The market had a nice setup two weeks ago, the action since then has been nothing short of fantastic, with the major indexes going vertical and, even better, many growth stocks ripping to new highs. We’ve put a chunk of money to work, both with new buys and then quickly averaging up, and are likely to continue adding fresh leaders in the not too distant future. Open up for all our latest thoughts on the market and new leadership.

In the April issue of Cabot Early Opportunities, I feature three stocks spanning different stages of maturity — from a transformative communications company entering a pivotal deployment phase, to a fast-scaling AI infrastructure provider still working through investor skepticism, to a more established cloud platform benefiting from renewed momentum.

What ties them together is timing: All three appear to be transitioning from “prove it” stories into execution-driven narratives that investors can view with increasing confidence.

All the details are inside this month’s Issue.

A fragile two-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran — announced barely an hour before President Trump’s self-imposed deadline to “obliterate” Tehran — transformed what looked like another brutal week for Wall Street into one of the best rallies of the year last week. Oil plunged, fear evaporated (in the short term), and the indexes snapped a five-week losing streak in dramatic fashion.

The ceasefire agreement last Tuesday was met with all sorts of skepticism—but even so, the market’s action has been very solid despite the uncertainties. Of course, there are also more than a few flies still in the ointment, so now it’s a matter of seeing upside follow-through from here. We have our Market Monitor at a level 5 but could ratchet that up quick if more stocks and indexes perk up.

This week’s list has something for everyone, including some hot growth stocks as well as some turnarounds and commodity plays. Our Top Pick has its hands in both the aerospace and AI cookie jars, resulting in a great earnings outlook—and the stock was one of the first to leap to new highs last week.

Stocks continue to get well in April, posting their best results all year this past week. Is the rally as temporary as the two-week ceasefire that sparked it? We’ll probably know by the end of this week. In the meantime, earnings season gets underway, with analysts forecasting a sixth straight quarter of double-digit earnings growth, which could serve as a floor for stocks should the news out of Iran turn blue again. For now, though, stocks are in a better spot, and we try to capitalize on the improved vibes today by adding a growth-y name courtesy of Cabot Early Opportunities Chief Analyst Tyler Laundon.

Details inside.

A fragile two-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran — announced barely an hour before President Trump’s self-imposed deadline to “obliterate” Tehran — transformed what looked like another brutal week for Wall Street into one of the best rallies of the year. Oil plunged, fear evaporated (in the short term), and the indexes snapped a five-week losing streak in dramatic fashion.

A fragile two-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran — announced barely an hour before President Trump’s self-imposed deadline to “obliterate” Tehran — transformed what looked like another brutal week for Wall Street into one of the best rallies of the year. Oil plunged, fear evaporated (in the short term), and the indexes snapped a five-week losing streak in dramatic fashion.

A fragile two-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran — announced barely an hour before President Trump’s self-imposed deadline to “obliterate” Tehran — transformed what looked like another brutal week for Wall Street into one of the best rallies of the year. Oil plunged, fear evaporated (in the short term), and the indexes snapped a five-week losing streak in dramatic fashion.

As I write this, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures are up more than 1,000 points for today’s trading—due to the two-week ceasefire announced overnight between the U.S. and Iran.

Will it last? Who knows. It’s probably going to take at least a few weeks to determine that.

In the meantime, expect markets to continue their volatility.

Markets responded enthusiastically yesterday to the fragile ceasefire and expectation of reopening the Strait of Hormuz. The price of West Texas crude oil fell by more than 16% to $94 per barrel. Alphabet (GOOG) shares were up 9.4% this past week and Banco Santander (SAN) shares were up 8%.

But the economic fallout from five weeks of conflict closure will be with us for a while.

These are tricky times in the market. Recent events have made the direction of stock prices over the remainder of this year particularly uncertain.

The Iran war and ensuing rise in oil prices have been by far the dominant market force recently. The timeline for the war is hard to predict. But even after the war ends, the high oil prices could persist, driving inflationary pressures higher and cowing the Fed.

In times like this it makes sense to go back to basics. We don’t know the future direction of the economy or interest rates or the next phase of the AI trade. But regardless of what happens with any of those market-driving issues, you can bank on the fact that people will still get sick, and older, and need medications.

