ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (aka technical factors)

If the first price rejection at the top of a zone was violent, it’s likely that buyers who entered at that level are now holding losses.

But with each retest, the rejection weakens, as there are fewer buyers remaining underwater. This weakens that resistance (or support for all you short-sellers), and could eventually lead to a break through.

3. Killer Whales (aka institutional plays)

Big players need liquidity in order to place massive orders without moving the market against themselves. So they wait for these zones, knowing a lot of us small fry (retail traders) will come to play.

This allows them to buy low or sell high without causing a lot of waves.

But remember: Zones are NOT guarantees but rather regions of increased probability for market moves. So always, ALWAYS use proper risk management.

Trading Places: Launch coming soon!

Stop obsessively refreshing your charts like it’s your ex’s Instagram.

By combining historical patterns with real-time market data, Trading Places identifies zones and assigns probabilities to each one—helping traders spot potential plays with higher chances of success.

It automates all of the curation, chart-plotting, and alerting for you, so you can actually have a life (or at least pretend to)!

Stay tuned!

Disclaimer: This isn't financial advice. This shouldn’t be news to you.

What a pleasant start to the week, wouldn’t you say?

The Dow went up more than a thousand points, the Mag 7’s looking pretty Mag… and for once, it feels like we might finally wake up from this endless Donald-Xi love/hate fever dream.

With this macro nightmare that is the US-China trade war appearing to thaw (at least for now), maybe—just maybe—we can get back to our regularly scheduled zone trading.

And today, we’ve got a fresh batch zones you might want to capitalize on.

New here? Welcome to Zone Alerts.

This is where we highlight stocks that are approaching key support and resistance zones and analyze where the action might lead.

These weekly alerts help you zero in on high-potential setups while keeping risk management in check.

Subscribe now

What’s in this issue:

• This week’s three new hot zones

• What are zones?

Here’s what our zone algo picked up for you this week:

ITT Inc. (ITT)

Industrials • Specialty Industrial Machinery • USA • NYSE

View ITT's zones here

ITT has been staging a massive, V-shaped recovery after a depressing start to the year. It’s now up more than 40% since bouncing off its November 2021 zone just a month ago.

Right now, though, it’s running into a familiar wall.

The August 2024 zone has been tricky for ITT. Rejections here in October 2024 and January 2025 both led to painful pullbacks.

It did manage to get past the zone in November, but that breakout was short-lived.

And looking at the current setup, we might be in for more of the same.

Although MACD still has signs of sustained momentum, it’s approaching levels where previous rallies topped out.

RSI is also already flashing overbought, and volume during this rally has noticeably been thinning.

This is looking more and more like another bounce off resistance. And if the pullback is as sharp as before, a move back to the December 2023 zone could mean a 17% slide.

Allison Transmission Holdings Inc. (ALSN)

Consumer Cyclical • Auto Parts • USA • NYSE

View ALSN’s zones here

For months, ALSN’s October 2024 zone has given the stock problems. But with recent tariff headlines, ALSN appears ready to finally punch through and chase previous highs.

The stock’s MACD is looking promising—having recently crossed above zero, and its RSI—although nearly overbought—has historically reached 80+ before showing any real signs of exhaustion.

But given the lack of the ⚡ symbol above yesterday’s “breakout,” our zone algorithm is likely still waiting for another confirmation candle before tagging this penetration as legit.

If we get that in the next few days, the upside could be huge. Riding the move up to the November 2024 zone could lead to potential gains of more than 17%.

Bio-Techne Corp. (TECH)

Healthcare • Biotechnology • USA • NASD

View TECH’s zones here

TECH has been nowhere and back lately—drifting sideways and managing a whopping… +1.8% over the last 30+ days.

But that changed yesterday, when it managed to penetrate not one—but two resistance zones—from February 2019 and September 2018.

That leaves only one major hurdle immediately ahead: the June 2019 resistance zone.

With its MACD having flipped bullish recently, RSI only at 56, and volume coming in relatively strong—there’s a real shot this could turn into a proper breakout…

But we need a clean close above $56 to confirm it.

If that happens, we’re looking at a potential reversal—up to the August 2020 zone or even beyond. That’s a solid 11-16% upside if it plays out.

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WTF are Zones, anyway?

Zones are key price levels where the market has reacted strongly in the past—such as sharp reversals or sudden swings.

They’re areas where actual supply and demand met in the past, and likely will meet again.

“Why are these significant?”

Well, it all comes down to three key principles. We like to call them The Principles of:

1. When I Dip, You Dip, We Dip (aka psychology)

Traders are aware that others are watching these levels (zones) too. With everybody paying attention, this creates a self-fulfilling prophecy where everybody acts in anticipation of everybody else’s actions.

2. Markets Gonna Market ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (aka technical factors)

If the first price rejection at the top of a zone was violent, it’s likely that buyers who entered at that level are now holding losses.

But with each retest, the rejection weakens, as there are fewer buyers remaining underwater. This weakens that resistance (or support for all you short-sellers), and could eventually lead to a break through.

3. Killer Whales (aka institutional plays)

Big players need liquidity in order to place massive orders without moving the market against themselves. So they wait for these zones, knowing a lot of us small fry (retail traders) will come to play.

This allows them to buy low or sell high without causing a lot of waves.

But remember: Zones are NOT guarantees but rather regions of increased probability for market moves. So always, ALWAYS use proper risk management.

Trading Places: Launch coming soon!

Stop obsessively refreshing your charts like it’s your ex’s Instagram.

By combining historical patterns with real-time market data, Trading Places identifies zones and assigns probabilities to each one—helping traders spot potential plays with higher chances of success.

