It’s a good news/bad news situation for most metals, as shutdowns across Europe, Asia and South America due to power shortages and other factors are contributing to lower supplies for several industrial metals. However, signs that inflation may be in the process of reversing bodes ill for the intermediate-term outlook.

Uranium, meanwhile, is now in the driver’s seat as the global energy crisis supports the renewal of nuclear power initiatives.



In the trading portfolio, no new positions are recommended for now as the broad metals market is still unsettled.

Coming off three straight weeks of losses, the bulls staged a rebound last week as the S&P 500 gained 3.65%, the Dow rose 2.66% and the Nasdaq rebounded by 4.1%. Though of note, the market is down across the board this morning following a “hot” inflation report. The expiration of our September covered calls is this Friday. Expect to hear from me Thursday afternoon or Friday morning on how we will manage these positions.

Coming off three straight weeks of losses, the bulls staged a rebound last week as the S&P 500 gained 3.65%, the Dow rose 2.66% and the Nasdaq rebounded by 4.1%.

Coming off three straight weeks of losses, the bulls staged a rebound last week as the S&P 500 gained 3.65%, the Dow rose 2.66% and the Nasdaq rebounded by 4.1%.

Within the last two weeks we’ve been able to lock in four straight winning trades which has increased our win ratio to 90% (9 out 10 winning trades). This should be of no surprise given we’ve been placing trades with a better than 85% probability of success. Hopefully the numbers will continue to play out as the probabilities intend, but sequence risk will rear its head from time to time as we continue to pile on the trades. So with that in mind, keep your emotions in check, stay disciplined in your approach and keep your position size at reasonable levels. I’ll discuss this further, in addition to our current positions, trade ideas and more in our upcoming monthly webinar.

The bulls came out swinging after Labor Day, putting at least a brief half to all the late-summer selling. Whether the mini-rally lasts another week (or longer) may depend on the new inflation data, due out tomorrow morning before the opening bell. For now, the bear market remains, but it was a good week for stocks – and an even better week for the Stock of the Week portfolio, with several of our stocks up double-digit percentages since we last spoke. And today we add a new stock that’s poised to lead the next true market rally – whenever it arrives – but in the meantime is faring quite well in its own specific niche.

Details inside.

At the close of the August expiration cycle, back on the 19^th, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) was trading for 422.14. Now it’s trading 3.7% lower at 406.60.

For the year the S&P 500 (SPY) is down 14.7%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (QQQ) and small-cap Russell 2000 (IWM) indexes are lower by 22.8% and 15.7%, respectively.



Nothing has changed from last month’s issue. I still expect to see bouts of volatility going forward. I would like to say that most of the weakness is behind us, but unfortunately, I don’t have a crystal ball. Although, I will say that barring any real setbacks in inflation data or ongoing geopolitical concerns, I expect the market to hold the 2022 lows and potentially rally, particularly if inflation data subsides.

The portfolio continues to do well in what has been a very difficult market for most traders and their respective portfolios. While I would love to have more trades on, I’m perfectly fine keeping our level at five open trades per expiration cycle with the understanding that as opportunities arise, I will add more. But with a widely vacillating market and a host of bearish crosscurrents I plan on maintaining a fairly conservative approach. That being said, I also plan to add a hedging position to the mix for those that want a little portfolio insurance just in case the market pushes sharply lower. This will also allow us to add a few shorter-term trades to the mix.

Compared to the prior three weeks when the major indexes imploded, last week was a breath of fresh air. As we like to say, up is good, so the action is certainly a plus—and, more important, we still see a good number of stocks in multi-month setups. All that said, much of the recent buying has been from the off-the-bottom crowd, and at best, the intermediate-term trend of the overall market is sideways while the longer-term trend remains down. We’re certainly OK holding onto our resilient names, but we continue to need to see more before we advise becoming aggressive. We’re leaving our Market Monitor at a level 4.


This week’s list has a few more turnaround and steady Eddie-type names despite the market’s rally. Our Top Pick is a cheap name near the top of a huge launching pad that also has a decent long-term cookie-cutter story, too.

Another week of less-than-stellar earnings season opportunities as we are well entrenched in the earnings season doldrums and the opportunities are, at least for a few more weeks, non-existent.

That being said, I am intrigued by a potential trade in Oracle (ORCL) today. If I’m able to sell a three-strike-wide iron condor for roughly $0.55, I might take a small position. As always, I’ll send out a trade alert if I decide to make a trade. If not, some of you may still find the trade interesting. As a result, I discuss below a potential trade idea in ORCL that consists of a three-strike-wide iron condor. For those interested, check it out in the “Trade Ideas for Next Week” section at the bottom.

