Research from Water Tower Research, Water Tower Research

Water Tower Research

Research from Water Tower Research

Water Tower Research is a leading equity research firm that provides research on micro, small and mid cap companies.

Water Tower Research was founded by Wall Street veterans after witnessing a fundamental shift in the investment research industry with the result being a declining knowledge base among investors, a lack of awareness and a shrinking pool of fundamental research being conducted on companies across the small-cap and micro-cap spectrum. The same issues are now increasingly occurring in the mid-cap space. This sea change within the investment community is impacting not only the companies themselves but also current shareholders and potential investors. With significantly less active sell-side sponsorship by Wall Street, a substantial information gap has developed between companies and various constituents in the financial community. The net result is fewer channels for insight and information to flow between companies and investors.

Equity Research Firm

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<ul style="list-style-type: disc;"><li>The Fed raised rates 0.25% at the July FOMC meeting on Wednesday, bringing the fed funds rate to 5.25% to 5.50%.</li><li>Stocks rallied, as investors sense the Fed may be nearing the end of its rate-hike cycle.</li><li>The S&amp;P 500 gained 1.05%, while the MSCI World Index climbed 0.82%.</li></ul>

The Fed raised rates 0.25% at the July FOMC meeting on Wednesday, bringing the fed funds rate to 5.25% to 5.50%.Stocks rallied, as investors sense the Fed may be nearing the end of its rate-hike cycle.The S&amp;P 500 gained 1.05%, while the MSCI World Index climbed 0.82%.

The Highlights - Cannabis News for the Week Ending July 28, 2023

Asia biased macro & technical analysis, Untying The Gordian Knot

Untying The Gordian Knot

Asia biased macro & technical analysis

A differentiated process with a primary focus on Asia. Technical Analysis as core and Macro drivers that could bring the view to fruition & changes that could make the idea fall apart. The objective is to be the best in class, hence corner shop.

Macroeconomics

<ul><li>The large US banks opened higher on Friday, trading up by 1.5% to 3.7% in the morning session on news of earnings beat by JP Morgan and Wells Fargo.</li><li>JP Morgan, Bank of America, Citibank, and Wells Fargo formed a bearish Candlestick pattern despite the earning beat on above-average volume.</li><li>In the technology sector, the Semiconductor ETF (SOX), Nvidia, Microsoft, META, Micron Technology, C3 AI, SPDR Technology ETF, and Palantir all had bearish price action and candlestick patterns.</li></ul>

The large US banks opened higher on Friday, trading up by 1.5% to 3.7% in the morning session on news of earnings beat by JP Morgan and Wells Fargo.JP Morgan, Bank of America, Citibank, and Wells Fargo formed a bearish Candlestick pattern despite the earning beat on above-average volume.In the technology sector, the Semiconductor ETF (SOX), Nvidia, Microsoft, META, Micron Technology, C3 AI, SPDR Technology ETF, and Palantir all had bearish price action and candlestick patterns.

Technical Analyst, Vermilion Research

Joe Jasper

Technical Analyst

Technical and Quantitative Research

Vermilion Research

Vermilion’s objective is to deliver timely, actionable, and unique technical research to professional investors through the application of our various technical indicators.

Our research strategists seek to highlight securities which we believe are at major inflection points, based on our various technical and quantitative indicators, and offer asymmetric risk/return profiles. Our unique research methodology, centered on relative strength, enables our strategists to deliver superior investment recommendations.

Our process begins by organizing the universe of actively traded stocks into discrete sectors, then into industry groups. We then apply our technical and quantitative tools to identify developing price trends. Once attractive trends are identified within a selected sector or group, we screen for individual stocks which we believe offer the best risk/reward profile. We provide a historical perspective that often reveals, through our long-term charts, how price patterns often repeat themselves over time.

Technical Analysis

<ul>
<li>Ever since our 5/30/23 ETF Pathfinder, our view has been that we cannot be bearish unless a key support level breaks (at the time, that was 4050 on the SPX).</li>
<li>The S&amp;P 500 is now above 4300-4325 -- a level that, in January this year, we had anticipated would cap upside for 2023.</li>
<li>We believe 4300-4325 will act as major support moving forward, and we are bullish as long as the SPX is above 4300; we discussed this in our 7/3/23 ETF Pathfinder.</li>
</ul>


Ever since our 5/30/23 ETF Pathfinder, our view has been that we cannot be bearish unless a key support level breaks (at the time, that was 4050 on the SPX).
The S&amp;P 500 is now above 4300-4325 -- a level that, in January this year, we had anticipated would cap upside for 2023.
We believe 4300-4325 will act as major support moving forward, and we are bullish as long as the SPX is above 4300; we discussed this in our 7/3/23 ETF Pathfinder.