It automates all of the curation, chart-plotting, and alerting for you, so you can actually have a life (or at least pretend to)!

Stay tuned!

Disclaimer: This isn't financial advice. This shouldn’t be news to you.

First off, a quick reminder to any of you out there still not a part of our beta—you can still test our new online platform and harness the power of the Zone Algo for free:

Join the beta

Inside, you’ll be able to:

• Find the most actionable setups for the day/week

• See each stock’s key support and resistance zones

• Adjust the scanner’s settings to suit your trading needs

Now onto our top picks for the week.

New here? Welcome to Zone Alerts.

This is where we highlight stocks that are approaching key support and resistance zones and analyze where the action might lead.

These weekly alerts help you zero in on high-potential setups while keeping risk management in check.

Subscribe now

What’s in this issue:

• This week’s three new hot zones

• What are zones?

Tesla Inc. (TSLA)

Consumer Cyclical • Auto Manufacturers • USA • NASD

View the chart

Let’s dive right into a setup that’s already in the works.

After a sh*tshow start to the year, TSLA seems to have finally been able to stop its bleeding.

For the past couple months, the stock has been chopping around in between its February 2023 and January 2021 zones—a range that has consistently delivered 10-30% returns literally every step of the way.

Right now, TSLA is in the early stages of another rejection from resistance, with yesterday’s red candle acting as a solid bounce confirmation.

Moreover, this most recent rally has shown some signs of exhaustion—as evidenced by the declining volume during this rally.

As of writing, price has already slid about 5% from the resistance zone—but there’s still a lot of runway left in this play.

With the December 2020 zone as the first potential target, a short here could net about 13-17%.

Evergy Inc. (EVRG)

Utilities • Utilities - Regulated Electric • USA • NASD

View the chart

Similar to our first alert, EVRG is a stock that has also been stuck in a well-defined zone channel for a while.

But unlike with TSLA, we’re still a little early to this setup. And that’s actually key here—because this is a stock that tends to take the express way down.

And that elevator could be coming soon.

Apart from facing a zone that has almost never been penetrated…

EVRG is also looking at fading volume, plus bearish divergences on both RSI and MACD.

Riding another bounce down to the September 2019 support zone could offer a quick 6-8% gain.

Westlake Corporation (WLK)

Basic Materials • Specialty Chemicals • USA • NYSE

View the chart

That huge gap down you’re seeing is the result of a surprisingly poor Q1 earnings report from WLK—which effectively ended the mini-rally it’s been attempting.

The stock is now trading at levels not seen since mid-2021… and is right back at a support zone that hasn’t broken since.

On top of that, WLK’s selling volume—while still unusually high—has calmed down a bit since Friday. RSI has also dipped back down to oversold territory, and is showing signs of a bullish divergence.

All signs are pointing toward a possible bounce here… but we’ll still need to see a bullish candle to confirm.

This is a pretty significant move up if ever—15-20% upside if it makes it to the September 2014 zone.

Subscribe now

WTF are Zones, anyway?

Zones are key price levels where the market has reacted strongly in the past—such as sharp reversals or sudden swings.

They’re areas where actual supply and demand met in the past, and likely will meet again.

“Why are these significant?”

Well, it all comes down to three key principles. We like to call them The Principles of:

1. When I Dip, You Dip, We Dip (aka psychology)

Traders are aware that others are watching these levels (zones) too. With everybody paying attention, this creates a self-fulfilling prophecy where everybody acts in anticipation of everybody else’s actions.

2. Markets Gonna Market ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (aka technical factors)

If the first price rejection at the top of a zone was violent, it’s likely that buyers who entered at that level are now holding losses.

But with each retest, the rejection weakens, as there are fewer buyers remaining underwater. This weakens that resistance (or support for all you short-sellers), and could eventually lead to a break through.

3. Killer Whales (aka institutional plays)

Big players need liquidity in order to place massive orders without moving the market against themselves. So they wait for these zones, knowing a lot of us small fry (retail traders) will come to play.

This allows them to buy low or sell high without causing a lot of waves.

But remember: Zones are NOT guarantees but rather regions of increased probability for market moves. So always, ALWAYS use proper risk management.

Trading Places: Launch coming soon!

Stop obsessively refreshing your charts like it’s your ex’s Instagram.

By combining historical patterns with real-time market data, Trading Places identifies zones and assigns probabilities to each one—helping traders spot potential plays with higher chances of success.

It automates all of the curation, chart-plotting, and alerting for you, so you can actually have a life (or at least pretend to)!

Stay tuned!

Disclaimer: This isn't financial advice. This shouldn’t be news to you.

But before we proceed with this week’s charts—some quick New Feature Alerts for our beta users:

📱 Trading Places is now on mobile! Simply go to app.tradingplaces.ai on your phone’s browser to access the online tool.

📤 You can now quickly share your custom setups—complete with the Zone and Bounce filters—directly from the platform’s Chart tab.

This means it’s now easier to view, discuss, and share your zone trading setups and analysis.

Not on the beta yet? You can still be among the first traders to test it out:

Join the beta

Okay, let’s dive straight in.

New here? Welcome to Zone Alerts.

This is where we highlight stocks that are approaching key support and resistance zones and analyze where the action might lead.

These weekly alerts help you zero in on high-potential setups while keeping risk management in check.

Subscribe now

What’s in this issue:

• This week’s three new hot zones

• What are zones?

Here’s what our zone algo picked up for you this week:

FirstCash Holdings Inc. (FCFS)

Financial • Credit Services • USA • NASD

View the chart

FCFS has had a pretty good 2025—up nearly 30% YTD despite the fairly rocky environment we’re in.

