Market Recap
Markets finished the week relatively unchanged despite a pullback to start the week, with the major indices continuing to trade without much directional momentum.
Oil climbed throughout the week but still remains inside the wider trading range that has been in place since the start of the war in March.
Stronger jobs data on Friday triggered a pullback across the broader market and crypto. Despite the weakness, $BTC and $ETH remain in bullish consolidation patterns on the daily timeframe.
Some secondary coins have shown much stronger relative strength, with HYPE and ZEC notably outperforming the broader crypto market.
Watchlist
The main macro event next week will be CPI on Friday. With the FOMC meeting the following week, the inflation print could have a meaningful impact on expectations around the Fed’s next rate decision.
Crypto
Crypto remains one of the more interesting areas heading into the week, with ETH in particular looking like it could be shaping up for a continuation breakout from its recent consolidation.
HOOD remains one of the strongest stocks in the crypto space. Robinhood Chain has seen a surge in activity recently, with daily fees reaching $4.45 million on September 2 and DEX volumes accelerating sharply. The network has increasingly become a venue for speculative crypto trading, adding another potential growth narrative around HOOD beyond its traditional brokerage business.
CRCL is another name to keep on watch, remaining in a solid uptrend since the broader crypto breakout.
CYPH offers exposure to the recent strength in ZEC through its Zcash treasury strategy. With ZEC itself exploding higher, it remains a higher-beta vehicle to watch for trades in both directions.
USDE is another small-cap treasury name on watch, although would want to see ENA break out before becoming more interested.
MSTR and BMNR remain the other usual treasury names to monitor if momentum accelerates across BTC and ETH.
Memory
Memory stocks return to the watchlist after an explosive breakout on Friday following a period of tight daily consolidation and volatility contraction.
SNDK, MU and SKHY are the main names on watch for continuation if Friday’s expansion can carry into next week.
AI / Data Centers
The AI sector also started to show some signs of life last week.
DELL reported strong earnings, while competitor SMCI has started to trend higher again on the daily chart.
BE was added to the S&P 500 on Friday, providing another catalyst for a name that has already been one of the stronger AI infrastructure plays.
NBIS and IREN also remain on watch after their recent strong rallies, particularly if momentum starts to return across the broader data center theme.
GPRO is an interesting small-cap momentum watch following its merger agreement with Starman Optical. The $285 million transaction would leave existing GoPro shareholders with approximately 10% of the combined company, while expanding the business beyond consumer cameras into areas including AI data centers, government, defense and aerospace.
More importantly from a trading perspective, GPRO has continued to trade unusually heavy volume since the announcement. With the stock trading above the implied cash consideration and maintaining elevated attention, there could potentially be a meme or speculative momentum element developing here.
For now, it stays on watch as long as the abnormal volume persists.
Closing Thoughts
After August was defined by fairly choppy, sideways trading across much of the market, there have been some encouraging signs of improvement over the past week. More breakouts are beginning to show sustained momentum, particularly across memory stocks, crypto and select AI names.
With the quieter summer months coming to an end, it may be time to start watching for the market to finally pick a direction. The FOMC meeting the following week could provide the catalyst for a broader expansion out of the ranges that have dominated much of the past month.
Until then, the focus remains on the areas already showing relative strength and momentum.
If you enjoyed this read, please consider leaving a like on the post, and let me know in the comments if I missed anything or what you’re watching for this week!
P.S.
If you haven’t checked out the Valhalla Portal yet, it’s where I track catalysts, setups, and market activity in real time - a live feed of everything that moves the tape, built for the community. I’ll be doing a dedicated post soon walking through all the features in detail, so stay tuned for that. In the meantime, you can check it out here: