Cboe Global Markets is one of the largest global exchange operators. The company offers trading across a wide range of asset classes, including options, futures, U.S. and European equities, exchange-traded products (ETPs), global FX, and products on the VIX index. Cboe maintains the largest options exchange in the U.S. and the largest stock exchange in Europe. The company is headquartered in Chicago, with offices in Kansas City, New York, London, San Francisco, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Ecuador.

The major indices have gone from mixed to modestly higher at midday on Tuesday. There's a tug of war, with uncertainty over Iran causing gloom while excitement over AI is creating optimism. Crude oil is at $92 per barrel. The yield on the 10-year note is at 4.45%. The VIX volatility index is at 16.

The S&P 500 (SPX) continues to rip higher, even in the face of daily overbought momentum conditions as well as some recent exuberance in the options market. We called this advance a price thrust/momentum thrust a few weeks ago and those terms have been used before. But the description has become increasingly popular, as we haven't seen any breadth thrusts, which are almost always associated with a market that is emerging from a pullback, correction, or bear market.

The major indices are heading for their worst month and weakest quarter since the bear market in 2022. This will be the second straight March with a dismal performance for the stock market, and the indices look vulnerable to further damage as prices are in a large "no man's land" region with little chart resistance. In addition to many weak individual charts, we now have to deal with the breakdown in once-leading semiconductor stocks. The semis make up about 14% of the S&P 500 (SPX) and over 24% of the Nasdaq 100 (QQQ). The two largest semis in the SPX and the QQQ are the $4 trillion NVDA (7.5% of the SPX and 8.6% of the QQQ) and the $1.4 trillion AVGO (2.6% of the SPX and 3% of the QQQ). The VanEck Semiconductor (SMH, $362.50) is the largest semi ETF. After a massive 138% advance from April 8 until February 25, price broke its bullish channel and lost its 21-week exponential average for the first time since last February. Over the past six months, downside volume has been heavy, a clear sign institutional distribution. There is minor chart support in the $325-$355 region. Meanwhile, an initial 38.2% retracement of the rally from last April comes in at $329, the rising 50-week average is at $325, and a 50% giveback is near $300. The last breakout area is down between $260 and $280. NVDA is breaking down from an eight-month head-and-shoulders (H&S) top and has lost its 200-day and 50-week averages for the first time since last March. AVGO already has broken down from a seven-month complex H&S and also has lost its 200-day and 50-week. (Mark Arbeter, CMT)