Right now, it’s knocking at the door of its April 2024 zone.

The last time price hit these levels, the stock didn’t fare too well—its multi-year uptrend got shot down hard, leading to a 13% single-day bloodbath.

But comparing this rally to 2024’s—volume this time around has been stronger. Nothing explosive… but noticeably higher than average, meaning the stock has momentum on its side.

But… with RSI already above 72, this trend is due for a quick breather. We would likely see some pullback to the $128-130 range before interesting things happen.

If demand holds, this could turn into a real breakout toward new highs.

Evergy Inc. (EVRG)

Utilities • Utilities - Regulated Electric • USA • NASD

View the chart

After a strong, clean rally that began in October 2023, EVRG is now sitting in a multi-year resistance zone from August 2021… a few dollars away from its ATH.

The stock has been trying its damnedest recently to penetrate this zone—to no avail. Each of the two previous retests ended up getting smacked back down to the September 2019 support.

And while there’s plenty of room to run before EVRG becomes overbought, you’ll notice that there’s a clear bearish divergence forming in its RSI.

And with volume looking quite limp lately, the likelihood that we’re in for another rejection from resistance is rising.

This sets up a possible swing back toward the September 2019 zone—for a potential 6-8% downside.

Cintas Corporation (CTAS)

Industrials • Specialty Business Services • USA • NASD

View the chart

For the past few months, CTAS just can’t seem to get away from its September 2024 resistance—showcasing just how much of a price draw zones can be.

Right now—of course—it has again managed to get itself stuck within the very same zone.

Yes, RSI is neutral at only 56, but as you can see below, it has failed to break above 60 on multiple rallies within this range.

Volume during this mini-rally has also been weakening—more traders are actually showing up at the lower end of the channel, i.e. they’re BTFD-ing.

This sets the stage for another potential bounce from resistance—where a slide back toward the July 2024 support could offer around 5% downside.

(And ideally, you’ll also ride the zone trade back up. But that’s for another alert)

Subscribe now

WTF are Zones, anyway?

Zones are key price levels where the market has reacted strongly in the past—such as sharp reversals or sudden swings.

They’re areas where actual supply and demand met in the past, and likely will meet again.

“Why are these significant?”

Well, it all comes down to three key principles. We like to call them The Principles of:

1. When I Dip, You Dip, We Dip (aka psychology)

Traders are aware that others are watching these levels (zones) too. With everybody paying attention, this creates a self-fulfilling prophecy where everybody acts in anticipation of everybody else’s actions.

2. Markets Gonna Market ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (aka technical factors)

If the first price rejection at the top of a zone was violent, it’s likely that buyers who entered at that level are now holding losses.

But with each retest, the rejection weakens, as there are fewer buyers remaining underwater. This weakens that resistance (or support for all you short-sellers), and could eventually lead to a break through.

3. Killer Whales (aka institutional plays)

Big players need liquidity in order to place massive orders without moving the market against themselves. So they wait for these zones, knowing a lot of us small fry (retail traders) will come to play.

This allows them to buy low or sell high without causing a lot of waves.

But remember: Zones are NOT guarantees but rather regions of increased probability for market moves. So always, ALWAYS use proper risk management.

Trading Places: Launch coming soon!

Stop obsessively refreshing your charts like it’s your ex’s Instagram.

By combining historical patterns with real-time market data, Trading Places identifies zones and assigns probabilities to each one—helping traders spot potential plays with higher chances of success.

It automates all of the curation, chart-plotting, and alerting for you, so you can actually have a life (or at least pretend to)!

Stay tuned!

Disclaimer: This isn't financial advice. This shouldn’t be news to you.

Welcome to another issue of Zone Update—our weekly catch-up where we revisit previous alerts to see how they fared, and dig into how price action reacted to key zones.

In keeping with the recent launch of our online tool, we’re still keeping things a bit interactive this week.

We’ll be including a few setups from the latest Zone Alert so you can follow along on the platform, and do your own analysis as the plays unfold—we’d love to hear them!

So if you’re not signed up yet, just click the button below to redeem your free access:

Join the beta

Coming soon: the Trading Places platform on mobile 📲

We heard you and you’re right—zones should not be shackled to desktops. That’s why we’re working hard to make your Trading Places mobile experience way better.

Stay tuned!

In case you’re new here, each week we highlight stocks nearing or entering Hot Zones, i.e. key levels on the charts with great risk-reward setups. Stay tuned and subscribe to get these alerts before anyone else!

Subscribe now

Check out this week’s hot zones:

Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc. (SRPT)

Healthcare • Biotechnology • USA • NASD

Zone alert: April 1 2025

We’re starting off with an alert that has already played out.

SRPT caught our attention after a brutal 20+% gap down in March, bringing its YTD loss to nearly 50%. If that wasn’t bad enough, an FDA official who many consider as a biotech ally had just stepped down—adding more fuel to this dumpster fire.

This free fall brought the stock down to a key zone dating back to 2016.

While it didn’t look too promising, we noted that this zone had been a strong support in the past. So we flagged it with the hope that bulls might be able to squeeze in a quick bounce.

But we also warned that should bearish sentiment remain strong, SRPT could drop fast… and far.

Well, our algorithm registered a zone penetration confirmation the very same day the alert came out.

If that ain’t a sign to short… we don’t know what is.

We also said in our alert that the stock “could come tumbling 12% down toward the October 2013 zone (or even further)”—well, it didn’t take long to do so.

SRPT managed to hit its October 2013 support in only three days. But with selling volume still elevated, you could have easily held on further down to the July 2013 zone—for an additional 13% downside.

