CAN SLIM Daily Briefing

Today's Marching Orders

Uptrend Under Pressure

Be selective · tighten stops · smaller size

VIX

15

Rally Attempt

Day 0

Support

$758.08

Distribution Days

Market Trend

UPTREND

Can Buy?

YES

Status

UPTREND UNDER PRESSURE

Action SELECTIVE BUY: Uptrend under pressure but above MA200 - buy only top leaders, tighten stops

Priority Setups

Buy zones & stops — armed, not triggered

01 MPC

Buy now

Buy Zone

$407–$428

Stop Loss

$390.90

02 VLO

Buy now

Buy Zone

$396–$417

Stop Loss

$380.22

03 PSX

Buy now

Buy Zone

$263–$277

Stop Loss

$251.28

How entry works: “NOW” = within 5% of 52-week high (already breaking out, buy at market). “WAIT” = needs to reach its 52-week high first — set an alert at that price.

Market Health Check

The General — is it safe to be long?

Market Status UPTREND UNDER PRESSURE

Distribution Days (5 wks) 10

Market Trend UPTREND

Can Buy? YES

Rally Attempt Day 0

O'Neil Says

“SELECTIVE BUY: Uptrend under pressure but above MA200 - buy only top leaders, tighten stops”

Rally Day

0

Started

2026-09-17

Dark-Pool Regime

Is smart money accumulating?

Context only · not a signal

ACCUMULATING DIX at its 100th percentile of the past year

DIX (5-day SMA)

above 0.45 · accumulation

0.524 (0.494)

1-year percentile

—

100th

GEX

high · moves dampened

$9.60B (97th %ile)

Mechanical regime

carried-forward (3-day persistence)

ACCUMULATION

Institutional accumulation read from dark-pool volume (SqueezeMetrics DIX). Context only — not a buy/sell signal; never overrides the Market Health Check, it adds confluence only.

as of 2026-09-18 · source: SqueezeMetrics (free public CSV)

Confluence Dark-pool signal is mixed — defer to the Market Health Check.

Sector Heatmap

Where the money is flowing

Breadth: 3 Leaders · 7 Strong · 5 Laggards

Top 10 — best for buying

1 Oil & Gas E&P XOP

2 Energy XLE

3 Semiconductors SMH

4 Technology XLK

5 Biotechnology XBI

6 Software - Infrastructure IGV

7 Gold GDX

8 Copper COPX

9 Oil & Gas Midstream AMLP

10 Steel SLX

Bottom 5 — avoid

23 Consumer Cyclical 39

24 Aerospace & Defense 35

25 Utilities 33

26 Home Improvement Retail 30

27 Utilities - Renewable 30

“37–50% of a stock's move comes from its industry group.”

The AI Focus List

Top 10 opportunities, ranked

RankTickerScoreSectorRSSignalsActionStop

1 MPC 9.8 Oil & Gas Refining & 83 EA NH BUY $391

2 VLO 9.6 Oil & Gas Refining & 83 EA NH BUY $380

3 PSX 9.4 Oil & Gas Refining & 83 EA NH BUY $251

4 NVDA 9.4 Semiconductors 81 EA NH WATCH $207

5 TSM 9.4 Semiconductors 81 EA NH WATCH $419

6 MU 9.3 Semiconductors 81 EA WATCH $1,097

7 AMD 9.1 Semiconductors 81 EA NH BUY $515

8 DELL 9.1 Computer Hardware 76 EA NH BUY $523

9 CVX 8.9 Oil & Gas Integrated 83 EA NH BUY $193

10 ANET 8.8 Computer Hardware 76 EA NH BUY $188

Top 3 Deep Dive

The trade plan, ticket-ready

MPC Marathon Petroleum Corpor

Oil & Gas Refining & · RS 83 · Now

Score

9.8

Leading Sector Earnings Accelerating Near Breakout RS 83

Current

$424.89

52W High

$428.00

Buy Zone

$407–$428

Away

-4.3%

Entry

$424.89

Stop −8%

$390.90

Target +20%

$509.87

Buy trigger — all must be true

1 Price enters the buy zone $407–$428

2 Volume 50%+ above average on the move

3 Market turns GREEN or YELLOW

Do not buy if

× Price enters zone but reverses below $416.39

× Volume is weak / unconfirmed

× Market turns RED

Order ticket

BUY 23 MPC LMT 427.01
STOP LOSS: $390.90

Reverses below $416.39 = invalid. 0.7% below 52-week high.

VLO Valero Energy Corporation

Oil & Gas Refining & · RS 83 · Now

Score

9.6

Leading Sector Earnings Accelerating Near Breakout RS 83

Current

$413.28

52W High

$416.66

Buy Zone

$396–$417

Away

-4.2%

Entry

$413.28

Stop −8%

$380.22

Target +20%

$495.94

Buy trigger — all must be true

1 Price enters the buy zone $396–$417

2 Volume 50%+ above average on the move

3 Market turns GREEN or YELLOW

Do not buy if

× Price enters zone but reverses below $405.01

× Volume is weak / unconfirmed

× Market turns RED

Order ticket

BUY 24 VLO LMT 415.35
STOP LOSS: $380.22

Reverses below $405.01 = invalid. 0.8% below 52-week high.

PSX Phillips 66

Oil & Gas Refining & · RS 83 · Now

Score

9.4

Leading Sector Earnings Accelerating Near Breakout RS 83

Current

$273.13

52W High

$277.12

Buy Zone

$263–$277

Away

-3.6%

Entry

$273.13

Stop −8%

$251.28

Target +20%

$327.76

Buy trigger — all must be true

1 Price enters the buy zone $263–$277

2 Volume 50%+ above average on the move

3 Market turns GREEN or YELLOW

Do not buy if

× Price enters zone but reverses below $267.67

× Volume is weak / unconfirmed

× Market turns RED

Order ticket

BUY 36 PSX LMT 274.50
STOP LOSS: $251.28

Reverses below $267.67 = invalid. 1.4% below 52-week high.