I just wanted to remind everyone that starting September 12 our weekly issues will be released on Mondays instead of Fridays. This should allow me to give all of you more thorough weekly reviews and prep heading into the following week.

I just wanted to remind everyone that starting September 12 our weekly issues will be released on Mondays instead of Fridays. This should allow me to give all of you more thorough weekly reviews and prep heading into the following week.

The New Year looks promising for dividend stocks. With prices in many growth sectors at high levels ahead of a very promising economic year, the relative performance of dividend stocks in general should be much better this year than in 2020.

With the turn of the calendar only a few days ahead, just about every investor is mapping out their market views for the coming year. Some do this formally, like Wall Street brokerage firms who publish their opinions on where the S&P 500 and interest rates will finish next year and their outlooks for all sorts of economic and financial indicators. Others will informally develop their views and expectations for the coming year.

Zweig’s research indicates that the market rallies 0.53% or 176% on an annualized basis on the day before New Year’s Day. Who knows what next year will bring, but odds are the market will finish 2020 on a high note!

The situation looks bright in 2021. Several high dividend paying stocks and sectors have had a big move higher after the vaccine announcements.

We’re mixing things up a little this week and next and going with very brief Weekly Updates.

Despite a global pandemic and an economic crash, stocks had a great year. As of yesterday’s close all three indexes are higher for the year and very near all time highs. The S&P 500 is up over 14% while the tech-laden Nasdaq is up an astounding 42% YTD.

The market is relatively flat so far this week as more traders head home for the holidays. Coming into Wednesday, most major indexes were within 1% (up or down) of where they closed last week, though many growth stocks have picked up steam.

The Cabot Undervalued Stocks Advisor has an investment horizon that is generally one to two years. As long as our companies are making fundamental progress, we’re comfortable with waiting for periods that easily extend past December 31st. However, the market doesn’t necessarily share that perspective. For many reasons, including professional investor bonus calculations, tax-related trading, window-dressing and simple year-end portfolio house-cleaning, the market’s horizon shrinks geometrically as the calendar winds down.

I started my career as an equity research associate at Eaton Vance, a $100BN+ asset manager. It was a great place to start out because the equity research department was small relative to its assets under management. As a result, even as an entry level research associate, I had the opportunity to interview senior management teams.

It was a quiet week, with no companies reporting earnings (no earnings reports scheduled for the rest of the year, in fact) and no changes in ratings. We had three price target increases, for Trinity Industries (TRN), Adient (ADNT) and DuPont (DD), noted below.

The market continues to grind higher and the small cap index, which we haven’t talked about in forever, is finally opening up some white space above its pre-pandemic high. In fact, the S&P 600 Small Cap Index is, at this very moment, trading at an all-time high.

Some of you might have been a bit alarmed at the message attached to last week’s issue that the next issue will be out January 7, 2021. But today we have an update and rest assured, I’ll be following the Explorer portfolio next week and will send an alert if anything unusual happens. I will also have another update and some portfolio changes the following week.

Tyler updates us on one more stock that reported earnings recently.

This marijuana property REIT just reported a stellar quarter.

Our second recommendation is the sale of a previous pick.

Our first idea today is an undervalued tech company that has a current dividend yield of 2.90%, paid quarterly.

This e-tailer blew the door off earnings estimates last quarter, posting EPS of $2.30, vs. analyst projections of $0.80.

This portfolio stock reported Q3 results yesterday that came in ahead of expectations.

This consumer products company beat earnings estimates by $0.21 last quarter.

This preferred stock is issued by a Chicago-based regional bank.

With all five states that voted on marijuana proposals last week saying “Yes,” the trend toward nationwide legalization is now clearer than ever—and marijuana investors have been acting accordingly.

Rich is recommending a sell for this portfolio stock.

Tyler reports on three stocks in the portfolio.

Tyler updates us on one more stock that reported earnings recently.

A few Cabot Options Trader subscribers have asked me about ways to protect gains in their portfolios, so I thought I would write to everyone with a couple of strategies using options to hedge your portfolio.

A subscriber recently asked me if I keep a journal of my trades. Many traders keep journals so they can look back at their trades and evaluate what they did right and what they did wrong.

Want to know how the big institutional investors use options? Here is an example of how one trader spent $132 million on three technology stocks.

Options trading has its own vernacular. To know how to do it, you need to know what every options term means. Here are some of the basics.

Our Cabot Momentum Trader’s market timing system consists of two parts—one based on the action of three select, growth-oriented market indexes, and the other based on the action of the fast-moving stocks Cabot Momentum Trader features.