View SRPT’s chart and zones here

Now onto our too-soon recaps…

Realty Income Corp. (O)

Real Estate • REIT - Retail • USA • NYSE

Zone alert: April 22 2025

O made the cut into our Alert newsletter because the signs of a potential bounce were too strong to ignore.

It was at a major zone that had rejected four previous breakout attempts in the past four months. Plus, the explosive rally it was just on was accompanied by a decline in volume that was just as stark.

We said that the April 2016 zone could once again hold—and O could find itself falling back down to the November 2016 support if it did.

Still too early to call—but so far, the move’s looking in line with our thesis.

As of writing, it’s already a smidge below the resistance zone, but we do not have an assurance of a bounce just yet.

Will O get rejected again—or is this finally the time it breaks through?

View O’s chart and zones here

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMY)

Healthcare • Drug Manufacturers - General • USA • NYSE

Zone alert: April 22 2025

BMY had been on a two-week rampage before getting picked up by our zone scanner. It was a falling knife that no one wanted to catch—committing elder abuse on some very old zones in quick succession.

However, what stood in its way next was the September 2013 zone. It’s a major support that had held respectably against multiple retests last year.

Moreover, BMY’s recent freefall also sent its RSI down to oversold levels.

We figured that there’s a good chance this Zone + RSI combo could be a catalyst for a decent bounce.

The stock has since dipped into the September 2013 support and is now sitting squarely within it.

It seems to be holding firm so far—volume spiked as soon as the stock hit the zone, which means buyers are stepping in at this level.

However, until price decisively moves upward, bulls aren’t completely out of the woods yet.

What do you think—will this zone hold? Or is BMY headed lower before it catches a real bid?

View BMY’s chart and zones here

—

That’s it for this week’s recap.

With the Trading Places platform now live, you can:

• Watch these setups unfold in real time

• Adjust zone parameters

• Run your own scans

Let us know what you think—and don’t forget to claim your beta invite if you haven’t already.

Join the beta

See you next week for Zone Alerts!

WTF are Zones, anyway?

Zones are key price levels where the market has reacted strongly in the past—such as sharp reversals or sudden swings.

They’re areas where actual supply and demand met in the past, and likely will meet again.

“Why are these significant?”

Well, it all comes down to three key principles. We like to call them The Principles of:

1. When I Dip, You Dip, We Dip (aka psychology)

Traders are aware that others are watching these levels (zones) too. With everybody paying attention, this creates a self-fulfilling prophecy where everybody acts in anticipation of everybody else’s actions.

2. Markets Gonna Market ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (aka technical factors)

If the first price rejection at the top of a zone was violent, it’s likely that buyers who entered at that level are now holding losses.

But with each retest, the rejection weakens, as there are fewer buyers remaining underwater. This weakens that resistance (or support for all you short-sellers), and could eventually lead to a break through.

3. Killer Whales (aka institutional plays)

Big players need liquidity in order to place massive orders without moving the market against themselves. So they wait for these zones, knowing a lot of us small fry (retail traders) will come to play.

This allows them to buy low or sell high without causing a lot of waves.

But remember: Zones are NOT guarantees but rather regions of increased probability for market moves. So always, ALWAYS use proper risk management.

Trading Places: Launch coming VERY soon!

Stop obsessively refreshing your charts like it’s your ex’s Instagram.

By combining historical patterns with real-time market data, Trading Places identifies zones and assigns probabilities to each one—helping traders spot potential plays with higher chances of success.

It automates all of the curation, chart-plotting, and alerting for you, so you can actually have a life (or at least pretend to)!

Stay tuned!

Disclaimer: This isn't financial advice. This shouldn’t be news to you.

First off, a big thank you to everyone who joined the beta launch of our online platform.

We’ve gotten some great feedback, and we’re working hard to build in as much of it as we can—keep ‘em coming!

But in case you haven’t signed up yet, good news: our beta invites are still open:

Join the beta

Now, onto what you actually came here for…

New here? Welcome to Zone Alerts.

This is where we highlight stocks that are approaching key support and resistance zones and analyze where the action might lead.

These weekly alerts help you zero in on high-potential setups while keeping risk management in check.

Subscribe now

What’s in this issue:

• This week’s three new hot zones

• What are zones?

Here’s what our zone algo picked up for you this week:

Realty Income Corp. (O)

Real Estate • REIT - Retail • USA • NYSE

O was one of the more promising setups the Proximity Scanner had for us today.

The stock is back for another retest of its April 2016 resistance zone—its fourth attempt in just as many months.

While multiple retests can often weaken a zone and lead to a penetration—the declining volume in O’s most recent rally suggests otherwise. Buyers are not yet too convinced that a breakout is imminent.

This could mean that the zone might hold again, and another bounce is just around the corner.

This sets up a potential short opportunity. If it plays out, we’re targeting the November 2016 support—good for about 7.5% downside.

Burlington Stores Inc. (BURL)

Consumer Cyclical • Apparel Retail • USA • NYSE

Over the past couple months, BURL has been stuck between its January 2020 support and February 2020 resistance—consistently offering swings of around 8 to 15%.

But with volume and RSI not really giving anything away at the moment, it’s tough to tell where this stock is headed. So what now?

Actually, this is as straightforward as zone trades go.

Whether BURL bounces or penetrates, trading with zones can help maximize profits while still keeping risk in check.

A confirmed bounce off support could set up a long, with ~12% upside and only 4% downside risk.

