Weekend Rundown — the first week of July gave us a clean message: the tape is strong, but leadership is picky. The Dow hit a fresh high. Semis and memory cooled off after a big first half. If you’re building Monday’s plan, start here: open the Alpha Dashboard and see which AI tickers are still getting paid for calls.
Below is a fast recap since Friday’s close, plus two “on my radar” items for the week ahead.
One more thing before you scroll: weeks like this can trick you. The index looks fine, but the best tells live in the options tape. When price chops, repeat flow is often the first clue that a name is about to move.
AlphaX Options helps you spot the sweeps that keep coming back. That’s often where next week’s cleanest setups start.
What moved since Friday
- The week ended with the Dow strong, while semis took a step back.
- On Thursday, the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) dropped nearly 6% and weakness spread across chip names like NVDA, AVGO, MRVL, and INTC.
- Memory also got hit: Roundhill’s DRAM ETF was down about 9%, and Sandisk (SNDK) was called out as a big decliner.
- Some big-cap “AI around the edges” names held up better. Apple (AAPL) was noted as a top Dow gainer on the day.
The quick scoreboard (AI trade)
I’m treating this as rotation, not a breakdown. The goal is simple: separate the names that are just “taking a rest” from the names that are losing sponsorship. The dashboard makes this fast because it puts flow and leadership on one screen.
1) Headline semis (digesting)
- NVDA: still the bellwether. Watch if call buying comes back at the same strikes.
- AVGO and AMD: great “AI buildout” tells. I want to see buyers step back in after the pullback.
- MU and SMCI: high-beta leaders. When flow flips here, it flips fast.
2) AI power (second derivative)
If semis chop, the cleaner trend can show up in power tied to data centers. Two tickers we keep on the radar:
On the dashboard, the tell is simple: do these stay near the top of their sector leaderboards even on red tech days?
On my radar for Monday
- NVDA / AVGO “reclaim or fail”: if you see the same call strikes getting hit again and again on the Alpha Dashboard, that’s often your early signal the dip is getting bought.
- VST / CEG follow-through: if power stays firm while semis rest, the market is saying the AI buildout story is still on.
Closing thought
For Monday, I’m not trying to predict the whole market. I just want one answer: which AI names are still attracting premium? That’s what the Alpha Dashboard is built to show you in minutes.
P.S. If you want to build Monday’s watchlist from repeat flow instead of headlines, AlphaX Options makes it easy to filter for the sweeps that keep coming back. Get access here.
Trade Smart, S.E.A.L. Alpha Team