The market environment remains very challenging because it feels like a tug of war.

It's hard to find longs for anything other than short periods of time.

At the same time, it's easy to get knocked out of shorts on a surprise headline out of the White House.

Right now, the bond market is a huge challenge for equities.

The computers seemed programmed to dump stocks when yields are on the rise.

And that's why I'm advising everyone to keep TLT on their screens. If it breaks the morning lows, you better buckle up.

This morning, we got a cool PPI, following the cool CPI yesterday. And that was followed by soft Michigan Sentiment numbers.

Plus, JPMorgan's (JPM) Jamie Dimon came out cautious on the economy, saying earnings estimates have to fall further because so many companies are likely to pull guidance.

This supports the stagflation scenario many are fearing, which is a problem with equity valuations still elevated.

So we shall continue playing defense and being very selective with new ideas.

This is time to be patient. Not the time to be a hero.

I've been saying for weeks that the SPX looked like it was heading lower, and there is still the potential for more downside ahead, especially if we keep seeing trouble in the bond market.

Right now, the market wants to see the US and China get together and resolve the tensions. Until we get that, the tape will be very jumpy.

Now let's talk about our current names.

iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) strengthened quite a bit on Friday as it appears Bitcoin is decoupling from many other risk assets. I still see more upside ahead.

AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) has acted much better than most speculative growth names in this environment, which is why I'm sticking with it. However, we have to keep a close eye on it just in case.

Stay safe out there.

-Scott