While a confirmed break below support flips the setup into a short—also netting about ~12% and keeping downside risk around 4%

Either way, both setups offer a clean R/R ratio of 3:1. *chef’s kiss*

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMY)

Healthcare • Drug Manufacturers - General • USA • NYSE

BMY found itself down nearly 20% in less than a month after study data from their new heart drug turned out disappointing.

Right now, it’s hovering just a few ticks above a very strong September 2013 zone. This support has held up quite well against retests in August and September 2024.

Looking at RSI, it’s also of note that the stock has not been this oversold since June of last year.

If enough buyers see value at the $46-48 range and decide to step in, we could have a pretty solid rebound ahead of us.

If it materializes, we’re setting our first target at around $54 (the October 2013 zone)—around a 6% potential move.

Subscribe now

WTF are Zones, anyway?

Zones are key price levels where the market has reacted strongly in the past—such as sharp reversals or sudden swings.

They’re areas where actual supply and demand met in the past, and likely will meet again.

“Why are these significant?”

Well, it all comes down to three key principles. We like to call them The Principles of:

1. When I Dip, You Dip, We Dip (aka psychology)

Traders are aware that others are watching these levels (zones) too. With everybody paying attention, this creates a self-fulfilling prophecy where everybody acts in anticipation of everybody else’s actions.

2. Markets Gonna Market ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (aka technical factors)

If the first price rejection at the top of a zone was violent, it’s likely that buyers who entered at that level are now holding losses.

But with each retest, the rejection weakens, as there are fewer buyers remaining underwater. This weakens that resistance (or support for all you short-sellers), and could eventually lead to a break through.

3. Killer Whales (aka institutional plays)

Big players need liquidity in order to place massive orders without moving the market against themselves. So they wait for these zones, knowing a lot of us small fry (retail traders) will come to play.

This allows them to buy low or sell high without causing a lot of waves.

But remember: Zones are NOT guarantees but rather regions of increased probability for market moves. So always, ALWAYS use proper risk management.

Trading Places: Launch coming soon!

Stop obsessively refreshing your charts like it’s your ex’s Instagram.

By combining historical patterns with real-time market data, Trading Places identifies zones and assigns probabilities to each one—helping traders spot potential plays with higher chances of success.

It automates all of the curation, chart-plotting, and alerting for you, so you can actually have a life (or at least pretend to)!

Stay tuned!

Disclaimer: This isn't financial advice. This shouldn’t be news to you.

Beta Launch week is here!

If you’ve been one of our most active subscribers, your Trading Places invite should already be sitting in your inbox.

If not (or if you haven’t seen it yet because who the hell checks their Promotions tab anyway)—no worries. You can still grab your free beta pass here:

Join the beta

P.S. The platform works best on desktop (or at least an iPad). So if you’re reading this on your phone, snooze this email for the next time you’re on a computer (GMail: long press → Snooze / Apple Mail: long press → Remind me).

Since we’re all on holiday, we figured we’d keep this recap pretty chill. We’ll do a quick check-in on the alerts we sent out just this past Tuesday—to see how key zones have held up so far.

This recap’s premature for sure—normally we wait for setups to play out before including them here…

But with the platform now live, you can pull up the charts, mess around with the parameters, and stress-test our alerts while they’re still unfolding.

And of course, we’d love to hear what you think. Not just about the zone analyses, but also the new features on the platform—Interactive Charts, Proximity Scanner, and Hot Picks.

Let’s dive in.

In case you’re new here, each week we highlight stocks nearing or entering Hot Zones, i.e. key levels on the charts with great risk-reward setups. Stay tuned and subscribe to get these alerts before anyone else!

Subscribe now

Check out this week’s hot zones:

In case you want to follow along, we used the following parameters for these alerts:

-Number of bounces: 6

-Minimum bounces: 2

Agilent Technologies Inc (A)

Healthcare • Diagnostics & Research • USA • NYSE

Our scanner picked up A earlier this week, having just ended a three-month-long nosedive.

It had recently bounced off a strong double-bottom support zone, and was attempting to break through another old resistance in its October 2020 zone.

We flagged this as its biggest hurdle on the way toward our upside target of $126-131 (the January 2021 zone).

But for now, the October 2020 resistance is holding strong—it fended off this most recent retest and put a damper on A’s upward push.

What do you think? Is this just a minor setback, or did we speak too soon on that double-bottom support?

View A’s chart and zones here

Ross Stores, Inc. (ROST)

Consumer Cyclical • Apparel Retail • USA • NASD

ROST is a perfect case study in why zones can often be more reliable than traditional support/resistance lines.

When the scanner flagged ROST, it looked as if it had cleanly broken out of the January 2024 zone—with a clear 6% runway to its February 2024 zone above.

But we noted that our zone algo had NOT yet registered this as a legit penetration.

Looks can be deceiving. That “breakout” was a fakeout—and ROST proceeded to slide back down to the bottom of the zone.

It’s currently almost 3% down since the alert.

So what’s next? Is ROST headed back down toward the January 2020 zone, or is it gearing up for another penetration attempt next week?

View ROST’s chart and zones here

Quanta Services, Inc. (PWR)

Industrials • Engineering & Construction • USA • NYSE

When PWR appeared on our scanner, it was ping-ponging between its August 2024 zones.

It was a channel that has been quite profitable for swing trades since late February, and we thought it had at least another swing left in it.

As with every other setup in this recap, this is still too soon to call… but it’s looking promising so far.

The stock bounced off the August 29 resistance and momentum quickly took a 180. As of yesterday’s close, PWR is down 2.5% from the alert—nothing huge, but a decent start.

And if you look at PWR’s chart, you’ll see that there’s another zone between the August 2024 resistance and support zones—do you think this will factor into our swing setup?

