Good afternoon one and all, and welcome back from the weekend. Sorry the market couldn't do something a little more welcoming on Monday than dish out a small pullback. On the other hand, is anybody really surprised? The bears drew a line in the sand a few days ago, right around 21474, and it's still holding up. On the flipside, it looks like there's a floor developing too... right around 2161. The chart is what it is. Three days ago, we could have been relatively sure the market was finally ready to roll back a bit as traders started to take some profits. Now though -- in light of the market's unwillingness to take profits yet -- traders may be insisting on higher highs whether that's the move that makes sense or not. I'm still mostly looking for lower lows before higher highs, but at this point it's anybody's guess as to what could actually happen. Welcome to summer, when the market can and will take naps. In any case, as I was reading through the SCN's premium newsletters today, a couple things struck me (and not so subtly) that I want to pass along as a trading tip to you. First, James Brumley of The Future Investor set it up, saying: "Generally speaking, we continue to have doubts about the market justifying its current and projected P/E ratios. That's not a reason to simply close shop and just sit in cash until the next cyclical rally. It is, however, a call to remain focused on finding stocks that not only stand out fundamentally, but are also looking good technically. All the names in our portfolio already meet that criteria, and we've been rewarded for it. But, look for more of the same until further notice. Just know that this means you'll probably see more smaller, obscure names than familiar large cap names. That's not an accident. Large caps have a tough time shrugging off the pessimism that brews up whenever things look and feel rough for the market." He's exactly right, by the way. He's mostly been wading into smaller, more obscure names of late, and he's pretty much shrugged off the market's weakness by doing so. We could all take his hint and not necessarily be scared of the market, but focus on names that are poised to dish out a strong trend even if the market doesn't. It's the opposite of what you've been told before. I'm sure you've heard the old adage.... on any given day, three out of four stocks are moving in the same direction as the market. It's an indirect way of saying pick the market's direction, and you're already miles ahead. The problem is, what if the market changes direction every day, as it has been for weeks now? That's when that one out of four stocks comes into play. Of that 25% of all stocks (and there are still a few thousand of them) that don't move with the market on any certain day, more than enough of them are in uptrends or downtrends that are going to to keep moving regardless of what the market's doing. The trick? Finding them. That's what The Future Investor does, and does well, finding the hidden gems ripe for long-term gains even if the overall market isn't. He's clearly got the experience and know-how. The question is, do you have the patience? If we're all being honest, some of you have enough patience to be a great buy-and-hold investor. Most of us don't though. Most of us want good trades right here, right now, every day. If that's you, then what you want is the Black Ops Trader. It's the same premise James uses for The Future Investor's stock picks. Instead of looking for names that are going to make long-term gains regardless of what the market does in the meantime, the Black Ops Trader team is finding trades that are ready to move and move well regardless of which way the market's tide is moving. The BOT just has the right tools and experience to find that buried treasure. Case(s) in point: Vuzix (VUZI), for one. The Black Ops Trader newsletter suggested it as a bullish idea back on July 18th, and it's now up 14% (and close to its target price). Then there's MeetMe (MEET), which the BOT newsletter recommended on June 13th. It's now up 47%, and still going strong. And this one, which I can't divulge yet, but may do so in the near future. It's up 39% since the BOT team picked it on June 13th. Now, I'd like to say each and every trade did that well, that fast, but what wouldn't be accurate. On the other hand, you don't need every trade to do that well, that fast, to make a big difference in your portfolio's bottom line. You only need a couple dozen or so of those a year, and your portfolio could get real big, real fast. Like James said, the trick is finding the few names that are best poised to move at any given time, even if the market isn't. That's a trick the Black Ops guys clearly learned a long time ago. If you'd like to put your portfolio on steroids, here's how to do it.