DXY Break Below $101 Suggests Breakouts Likely Coming for Equal-Weight SPX, Dow, and Russell 2000

<ul style="list-style-type: disc;"><li>WTR-CMI last week. In a flat to down market last week, with S&amp;P 500 holding steady with 0.1% price change and Russell 2000 losing 0.9% of its value, our proprietary WTR-CMI index of 30 chemicals and material technology companies appreciated 0.5% for the week, led by 8.5% appreciation in ALB, which seemed to pull along other lithium names, including PLL, LAC and LTHM, which all posted 2-4% returns.</li><li>EAF was the index’s laggard, losing 9.4% of its value, possibly due to continued softness in the iron ore and steel production sectors.</li><li>EU relooks at GMO crops. Long a bulwark against expansion of GMO crops, the EU is taking another look at the 2001 rules which were a major obstacle to market penetration by genetically modified seeds that provide better yields, higher nutritional value, and require less water and less pesticides to produce.</li></ul>

WTR-CMI last week. In a flat to down market last week, with S&amp;P 500 holding steady with 0.1% price change and Russell 2000 losing 0.9% of its value, our proprietary WTR-CMI index of 30 chemicals and material technology companies appreciated 0.5% for the week, led by 8.5% appreciation in ALB, which seemed to pull along other lithium names, including PLL, LAC and LTHM, which all posted 2-4% returns.EAF was the index’s laggard, losing 9.4% of its value, possibly due to continued softness in the iron ore and steel production sectors.EU relooks at GMO crops. Long a bulwark against expansion of GMO crops, the EU is taking another look at the 2001 rules which were a major obstacle to market penetration by genetically modified seeds that provide better yields, higher nutritional value, and require less water and less pesticides to produce.

<ul><li>After a strong 1H23, global equities were down this week. The MSCI World Index fell 1.42%, while the S&amp;P 500 dropped 1.06%.</li><li>The decline was driven by strongerthan-expected labor market data and concerns that this may make the Fed less accommodating.</li><li>The Russell 2000 finished the week down 1.32%, while the NASDAQ declined 0.92%.</li></ul>

After a strong 1H23, global equities were down this week. The MSCI World Index fell 1.42%, while the S&amp;P 500 dropped 1.06%.The decline was driven by strongerthan-expected labor market data and concerns that this may make the Fed less accommodating.The Russell 2000 finished the week down 1.32%, while the NASDAQ declined 0.92%.

United States

The Russell 2000 Index is comprised of the smallest 2000 companies in the Russell 3000 Index, representing approximately 8% of the Russell 3000 total market capitalization. The index was developed with a base value of 135.00 as of December 31, 1986.

Russell 2000 Index (RTY INDEX)

The Highlights - Cannabis News for the Week Ending July 28, 2023

Stocks rallied, as investors sense the Fed may be nearing the end of its rate-hike cycle. The S&P 500 gained 1.05%, while the MSCI World Index...

Water Tower Research

Nasdaq and S&P Futures

The large US banks opened higher on Friday, trading up by 1.5% to 3.7% in the morning session on news of earnings beat by JP Morgan and Wells Fargo.

Untying The Gordian Knot

DXY Break Below $101 Suggests Breakouts Likely Coming for Equal-Weight SPX, Dow, and Russell 2000

$DXY Break Below $101 Suggests Breakouts Likely Coming for Equal-Weight SPX $RSP, Dow $DJI, and Russell 2000 $IWM $RTY. $SPX remains bullish as...

Vermilion Research

Mat Chem Notes Week Ending July 9, 2023

EAF was the index’s laggard, losing 9.4% of its value, possibly due to continued softness in the iron ore and steel production sectors.

Water Tower Research

Industry Report - Cannabis

The decline was driven by strongerthan-expected labor market data and concerns that this may make the Fed less accommodating. The Russell 2000...

Water Tower Research