Buyers Continue to Pile into European and Asian Chinese Stocks, Why?

With the close of the great bull market of 2025 (sense the sarcasm- double digit gains yet most stocks ended lower, and you're 401k continues to perform like a 90 yr old dude on his wedding night), and after all the many bullish predictions for 2026, where do we find investors putting money to work? Not in the good ol' US of A, that's for sure! 

businessinsider.com 

1. Europe - covered this in the last blog [link]

2. China – the usual suspects bow down to Chairman Xi, piling into familiar names: $BIDU Baidu up +15% on Friday alone (thanks to that AI chip unit spin-off thing—because nothing says "innovation" like carving out the hot part and listing it separately), $BABA Alibaba up ~6.25%. No thank you, NO, *FUCK OFF!  

Select Semiconductor Momentum plays - $MU, LAM both blasting to new all time highs $SOX up 4% - FOMO that, "AI bubble" crybabies! 

$ASML (ASML) As bad as things are in the Netherlands ASML retests the highs ^8% on Friday. Up 60% since Trump took office. 4th retest of the highs in 3 months. Looks toppy? Absolutely!    

Gold, gold miners, silver? No, it's Canadian penny stocks getting the love.  

$CNIKF Canada Nickle Company +6.45% 

All this as the "greatest economy ever" narrative crumbles—money fleeing US shores while Trump ramps up the chaos with strikes on Venezuela capturing Maduro, no less (over the weekend), and fresh threats against Iran over protester crackdowns - "we're locked and loaded". Hey, I didn't vote for this!  

Yet the tape keeps grinding higher (on AI frenzy). 

Reminiscing about some bullish stories from 2025

$CBRL The magnificent turn-around story at Cracker Barrel - you might have seen this one trending on social media? Bought on heavy volume after they decided not to change the sign, after all. Actually looks like it's trying to build a base - wait for it?    

$CHWY America's favorite litter box filler supplier is launched into the stratosphere by the Roaring Kitty himself. This was enough to lift the stock to 2 year highs (100% gains), and hold it there like a concreate dog statue in the squatting position - for nearly a year and a half. See the death cross on the moving averages. 

   

I've added so many stocks to my junk folder, I don't know where to stop.  

$FRPT another Cramer favorite from the past, revived like the cat who stared in Pet Cemetery - I should've covered this one back in Halloween.   

$FISV Fiserv - probably the most devastating example of all, and more proof the msms is gas lighting you when they tell you how well stocks performed in 2025. 

What a pathetic excuse for a bull market this is. After all the breathless 2025 predictions of a broadening out of the rally, we're starting 2026 off with... more of the same narrow momentum-chasing rotations into overseas; bifurcate (fractured) markets. 

But hey—if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. As I said in Friday's blog, the playbook remains simple: buy the dips, sell the rips, and most important of all, don't fight the tape. The trend is your friend until it isn't—and right now, it's still pointing up, sarcasm aside.Stay nimble out there.

January Rally: Superstition or Setup for the Next Rotation?

Wednesday's New Years Eve sell-off looked like a cash raise more than anything else. The sudden rush for the exits, caused the $VIX to spike to the 15 level. 15 is relatively, and historically low. That's not a trap; that's the market telling you "the coast is clear".  

Ringing In the New Year on a Bullish Note

Wall Street always looks for a January rally, to set the mood for the new year. The boring stats Grok/ AI loves: Historically, the S&P rises ~60-65% of Januarys avg. +1%, and when it does. This classic January Effect is strongest in the Russell 2000 small caps historically +3-5% avg. in Jan, and guess which sector has already pulled back into the perfectly bullish setup? Keep reading...     

Money managers are going to be forced to chase this monster rally; if they don't want to be replaced by AI trading computer algos. That sets up for an extreme case of FOMO, as money get's put to work in 2026, as we're already seeing in Europe.  

The next bullish sector rotation is back into beaten up European stocks, and US small caps. You may have already read the script on this play as it's been telegraphed from several different outlets. Google "european stocks", and you'll see what I mean (many sources).  

Talk is cheap, so let's see what the charts say! 

Animal instincts are spurred in early morning trading as the $FTSE  (pronounced "footsie") breaks out above the 10k mark. 

There are leveraged Europe ETF's, but I'm not sure what they really track. I'm zeroing in on a fund that's already corrected; the same one I pointed to last week. One that's already ripe.   

$OGLIX Oppenheimer Global. Consolidates for 5 months, flash crashes 10%. That's a buy the dip moment, if I've ever seen one. Just traded into the lower end of a perfectly drawn parallel channel. Buy the lower channel line, or wait for breakout back above the 91 level, you decide... 

Note: There is a 3X leveraged Europe (UK) ETF $EURL, but I'm not sure what that really tracks. Due diligence is warranted.  

The other bullish setup I mentioned earlier. A sector which has been quietly taken down, as the lame stream media tries to distract you with Santa Claus rallies, and shiny silver squirrel stories?

$IWM Russell 2000 small caps - word of warning, never buy this junk when CNBC recommends it, because if you do... you're likely to be caught in a nasty bull trap. Instead wait for the "all clear", on the first day of the year, at a perfect 38.2% Fibonacci retracement, and then wait for the green arrow signal. 👇    

Who was calling for 10% moves in Silver months ago? Spoiler @3xtraders  [link] 

My exact quote from Sept: 

A 1% move in Silver is nothing. I wouldn't be surprised to see a 10% move in Silver, after some of the meme trading we've witnessed over the past few years.  

Happy New Year 

P.S. If you're interested in doing a deeper dive into European stocks, here's an interesting article I came across when doing some of my own due diligence yesterday.  European Market Vs. The US Market - Where Should You Focus In 2026? (seekingalpha.com)  

P.P.S New Year's Resolution: Alwuays keep 'em guessing.