Watchlist Scan

56 stocks, scored on all 7 CAN SLIM tests

EA Earnings accel NH Near 52W high

TickerPriceScoreCAN SLIMVerdictSectorSignals

MPC $424.89 9.8 BUY Oil & Gas Refining & EA NH

VLO $413.28 9.6 BUY Oil & Gas Refining & EA NH

PSX $273.13 9.4 BUY Oil & Gas Refining & EA NH

NVDA $222.27 9.4 HOLD Semiconductors EA NH

TSM $434.67 9.4 HOLD Semiconductors EA NH

MU $1,015.80 9.3 WAIT-EARN Semiconductors EA

AMD $559.82 9.1 BUY Semiconductors EA NH

DELL $568.06 9.1 BUY Computer Hardware EA NH

CVX $209.51 8.9 BUY Oil & Gas Integrated EA NH

ANET $199.39 8.8 BUY Computer Hardware EA NH

XOM $163.54 8.5 HOLD Oil & Gas Integrated EA NH

SMCI $39.09 8.5 BUY Computer Hardware EA

COP $131.83 8.4 BUY Oil & Gas E&P EA NH

OXY $58.84 8.4 HOLD Oil & Gas E&P EA

MSFT $493.78 8.3 BUY Software - Infrastru

AAPL $336.13 8.2 HOLD Consumer Electronics NH

PR $22.76 8.1 HOLD Oil & Gas E&P EA NH

SM $36.97 8.0 HOLD Oil & Gas E&P EA

EOG $144.23 8.0 WATCH Oil & Gas E&P EA NH

DVN $48.61 7.9 WATCH Oil & Gas E&P EA NH

CRM $237.92 7.9 HOLD Software - Applicati

OVV $62.37 7.8 HOLD Oil & Gas E&P EA NH

HPE $60.76 7.6 WATCH Communication Equipm EA NH

CRDO $175.89 7.6 HOLD Semiconductors EA

AVGO $357.61 7.3 HOLD Semiconductors EA

INTC $108.60 7.3 WATCH Semiconductors

LRCX $288.11 7.2 HOLD Semiconductor Equipm EA

FANG $192.42 7.0 HOLD Oil & Gas E&P EA

CHRD $144.49 6.7 WATCH Oil & Gas E&P NH

MGY $25.18 6.7 WATCH Oil & Gas E&P EA

MRNA $154.04 6.7 HOLD Biotechnology

MTDR $56.81 6.6 AVOID Oil & Gas E&P EA

GEV $940.33 6.6 HOLD Specialty Industrial EA

AMAT $444.57 6.3 WATCH Semiconductor Equipm EA

NBIS $223.54 6.3 AVOID Internet Content & I

VRTX $508.34 6.2 WATCH Biotechnology NH

ORCL $147.61 6.1 AVOID Software - Infrastru EA

COHR $317.36 6.0 AVOID Scientific & Technic

VRT $249.39 5.9 WATCH Electrical Equipment EA

LITE $930.91 5.7 WATCH Communication Equipm

CRC $54.07 5.6 AVOID Oil & Gas E&P EA

REGN $784.85 5.3 AVOID Biotechnology NH

QCOM $177.72 5.2 AVOID Semiconductors

GILD $150.11 5.2 AVOID Drug Manufacturers - NH

PCVX $58.13 5.1 AVOID Biotechnology

BIIB $215.50 5.0 AVOID Drug Manufacturers - NH

PWR $636.71 5.0 AVOID Engineering & Constr EA

KLAC $176.99 4.9 AVOID Semiconductor Equipm

BMRN $63.94 4.9 AVOID Biotechnology NH

ADBE $248.92 4.8 AVOID Software - Applicati

SLB $51.12 4.1 AVOID Oil & Gas Equipment

HAL $33.64 4.1 AVOID Oil & Gas Equipment

ALNY $239.56 4.0 AVOID Biotechnology

SRPT $20.11 3.9 AVOID Biotechnology

IONS $44.44 3.1 AVOID Biotechnology

CEG $254.71 2.2 AVOID Utilities - Independ

Charts — Top Picks

Daily candles · EMA 20/50/150 · volume · MACD · RSI

MPC BUY

9.8

VLO BUY

9.6

PSX BUY

9.4

NVDA HOLD

9.4

TSM HOLD

9.4

MU WAIT-EARN

9.3

AMD BUY

9.1

DELL BUY

9.1

CVX BUY

8.9

ANET BUY

8.8

Action Summary

Uptrend Under Pressure

Buy candidates

Waiting for market confirmation

MPC 9.8

VLO 9.6

PSX 9.4

AMD 9.1

DELL 9.1

Watch list

Not yet actionable

NVDA HOLD · 9.4

TSM HOLD · 9.4

XOM HOLD · 8.5

OXY HOLD · 8.4

AAPL HOLD · 8.2

Avoid

Failing CAN SLIM tests

MTDR NBIS ORCL COHR CRC

O'Neil's Daily Checklist

Check market status before any trades

Focus only on stocks in the Top 40 industry groups

Wait for breakouts on 40%+ above-average volume

Set an 8% stop loss on any new position

Take partial profits at 20–25% gains

Morning Action Plan

1 Check Market YELLOW — selective

2 Review Charts Open TradingView for top picks

3 Set Alerts Price alerts at breakout levels

4 Position Size Max 2 positions, $50K each

5 Set Stops −8% from entry, always