View PWR’s chart and zones here

—

That’s it for today! Back with more zone alerts next Tuesday.

But of course, you wouldn’t need to wait till then. Get personalized Zone Scanner results and real-time Hot Picks when you sign up for the Trading Places platform.

Join the beta

WTF are Zones, anyway?

Zones are key price levels where the market has reacted strongly in the past—such as sharp reversals or sudden swings.

They’re areas where actual supply and demand met in the past, and likely will meet again.

“Why are these significant?”

Well, it all comes down to three key principles. We like to call them The Principles of:

1. When I Dip, You Dip, We Dip (aka psychology)

Traders are aware that others are watching these levels (zones) too. With everybody paying attention, this creates a self-fulfilling prophecy where everybody acts in anticipation of everybody else’s actions.

2. Markets Gonna Market ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (aka technical factors)

If the first price rejection at the top of a zone was violent, it’s likely that buyers who entered at that level are now holding losses.

But with each retest, the rejection weakens, as there are fewer buyers remaining underwater. This weakens that resistance (or support for all you short-sellers), and could eventually lead to a break through.

3. Killer Whales (aka institutional plays)

Big players need liquidity in order to place massive orders without moving the market against themselves. So they wait for these zones, knowing a lot of us small fry (retail traders) will come to play.

This allows them to buy low or sell high without causing a lot of waves.

But remember: Zones are NOT guarantees but rather regions of increased probability for market moves. So always, ALWAYS use proper risk management.

Trading Places: Launch coming VERY soon!

Stop obsessively refreshing your charts like it’s your ex’s Instagram.

By combining historical patterns with real-time market data, Trading Places identifies zones and assigns probabilities to each one—helping traders spot potential plays with higher chances of success.

It automates all of the curation, chart-plotting, and alerting for you, so you can actually have a life (or at least pretend to)!

Stay tuned!

Disclaimer: This isn't financial advice. This shouldn’t be news to you.

We’re still on shaky ground, but talks of possible delays to tariffs have thankfully given us a little bit of market “sanity”…

So take advantage if you can… while you can. We don’t know how long this lasts.

Here’s a new batch of hot zones to help get you started. Let’s go.

New here? Welcome to Zone Alerts.

This is where we highlight stocks that are approaching key support and resistance zones and analyze where the action might lead.

These alerts help you zero in on high-potential setups while keeping risk management in check.

What’s in this issue:

• This week’s three new hot zones

• What are zones?

Here’s what our zone algo picked up for you this week:

Agilent Technologies Inc (A)

Healthcare • Diagnostics & Research • USA • NYSE

After four failed attempts to break past its March 2024 zone, A’s stock price took a brutal 37% dive.

But just last week, it appears to have finally found its footing—when its July 2020 zone held firm and acted as a double-bottom support.

That bounce sent the stock up more than 8% from the bottom of the zone.

Right now, it’s hovering around $105 and facing the October 2020 resistance zone ($106-109). Clearing that could confirm a bigger reversal.

If it manages to do so, the next target could be set at the January 2021 zone, for a potential upside of 14% or more.

Ross Stores, Inc. (ROST)

Consumer Cyclical • Apparel Retail • USA • NASD

ROST had a relatively good past few weeks—it’s one of the few stocks to not get too obliterated by the April 2 tariffs, and had successfully rebounded off its very strong January 2020 zone.

Right now, it’s looking poised to push upwards through the next one, which is the one from January 2024.

You might be thinking, “It’s already above the zone—isn’t that already a penetration?”

Well actually, not quite.

Note the lack of the ⚡ symbol in the chart below.

This means the algo hasn’t confirmed a true penetration yet.

In ROST’s case, we still need a confirmation to know where we’re going.

So if this is indeed a breakout, the move up to the February 2024 zone could mean another 6+% gain.

But, as you can see, the stock’s RSI is creeping toward overbought territory, and volume has been tapering the last few days.

This could still turn out to be a false breakout, which means it would soon be heading back down to support.

It’s a promising short setup if ever—good for a potential 10-13% on the downside.

Quanta Services, Inc. (PWR)

Industrials • Engineering & Construction • USA • NYSE

Lately, PWR has been bouncing up and down between its two August 2024 zones—the August 5 support and the August 29 resistance.

That’s a tidy 16-20% range swing traders have been enjoying for the past month.

As of writing, the stock is again sitting right below resistance.

With buying volume fading, and the last drop from resistance also happening around ~55 RSI—there’s little reason to think PWR is about to break the pattern soon.

If the trend holds, riding the trip back down toward the August 5 zone could offer around 15% in gains.

Subscribe now

WTF are Zones, anyway?

Zones are key price levels where the market has reacted strongly in the past—such as sharp reversals or sudden swings.

They’re areas where actual supply and demand met in the past, and likely will meet again.

“Why are these significant?”

Well, it all comes down to three key principles. We like to call them The Principles of:

1. When I Dip, You Dip, We Dip (aka psychology)

Traders are aware that others are watching these levels (zones) too. With everybody paying attention, this creates a self-fulfilling prophecy where everybody acts in anticipation of everybody else’s actions.

2. Markets Gonna Market ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (aka technical factors)

If the first price rejection at the top of a zone was violent, it’s likely that buyers who entered at that level are now holding losses.

But with each retest, the rejection weakens, as there are fewer buyers remaining underwater. This weakens that resistance (or support for all you short-sellers), and could eventually lead to a break through.

3. Killer Whales (aka institutional plays)

Big players need liquidity in order to place massive orders without moving the market against themselves. So they wait for these zones, knowing a lot of us small fry (retail traders) will come to play.

This allows them to buy low or sell high without causing a lot of waves.

