Category: Daily Diary

Closing Volume

– NYSE volume 3% below its one-month average  
– NASDAQ volume 5% below its one-month average 
– VIX index: down 4.07% to 16.73

Breadth

S&P 500 Sectors

% Movers

Nasdaq 100 Heat Map

Closing S&P 500 Heat Map

Position: None

From Randorama:

Randy

"The biggest killer on the planet is stress, and I still think the best medicine is and always has been cannabis."

– Willie Nelson pic.twitter.com/qWb3ObRD94

— TDR (@TheDalesReport) May 21, 2026

Position: Long MSOS (M); Short MSOS calls (VS)

I have added $TCNNF to my cannabis long stable.

Adding to $GLASF now.

Position: Long TCNNF, GLASF

* The bullish herd is well populated…

As subscribers know, we keep a tab on the bullish/bearish ratio of CNBC guests (actually we have an intern that does it!).

Here are the results between Monday and today:

There have been 39 bullish commentators and two bearish “talking heads” on The Death Star this week.

Extreme greed.

Position: None

With S&P cash at a -1 handle, I have covered my index shorts for a profit (I had been scaling into the short on strength, as noted):

* $SPY $741.32

* $QQQ $712.14

Position: None

Adding to $JOET ($43.25) and $GRNY ($26.90) shorts.

P.S.: $KMB and $PG have each rallied +$3 from their intraday lows and $PEP by +$2.

Position: Long KMB (M), PG (S), PEP (M); Short JOET (VS), GRNY (S)

Some speculation in social media that a draft for peace is imminent.

With S&P cash now +12 handles I am back re-shorting the indices:

* $SPY $742.80

* $QQQ $714.89

Position: Short SPY (VS), QQQ (VS) 

Benjamin Graham is turning over in his grave. pic.twitter.com/paqsEDaZMh

— John Arnold (@johnarnold) May 21, 2026

Position: None

all these dudes posting about anthropic’s profits without checking the fine print. (see my earlier tweet)

there’s some fine print i believe that n the openai result too, and a lot that has not been disclosed

the rest is just about hype https://t.co/O2KCANZISc

— Gary Marcus (@GaryMarcus) May 21, 2026

Position: None