Sunday Review + Watchlist 1/11/2026

Swing trades working well while small caps start to show more activity

Jan 11, 2026

Market Recap

Stocks kicked off 2026 on a strong note, with the S&P500 SPY 0.00%↑ up about 1.6% on the week and closing at a fresh all‑time high. The Nasdaq QQQ 0.00%↑ added roughly 1.9% as large‑cap tech and semis bounced, helped by chip names rallying around CES headlines and renewed optimism. Small caps joined the move with the Russell 2000 IWM 0.00%↑ up about 4.6%, extending the rotation into domestically focused names.

Trump also put housing back on traders’ radar with two major policy headlines: a push to stop large institutional investors from buying additional single‑family homes and a directive for Fannie and Freddie to purchase roughly $200 billion in mortgage‑backed securities. The clearest reaction showed up in housing‑linked names, with homebuilders, mortgage lenders, and related stocks catching a bid into Friday as markets weighed the prospect of easier financing conditions and better deal flow if the plan advances.

Under the surface, a few themes stood out for active traders: semis and AI‑chip plays led tech again; defense stocks ripped higher after a record‑size budget proposal; and space/defense cross‑over names like Rocket Lab RKLB 0.00%↑ and RTX 0.00%↑ saw elevated volume. In the micro‑cap, low‑float corner, we had a handful of Day 1 (D1) gappers such as VRME 0.00%↑ CYCN 0.00%↑ LUCY 0.00%↑ FLYX 0.00%↑ JTAI 0.00%↑ OPAD 0.00%↑ GP 0.00%↑, however none of them were truly A+ for short setups. The main multi day runners in play were SIDU 0.00%↑ MNTS 0.00%↑, and CRML 0.00%↑.

Watchlist

SLV 0.00%↑ Put in a higher low after last weeks double top and range in contracting. Watching to see which way this wants to break.

CRML 0.00%↑ Continues to have a strong bid with it’s multi-layered bull narrative (real project progress + Greenland geopolitics + critical minerals policy theme).

SNDK 0.00%↑ Memory and storage names are having a huge run. Keeping this name on watch in case it wants to start expanding into mean reversion territory.

LUMN 0.00%↑ AI infrastructure/optics name getting tight and setting a clear breakout level over 8.30s.

FLYX 0.00%↑ Low float name still holding up after announcing a $15M public offering with strong pricing. Signed a deal with Starlink earlier in the week. Long bias if we start reclaiming $7-7.50 on volume.