Last week’s U.S.-China trade truce fell flat but the tone of emerging market and international stocks remains positive. The EEM began 2019 at 40 and moved nicely to 44 in late spring before coming back to 39 in late summer. Since then, EEM has been in a choppy uptrend to reach 42. Today we move south of the border for a new recommendation in a strong uptrend and way off its high.

October markets are living up to their reputations! As I said in my recently published book, Make Money Buying and Selling Stocks, “October is a Scary Month (many market crashes have occurred in October—Panic of 1907, Black Tuesday (1929), Black Thursday (1929), Black Monday (1929) and Black Monday (1987). The truth: October is on record for the most volatile month. According to CFRA Research from 1950 to present day, “the S&P 500 on average registers more daily moves of at least 1% in October than in any other month.” On the flip side, however, going back to 1950, the S&P 500 has averaged a gain of 0.7% in October, according to The Stock Trader’s Almanac.” And this October has certainly been volatile; yet, in terms of market action, we are about even for the last 30 days.

The market is looking a little healthier, but it’s too early to call the all-clear yet. Still, many of our stocks are looking better, with several hitting new highs in recent days.
This week’s recommendation is an oil-patch giant that pays a good dividend, is undervalued, and is going up—what’s not to like?

Current Market Outlook


Last Friday’s surge higher by the broad market was a powerful sign that the lack of progress by growth stocks in recent months might be over, and for that reason alone, we are raising our market gauge one notch above neutral to the 6 level. But until we see true follow-through, and numerous growth stocks hitting new highs, we can’t be sure. In the meantime, however, there are still plenty of individual stocks acting well, with the potential to make big moves if the broad market cooperates.

Our Top Pick this week is the world leader in electronic signature technology, DocuSign (DOCU), which is making it easier to do business securely as the world turns increasingly digital.

Stock Name	Price	Buy Range	Loss Limit
Aaron’s (AAN)	74.35	66-69	59-61
ASML Holding (ASML)	350.01	253-260	228-232
Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG)	773.32	795-825	730-745
Crocs (CROX)	0.00	29.5-32.3	25-26
DocuSign (DOCU)	107.98	64-66.5	56-57.5
Lululemon Athletica (LULU)	304.69	200-202	190-192
Quanta Services (PWR)	91.45	37-39	34-35
Saia Inc. (SAIA)	129.19	93-97	85-87
SolarEdge Technologies Inc. (SEDG)	124.37	87-89.5	78-80
Trex Company (TREX)	117.56	87-90	79-81

The market remains all over the place, with news- and rumor-driven action pushing the indexes and individual stocks around every day. Our biggest thought remains that, while there’s plenty of evidence that tells us the next major move is probably up, the current environment remains extremely choppy with few stocks hitting new highs and little real money being made. Thus, we remain cautious, holding plenty of cash and going slow on the buy side—although we’re always keeping our eyes open for a sustained turn higher. In the Model Portfolio, we’re a bit more than half in cash and are building our watch list for the next advance.

The market is no longer as healthy as it was, but the bull market is not dead, either, just going through a change of character—a change that helps some of our stocks and hurts others. That’s investing!

As for this week’s stock, it’s a name you may not have heard of yet—it’s young—but lots of Chinese have, as it serves the mass market.

And in the portfolio, there are two changes—one simple sell and one “retirement” of a stock that has achieved its short-term potential but that might still be kept around for the long term.

Details in the issue.

Current Market Outlook


The market cracked its intermediate-term uptrend last week, with all the major indexes diving below their 50-day lines decisive fashion, and it appeared they could be ready to go over the falls. But as has been the case for months, the market reversed, with a decent-looking bounce to end the week. Overall, the trend of the major indexes remains effectively sideways, with no net progress for five-plus months at this point. And for individual stocks, it’s mostly the same story—we’re still seeing many that are holding up well, but few are going up, so no real money is being made. We’re still game for holding your strong, resilient stocks, especially if they’ve already taken some hits and held support. But we also think it’s best to mostly lay low, holding plenty of cash and being choosy on the buy side until the buyers flex their muscles. We’re dropping our Market Monitor down to level 5.

This week’s list has a good number of names that have recently shown strong accumulation and have held most of their gains, despite the soft environment. Our Top Pick is RingCentral (RNG), which announced a game-changing deal last week that lit a fire under the stock. Dips would be tempting.

Stock Name	Price	Buy Range	Loss Limit
Coupa Software (COUP)	262.20	143-147	126-128
Edwards Lifesciences (EW)	228.06	222-226	204-206
Lennar (LEN)	61.85	57-58.5	52-53
Medicines Company (MDCO)	56.98	57-58.5	52-53
Proofpoint (PFPT)	113.79	128-131	117-119
RH Inc. (RH)	252.93	168-172	152-155
RingCentral (RNG)	238.73	164-170	144-148
Seattle Genetics (SGEN)	150.85	83-86	75-77
Visteon (VC)	89.82	76-79	70-71
ZTO Express (ZTO)	28.84	20.2-21	18.8-19.3

For value-focused investors, this year’s prologue has been a welcome change from the turmoil experienced in early 2025.

In just the past few weeks, some of last year’s most ignored or underappreciated laggards have posted outsized gains, with rallies that have made even momentum-driven tech stock traders envious. Even more remarkable is the fact that much of that strength has been concentrated in ultra-defensive areas of the market like consumer staples, utilities and healthcare.

The market rotation continues to be the main story out there this week, though rumblings of a potential strike on Iran, an update from the January FOMC meeting, and a slew of earnings reports and economic data releases have been giving investors plenty to think about.