But remember: Zones are NOT guarantees but rather regions of increased probability for market moves. So always, ALWAYS use proper risk management.

Trading Places: Launch coming soon!

Stop obsessively refreshing your charts like it’s your ex’s Instagram.

By combining historical patterns with real-time market data, Trading Places identifies zones and assigns probabilities to each one—helping traders spot potential plays with higher chances of success.

It automates all of the curation, chart-plotting, and alerting for you, so you can actually have a life (or at least pretend to)!

Stay tuned!

Disclaimer: This isn't financial advice. This shouldn’t be news to you.

Thanks for joining us for another issue of Zone Update—our weekly retrospective on past alerts (some fresh, some a little older) where we try to analyze and learn from how price action was affected by an interaction with a key zone.

For the most part, zones are pretty insulated from headlines. They only care about a price level’s historical significance and how the market reacts to it.

So despite some of the weird-ish macro events of the past 3-4 months… our setups have performed pretty well.

But man… calling these past few days a “rollercoaster” would be a huge understatement.

The up-and-down movements the market’s been on lately has been a little too erratic for our zones to keep up with.

So this week—while we wait for a little more clarity and for things to slow the hell down—we’re going to revisit zone alerts from a little further back… before we started living in a Black Mirror episode.

Ah, simpler times…

In case you’re new here, each week we highlight stocks nearing or entering Hot Zones, i.e. key levels on the charts with great risk-reward setups. Stay tuned and subscribe to get these alerts before anyone else!

Subscribe now

Check out this week’s hot zones:

PepsiCo Inc. (PEP)

Consumer Defensive • Beverages - Non-Alcoholic • USA • NASD

Zone alert: February 5, 2025

“$PEP could be interesting if the Sept 2019 zone holds 👀”

For most of 2024, PEP bounced around the $156-180 range, trading between its July 2021 and August 2022 zones. But after a sharp breakdown in mid-December, it quickly found itself sitting on a new support—the September 2019 zone.

Despite being untested since 2021, this zone held firm against its last retest. And it proved it again during this most recent attempt.

It quickly thwarted PEP’s downward momentum, leading to a 9+% rally to the July 2021 zone.

To us, it looked like the stock had found a new channel to consolidate in.

So when price dipped back into the low $140s, we said another rebound from support could be on the way.

It took a couple of weeks… but sure enough, it happened.

Also, zoom in a little closer on the chart, and you’ll see that those two bounces? They started almost immediately after price very lightly kissed the top of the zone.

PEP went up by another 9+% after the bounce confirmation.

Side note: it’s now back at that same September 2019 support. But with the trade war with China still raging, it’s anyone’s guess what could happen here…

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD)

Technology • Semiconductors • USA • NASD

Zone alert: February 12, 2025

“Still looks to be on shaky ground. Might test the Sept 2020 zone before something fun happens”

If it feels like we’ve been mentioning AMD a lot, it’s probably because we have. AMD’s ripe for zone trades after all.

We last covered it in our March 21 recap. And if you’ve read that, then you already know how this went. This is pretty much just the prequel—the short before the long.

When our scanner flagged AMD, it was at its June 2022 zone. It was a zone that, in 2023 alone, was easily penetrated multiple times.

So we didn’t really have a lot of confidence in its strength.

Our estimate was that the zone would break, and the stock would drop down to the September 2020 zone—which had a higher probability of holding.

After a weak attempt at a bounce, that’s exactly what happened—the stock broke down, reaching the lower support zone shortly after.

A short position opened from that bonus alert would’ve netted as much as 15%.

Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT)

Industrials • Aerospace & Defense • USA • NYSE

Zone alert: February 26, 2025

“💪🏻”

This bonus alert—albeit a bit delayed—did not need a lot of words.

LMT had just gapped down hard in late January, followed by a steep slide.

But that slide came with declining volume—sellers stopped showing up.

So when price cleanly tagged the strong June 2020 zone and gave us a pretty convincing bounce confirmation a couple days later, we knew the move was legit.

Yes, the alert was three days late… and yes, that meant missing out on the first 3.5% of the move…

But the rally that followed was strong enough to close the gap—and offered a shot at 10%+ gains for anyone who caught the rest of the ride up to the November 2022 zone.

—

So yeah, late entries suck.

But don’t worry. Soon, you wouldn’t have to rely solely on our (sometimes late) alerts to find solid setups—

the Trading Places online platform is launching in beta next week!

If you haven’t yet, make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss your invite.

We’ll see you back here soon!

Subscribe now

WTF are Zones, anyway?

Zones are key price levels where the market has reacted strongly in the past—such as sharp reversals or sudden swings.

They’re areas where actual supply and demand met in the past, and likely will meet again.

“Why are these significant?”

Well, it all comes down to three key principles. We like to call them The Principles of:

1. When I Dip, You Dip, We Dip (aka psychology)

Traders are aware that others are watching these levels (zones) too. With everybody paying attention, this creates a self-fulfilling prophecy where everybody acts in anticipation of everybody else’s actions.

2. Markets Gonna Market ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (aka technical factors)

If the first price rejection at the top of a zone was violent, it’s likely that buyers who entered at that level are now holding losses.

But with each retest, the rejection weakens, as there are fewer buyers remaining underwater. This weakens that resistance (or support for all you short-sellers), and could eventually lead to a break through.

3. Killer Whales (aka institutional plays)

Big players need liquidity in order to place massive orders without moving the market against themselves. So they wait for these zones, knowing a lot of us small fry (retail traders) will come to play.

This allows them to buy low or sell high without causing a lot of waves.

