Roy introduces two new stocks that hold great promise: one is poised to start producing better sales and earnings this year and next, and the other is taking advantage of strong demand for digital storage created by the cloud computing revolution.

Current Market Outlook


With the market beginning a long-overdue correction that has the potential to bring high-flying stocks down to earth, one very human temptation is to defer new buying until risk seems to be past. But if you always think that way, you’ll never invest. Instead, we recommend keeping it simple. Recognize that the market’s main trend today is clearly up, and focus on identifying strong stocks with logical entry points. The candidates for today’s Top Ten included many semiconductor stocks, medical technology stocks, basic chemical stocks, financial services stocks and REITs, and you’ll find the best of those, along with other attractive stocks.

Our Top Pick is NetEase (NTES), which gapped up to new highs on its earnings report in mid-February and has since pulled back to support at the low end of its recent range. (Note: Don’t let the high share price dissuade you; simply buy fewer shares.)

Stock Name	Price	Buy Range	Loss Limit
Bluebird Bio (BLUE)	0.00	80-85	73-74.5
Century Aluminum Co. (CENX)	17.24	13.5-15	12-12.5
Conduent (CNDT)	0.00	15-16	13.5-14
Copa Holdings (CPA)	0.00	101-105	96-97
NetEase, Inc. (NTES)	0.00	280-290	260-265
Pacira Biosiences (PCRX)	54.85	48-51	44-45
STMicroelectronics (STM)	30.09	13.5-14.5	12.5-13
Symantec Corporation (SYMC)	0.00	27-29	25-26
TAL Education (TAL)	50.49	85-91	80-81
United Rentals, Inc. (URI)	0.00	125-130	114-115

Current Market Outlook


The overall market continues to act just fine, the trends are pointed up for most indexes and stocks, and the broad market remains in great shape. That said, it’s not all peaches and cream—the last three days have seen some selling pressure in a few highflyers and money flows into defensive groups (like utilities and consumer staples). Moreover, this action comes after a few short-term signs of enthusiasm, including a huge number of new highs on Nasdaq last Wednesday. Don’t get us wrong: We’re still bullish, and you should hold your strong stocks and be heavily invested. But we’ll knock our Market Monitor back down a notch (to a level 8), and think being selective on the buy side and ditching losers and laggards makes sense.

This week’s list has a broader array of stocks than in recent weeks as money flows shift. Our Top Pick is Square (SQ), which looks like a new leading growth stock after galloping ahead on earnings last week. Keep positions small and try to get in on dips.

Stock Name	Price	Buy Range	Loss Limit
Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI)	0.00	43.5-47	38-40
Autohome (ATHM)	98.65	32-34	30.5-29.5
HubSpot (HUBS)	582.89	57.5-60.5	55-53
Marriott Vacations (VAC)	0.00	93.5-97.5	87-89
Sage Therapeutics (SAGE)	0.00	62-66	56-59
Sinclair Broadcasting (SBGI)	54.14	38-40	35-36
Southwest Airlines (LUV)	0.00	55-57	51-52.5
Square, Inc. (SQ)	91.04	17-18	15.2-15.6
Univar (UNVR)	0.00	30.5-32	28-29
Universal Display (OLED)	187.54	82-85	74-76

Current Market Outlook


Stocks notched another solid week, with most major indexes rising 1.5% or so and a bunch of stocks going along for the ride. We saw the S&P 500, S&P 400 Midcap, Nasdaq, NYSE Composites and the NYSE Advance-Decline line all hit new highs. That’s bullish! We’re also encouraged by the increasing number of powerful earnings reactions we’re seeing, with many stocks surging on their heaviest volume in over a year. Short-term, pullbacks and shakeouts are always possible, but looking at the big picture, we saw the market blast out of an 18-month trading range in November, consolidate tightly for two months through January, and now resume its uptrend, with more stocks and sectors participating. All told, we’ll bump our Market Monitor up another notch to level 9 (out of 10).

This week’s list has another crop of very strong stocks, most of which have either gapped up on earnings or are just emerging from consolidations. Our Top Pick is ON Semiconductor (ON), a chip firm that just blew away estimates and is expecting huge bottom-line growth thanks in part to its acquisition of Fairchild.

Stock Name	Price	Buy Range	Loss Limit
Arista Networks (ANET)	0.00	115-120	102-105
NetEase, Inc. (NTES)	0.00	285-295	260-265
ON Semiconductor (ON)	24.07	14.5-15.5	13.5-14
Paycom Software (PAYC)	0.00	51-53	47-48.5
Portola Pharmaceuticals (PTLA)	0.00	29.5-31.5	26-27
Shopify (SHOP)	585.00	56.5-61.5	50-53
TIM Participacoes (TSU)	0.00	15-15.5	13.8-14.2
TTM Technologies (TTMI)	0.00	15.8-16.8	14.5-15
United States Steel Corporation (X)	0.00	37.5-39.5	35-36
Wix.com (WIX)	302.53	58-62	52-55

Current Market Outlook


Just a few days ago, the intermediate-term trend was looking iffy, but the past few days have shown very encouraging action—every major index has tagged new high ground, and we’re seeing more and more stocks react well to earnings and follow through to the upside afterwards. There are still a couple of yellow lights from some secondary measures (short-term sentiment is a bit complacent; small caps continue to lag), so near-term pullbacks wouldn’t be surprising. But there’s no question the trend of the market and most stocks is up, with many areas resuming their post-election advances. We’ll nudge up our Market Monitor to a level 8 (out of 10) to reflect the improved evidence.

This week’s list has a bunch of stocks that are showing excellent power in recent weeks; many have just gotten going after long sideways phases. Our Top Pick is Lumentum (LITE), a mid-sized player in the optical networking field that’s exploded out of a four-month base. Try to buy on dips.

Stock Name	Price	Buy Range	Loss Limit
Box Inc. (BOX)	0.00	16.7-17.7	15-15.7
CDW Corporation (CDW)	0.00	55.5-58	51-52.5
Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF)	0.00	11-12	9.7-10.3
Lam Research (LRCX)	268.47	112-116	106-108
Louisiana-Pacific (LPX)	0.00	21.5-22.5	20-20.5
Lumentum (LITE)	87.00	45-48	41-43
Medicines Company (MDCO)	56.98	46-49	42-43.5
Morgan Stanley (MS)	0.00	44-46	41.5-42.5
Sanmina (SANM)	0.00	38-40	35-36
Weibo (WB)	98.16	51-54	48-49

Hello from sunny Florida!

I am on vacation with my family this week, taking a much-needed break from the harsh, snowy Vermont winter (and narrowly making it down here ahead of the latest blizzard to dump another foot or two of snow on the Northeast). But with so much going on in the market – tariffs rejected! GDP growth slowing! AI panic! – I wanted to provide an update on everything that’s going on with our stocks.

It’s the same basic market story as it has been for the last four months. Technology is floundering while other sectors are killing it. But a couple of events occurring this week could potentially change the dynamic.

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%.

Sell: Corning (GLW), Ensco (ESV) and Matthews International (MATW).

Our LogMeIn (LOGM) position is now up 45%, and I’m recommending selling a portion of your stock to lock in the gain.

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.