Palantir is down 18% this week… MicroStrategy is getting destroyed… and Intel is crashing 7%.

Most traders see carnage. I see discount shopping for the best hedge plays in the market.

The High Beta Reality Check

Here’s what most traders miss: high betas are always the first to roll over at the end of a bull run. Always.

Palantir was trading at 400 times sales when it hit $180. Four hundred times. That’s not a typo – it was doing maybe a billion in sales with a $400 billion valuation.

Completely ridiculous.

But here’s the thing – if Palantir drops to $50 from here, I’d be buying it. Not because I love the valuation.

Because it’s the ultimate meme stock with government contracts and a CEO who goes on TV insulting everyone while people keep buying his stock.

The Crash-to-Cash Playbook

When these high beta names are flying high, that’s when you load up on cheap insurance.

Take Palantir at $180-something. You could have bought January $100 puts for like two bucks the other day. Everyone thought I was crazy.

“Why would you bet against the AI darling?”

Because when sentiment shifts happen – like we’re seeing right now – these stocks don’t just decline. They crater.

Those $2 puts I mentioned in Catalyst Cash-Outs Live.

They are trading at $4.40 today.

Which ironically, the same type of trades my colleague, Nate Bear hunts for.

He calls them “lottos.”

Reading the Rotation

While everyone’s panicking about tech getting crushed, I’m watching where the smart money flows.

Past three or four days?

Everything’s rotating into pharma. Merck moving higher. J&J, Pfizer climbing. Everything with an “E” after it is moving up.

Why pharma? Because when markets get uncertain, institutions rotate into defensive plays that pay dividends while you wait.

These companies aren’t going anywhere, and they’re throwing off cash while tech names burn through valuations.

Palantir and MicroStrategy? No “E.” They’re getting demolished.

September and October Are Coming

Here’s what nobody wants to talk about: we’re heading into the two months that are historically roughest for markets.

September, October – back-to-back months that have been the most precarious historically. November picks up again, but those two months? That’s when corrections happen.

High beta stocks trading at ridiculous multiples going into historically rough months? That’s not a coincidence. That’s the setup.

The Smart Money Move

Here’s my playbook for the next two months:

For the gamblers: Long-term puts on high beta names still trading at stupid valuations. When they’re up, you buy protection. When they crater, you buy calls for the bounce.

For the patient: Wait for these high flyers to drop 50% from their peaks, then start accumulating long-term calls. MSTR, PLTR, the whole crew – they’ll bounce back eventually.

For the hedgers: Use these crashes to protect your portfolio. Buy cheap puts on the names that have had 80% runs since April lows.

Why This Works

The math is simple: high beta stocks amplify market moves in both directions.

When the market’s up 1%, these names are up 3-4%. When the market drops 1.5% like today, they’re down 5-7%.

Most traders only think about the upside amplification. I’m thinking about both sides – and positioning accordingly.

YOUR ACTION PLAN

Everyone sees today’s carnage and thinks “disaster.”

I see cheap hedges, oversold bounces, and rotation opportunities.

Palantir crashed? Great – now I can buy those long-term calls I wanted at a discount.

MicroStrategy getting destroyed? Perfect time to load up on protective puts for the next rally.

The market’s giving you exactly what you need to position for the next move. You just have to be willing to buy when others are selling and sell when others are buying.

While everyone else is panic-trading their way into bigger losses, I’m shopping for discounted insurance and setting up for the inevitable bounce.

High beta crashes aren’t chaos. They’re Christmas morning for traders who know how to unwrap the presents.