In terms of the rotation, the equal‑weight S&P 500 ETF (RSP) is up 5.5% so far this year, illustrating that leadership is broadening beyond the narrow group of mega‑cap stocks that drove much of last year’s performance.

Year to date, the S&P 600 SmallCap Index is up 8.3% and the S&P 400 Mid‑Cap Index is up 7.9%. Both are comfortably outperforming the S&P 500, which is up just 0.1%, and the Nasdaq, which is down 2.1%.

Happy Chinese New Year! The year of the horse is upon us.

China is expecting an incredible 9.5 billion trips to be made during the 40-day Lunar New Year travel period. Chinese automakers are also on the move as the country’s numerous brands sold nearly 200,000 vehicles in Britain last year, doubling their market share to almost 10%.

As U.S. investors have shifted from risk-on to risk-off mode in recent months, a clear disparity between the “haves” and the “have-nots” has materialized.

Let’s start with the “have-nots.” Financials have fared the worst so far this year (-4.7%), followed by technology (-3.1%), communication services and consumer discretionary (-2.8% each). The downturn in the two tech-related sectors in particular is a stark departure from recent years, when technology led the charge of the current bull market.

Cyclical stocks are soaring and technology is floundering in the transformed market.

The bull market is turned upside down. For most of the first three years, technology, and particularly AI stocks, soared while most other stocks did very little. Now, previously meandering stocks are killing it while technology sinks.

Strong fourth-quarter earnings are confirming what the market was already doing.

Current estimates based on earnings reported so far are for 13.2% overall S&P earnings growth for the quarter. It’s a solid quarter and the fifth straight quarter of double-digit earnings growth. In terms of sector performance, cyclical companies are killing it, and technology is floundering, just like before earnings.

Like many coffee aficionados, I have something of a love/hate relationship with Starbucks (SBUX). My main gripe is that the company’s food and beverage offerings have always been pricey compared to the fare served in most fast-food restaurants and run-of-the-mill coffee houses.

The outperformance of small caps continues.

Through Tuesday’s close, the S&P 600 is up 10% year to date versus just 1.6% for the S&P 500.

All but three small-cap sectors are outperforming their large-cap counterpart. The strongest small-cap sectors are materials (+20%), energy (+23%), industrials (+17%), and tech (+11.4%).

Let’s talk about the power of staying invested.

Sure, when the market turns south – and I’m not even sure last week’s mini-dip qualifies – it makes sense to pare back on your weakest stocks and put a larger portion of your portfolio in cash. But taking your ball and going home – selling out of all of your stocks when times are tough – is not a winning strategy. Here’s why.

NOTE: We’re sending this a day early as I’m soon to embark on a trip with the kiddos over the next week. I will be working a good amount from the road, though, and will have updates if need be. Also, next week’s issue will be published as scheduled.

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WHAT TO DO NOW: The market remains very mixed, with growth measures still generally pointed sideways to down, while the broad market remains in solid shape. What’s interesting, though, is that we’re seeing more growth stocks kick into gear, along with some huge buying action in a few “cyclical growth” names. Tonight we’re making one move—adding a half-sized stake in Macom Tech (MTSI)—but are keeping our eyes open for a broader character change among growth stocks. Our cash position will be around 53%.

Today could be a big day for cannabis stocks.

The reason: We may get an important update on the rescheduling timeline.

Cannabis investors will be watching closely today to see whether Attorney General Pam Bondi offers a rescheduling update when she appears before the House Judiciary Committee. Upbeat comments could spark a sharp cannabis sector rally. The hearing starts at 10 a.m. EST.

I’m excited to share a couple of enhancements to Cabot Early Opportunities —improvements designed to sharpen our focus and better help you stay on top of the stocks we own.

This online travel service company beat Wall Street’s earnings estimates by $1.30 per share last quarter

The markets remained under heavy selling pressure today, with stiff losses in both the Golden Dragon ETF (PGJ) that tracks Chinese ADRs and the iShares MSCI EM ETF (EEM) that represents the broader emerging markets. As a result, we are selling one of our stocks tonight.

One of our stocks has lackluster performance and pattern of lower lows and lower highs, it’s time for us to move on and sell. Our capital will be better invested in the new pick, and I have several viable candidates on my watch list!

This low-priced stock has had its ups and downs, but takeover possibilities are attractive.

The second a Hold for now.

Both of these stocks had excellent quarters; the first remains a Buy

The major indexes were mixed on Friday, with the Dow rising 119 points and the Nasdaq falling 20 points, though many growth stocks took it on the chin as money rotated toward beaten-down names. As a result, we have one sale and two rating changes.

The markets came under heavy selling pressure today, as investors finally began to grapple with the possible effects of genuine trade war, one that included not just China, but many U.S. allies as well. As a result, we are selling two positions and moving two positions to hold.

The major indexes were mixed on Friday, with the Dow rising 119 points and the Nasdaq falling 20 points, though many growth stocks took it on the chin as money rotated toward beaten-down names. As a result, we have one sale and two rating changes.

This biotech stock was recently upgraded to ‘Outperform’ by Evercore ISI Group: In-Line.

On June 21, 2018, the world learned the shocking news that Intel Corp.* (INTC – yield 2.3%) CEO Brian Krzanich was required to step down from his position at Intel due to a relationship with an employee that violated company policy.

Markets pulled back yesterday and the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all closed lower. A couple of our holdings were hit particularly hard, so I wanted to send a quick update on two of our positions even though I’m not recommending any action.

Our Cabot Top Ten 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 Top Ten features.