But remember: Zones are NOT guarantees but rather regions of increased probability for market moves. So always, ALWAYS use proper risk management.

Trading Places: Launch coming VERY soon!

Stop obsessively refreshing your charts like it’s your ex’s Instagram.

By combining historical patterns with real-time market data, Trading Places identifies zones and assigns probabilities to each one—helping traders spot potential plays with higher chances of success.

It automates all of the curation, chart-plotting, and alerting for you, so you can actually have a life (or at least pretend to)!

Stay tuned!

Disclaimer: This isn't financial advice. This shouldn’t be news to you.

Indices are up. VIX is down. The Mag 7 are all green. Life is peachy.

But, as you all know by now—one small misspeak… one errant rumor… and this all goes to sh*t. So no, news and vibes alone can’t get us through this.

Zones, however, can give you a better shot. And as you’ll see later, even the craziest of price actions can still adhere to zones.

So let’s get into it.

New here? Welcome to Zone Alerts.

This is where we highlight stocks that are approaching key support and resistance zones and analyze where the action might lead.

These alerts help you zero in on high-potential setups while keeping risk management in check.

What’s in this issue:

• This week’s three new hot zones

• What are zones?

Here’s what our zone algo picked up for you this week:

Eli Lilly & Co. (LLY)

Healthcare • Drug Manufacturers - General • USA • NYSE

Up until about a year ago, LLY has been a very safe bet—the NVDA of pharma, as they say—a favorite among retail traders always looking to buy the dip, and for good reason.

But the back half of 2024 has not been kind to the stock. Since peaking at $972, LLY has been chopping around—forming and retesting zones along the way.

And now, thanks to Liberation Day selloffs, LLY is back at its March 2024 zone.

To its credit, this zone has performed admirably in the past—fending off all previous attempts to break below it.

But this retest might turn out a little different.

The Trump White House recently announced that Medicare coverage for obesity medications could be delayed—a major blow for Zepbound, LLY’s new weight-loss drug, which could reportedly rival Ozempic, Mounjaro, and Wegovy.

People having access to it through insurance would’ve been lucrative, to say the least.

With this setback, LLY is in a precarious position. Although RSI is already at oversold levels, selling pressure still appears to be growing.

If the stock doesn’t manage to overcome the March 2024 zone soon, we could see another sharp drop to the next zone down—September 2023—for a 15% return.

EOG Resources, Inc. (EOG)

Energy • Oil & Gas E&P • USA • NYSE

For most of the past year, EOG price action has been a swing trader’s dream—bouncing between the March 2011 and February 2013 zones, consistently offering 10–12% moves.

But since the new tariffs kicked in, EOG fell off a cliff. It broke its range and is already down about 15%.

Right now, EOG is at a support zone that has seen a lot of bounces in 2023 and 2024. Moreover, its RSI is at the high 20s—a level that has seen sharp reversals for the stock.

If the same thing happens this time, it could make a quick bounce—possibly filling that gap from April 3 to 4, which also aligns with its March 2011 zone.

However, if selling volume remains high, even this February 2011 zone might not hold. If that happens, we’re eyeing the March 2010 zone as a potential short target for 5-10%.

Apple Inc. (AAPL)

Technology • Consumer Electronics • USA • NASD

If there was a stock where you could understandably be a Panican, it’s this one.

That’s because AAPL could potentially be one of the biggest casualties of 47’s trade war, thanks to the sheer amount of components it sources from China.

As a result, the stock crashed nearly 20% in just three days.

It even came close to breaking down some more yesterday, which led to a few interesting price—zone interactions: the day’s low was in the February 2022 zone, the high touched the June 2023 zone, and it closed right in the December 2021 zone.

However, that looong wick can be a cause for concern—it shows that there are still sellers lurking around the June 2023 zone.

As of writing, the stock looks like it’s on track for another breakout attempt.

But as we’ve seen recently, a lot can happen in one afternoon. If AAPL’s push fails, the stock could easily go down to the April 2023 zone below—a 5-8% drop if it happens.

Subscribe now

WTF are Zones, anyway?

Zones are key price levels where the market has reacted strongly in the past—such as sharp reversals or sudden swings.

They’re areas where actual supply and demand met in the past, and likely will meet again.

“Why are these significant?”

Well, it all comes down to three key principles. We like to call them The Principles of:

1. When I Dip, You Dip, We Dip (aka psychology)

Traders are aware that others are watching these levels (zones) too. With everybody paying attention, this creates a self-fulfilling prophecy where everybody acts in anticipation of everybody else’s actions.

2. Markets Gonna Market ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (aka technical factors)

If the first price rejection at the top of a zone was violent, it’s likely that buyers who entered at that level are now holding losses.

But with each retest, the rejection weakens, as there are fewer buyers remaining underwater. This weakens that resistance (or support for all you short-sellers), and could eventually lead to a break through.

3. Killer Whales (aka institutional plays)

Big players need liquidity in order to place massive orders without moving the market against themselves. So they wait for these zones, knowing a lot of us small fry (retail traders) will come to play.

This allows them to buy low or sell high without causing a lot of waves.

But remember: Zones are NOT guarantees but rather regions of increased probability for market moves. So always, ALWAYS use proper risk management.

Trading Places: Launch coming soon!

Stop obsessively refreshing your charts like it’s your ex’s Instagram.

By combining historical patterns with real-time market data, Trading Places identifies zones and assigns probabilities to each one—helping traders spot potential plays with higher chances of success.

It automates all of the curation, chart-plotting, and alerting for you, so you can actually have a life (or at least pretend to)!

Stay tuned!

Disclaimer: This isn't financial advice. This shouldn’t be news to you.