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IWO Live – May 21st – The Market Refuses to Die: Why Sticky Bids, Gamma Squeezes, and Degenerate Trades Are the New Normal

May 21, 2025 By Steven Place

Markets have gone full cockroach mode — they just won’t die.

On the May 21 session, I break down why equities remain bid despite bearish news, what’s happening under the surface with options flow, and where the next wave of opportunities may emerge — from junk gold miners to AI-fueled crypto weirdness.


🧲 Why the Market Won’t Roll Over

It’s not about fundamentals. It’s not even about tariffs. It’s about how fund managers are trying to save face.

Many sold at the lows during tariff panic headlines — and now that the market’s up 20%, they’re trying to catch back up… by buying calls.

That creates a gamma feedback loop: more calls = dealers get short = dealers must buy = market stays bid.

Until that loop breaks, don’t short blindly.

🧮 Sticky Levels and the Gap AVWAP

The Gap Anchored Volume Weighted Average Price (AVWAP) from the recent move is acting like a gravity well.

Every test of that level has been bought. So if you’re trying to fade this market, wait until that AVWAP breaks first.

🔲 Iron Condors: Summer’s Quiet Killer Trade

Options premiums are still fat. If we enter a summer chop zone — which often happens after volatility events calm down — selling iron condors may become the best trade on the board.

Directional traders get chopped up. Range traders eat.

⚡️ The Case for Power Semiconductors

Wolfspeed blew up. But that’s the setup.

Names like ON Semiconductor, NVTS, and AEHR are in the same power semi space — tied to EVs, AI data centers, and grid upgrades — and they’ve been crushed.

Contrarian alert: these names could base and run as the AI power narrative picks up.

🥇 Gold Miners: Clown Car or Breakout Play?

Gold’s near highs. But GDXJ (junior miners) are still in the mud.

Why? Because digging gold costs money — and these companies are often bad at managing it.

But if crude oil stays cheap and gold holds firm, margin expansion + breakout charts = potential squeeze.

Bonus ticker: Dakota Gold (DC), a speculative play near historic South Dakota mines.

🧪 The Rise of AI-Driven Crypto Liquidity

Here’s where things get weird.

Projects like Truth Terminal are experimenting with AI agents issuing NFTs, pooling liquidity, and possibly evolving into self-funding organisms.

The token? “Goatius Maximus.”

Laugh all you want — but if autonomous agents start trading and growing in crypto markets, it’s not a meme… it’s a thesis.

🛰️ Degen Pick: NUKK and the Golden Dome Narrative

Trump and the DOD announced plans for a space-based defense perimeter.

$NUKK has exposure to Star26, which has ties to Iron Dome tech. It's a sketchy holding company, but if the narrative gains steam, it could rip.

Proceed with caution and maybe a helmet.

🚗 Relative Strength Trades: Uber and the Desert Island Setup

Uber's breakout looks good — but don’t chase. Instead, wait for a pullback to a key support level and then sell bull put spreads into that retracement.

These setups are like set-it-and-forget-it island trades. Easy to manage, and often high reward.

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