At the same time, many healthcare stocks are cheap after a recent selloff. Buying stocks that are both defensive and cheap while also able to thrive in a strong market is a great way to play the uncertainty from the Iran war and beyond.

In this issue I highlight three of the very best healthcare stocks on the market. After a rare selloff, these stocks are at bargain prices usually only seen in turbulent markets.

Markets delivered a strong week last week despite the constant Middle East noise, as a massive Tuesday relief rally and further gains on Wednesday helped the indexes finally break their recent downtrend.

Net/net for the shortened four-day week, the S&P 500 advanced 3.4%, the Dow Jones rose nearly 3%, and the Nasdaq outperformed with a gain of 4.4% while the Russell 2000 added 1.2%.

Markets have remained strong, with the Nasdaq up 11 days in a row and on track for its third consecutive up week. The S&P 500 is also on track to post gains for its third week in a row, and it looks like the S&P 600 SmallCap Index will post its fourth consecutive weekly gain.

Markets have proved to be resilient in making a comeback despite the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. The churning of sectors earlier this year has led to some bargains and momentum in stocks, from semiconductors to minerals and mining. This is paired with consumer and energy prices climbing steeply. Recent big bank earnings have been solid and volatile markets are good news to bank trading desks.

All of a sudden, stocks are trading at new all-time highs!

How did it happen? Hopes of an end to the war in Iran, first and foremost, as the ceasefire announcement 10 days ago sparked a rally that’s still going, with the S&P 500 now up 10 of the last 11 trading days, gaining nearly 10% during that time. Prior to Wednesday, that was the best 10-day trading stretch since the market came off the Covid lows in March 2020.

What a turnaround! We may not be out of the woods yet, but investors are moving beyond the Iran war.

Optimism about the end of Middle East hostilities is palpable as the market has already made up all losses from a rough March. The S&P 500 had fallen 7.7% in the month of March at its lows on the 30^th. Since then, the index has rallied 9.7%. As of midday on Tuesday, the S&P is back above where it was when the war began and within less than 1% of the all-time high.

The bad news is that tensions in the Middle East are escalating. The good news is that the market doesn’t seem to care.

Peace talks with Iran collapsed over the weekend. The U.S. has moved into the Strait of Hormuz and is blockading Iran. Iran has vowed attacks on Gulf region oil interests in response. The price per barrel of oil has shot up over $100 again after pulling back last week. As of midday on Monday, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are higher for the day. Go figure.

With all that’s going on in the world today, it’s quite remarkable—at first glance—that stocks have held up against the headwinds as well as they have. But when considering the market still enjoys massive support from the historic high in defense spending and the ongoing AI buildout, it’s actually not that surprising.

This brings us to what I think is a pertinent review of some of the key trends we’ve focused on in the newsletter for 2026.

WHAT TO DO NOW: The market’s rally of the past two days (and the week before that) is encouraging, and some signs (like our Aggression Index) are looking good. That said, most of the evidence out there is still neutral (like our Cabot Tides) or negative (like most everything else). Given our huge cash hoard, we’re adding two half positions tonight—Marvell Tech (MRVL) and Dell Tech (DELL)—and restoring a Buy a Half rating on Corning (GLW). But we’ll still keep around two-thirds of the portfolio in cash and look for further green lights to extend our line in the days ahead.

Markets have shifted back toward a risk-on stance over the past week following news of a two-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran. This “de-escalation trade” was fueled by short covering and the removal of macro hedges as investors pivoted back toward the domestic growth narrative. As a result, attention has begun to drift away from the unrelenting geopolitical uncertainty that sidelined all but the most risk-tolerant investors in March, and back toward earnings growth and a still-solid U.S. economy.

Wars are never good for the stock market. But ceasefires evidently are, at least in the short term.

That’s why stocks had their best day all year on Wednesday, hours after President Trump announced a two-week ceasefire, raising hopes that the Strait of Hormuz would soon reopen. All three major U.S. market indexes were up more than 2% yesterday, while oil prices tumbled back to the low $90s and the VIX dipped as low as 20, after touching the low 30s last week. Value stocks had a good day too, continuing a pattern of outperformance – they’ve fallen less than 3% since the Iran war began, and are up 5% year to date.

Market activity in the second half of March and early April has been entirely dominated by the escalating conflict with Iran and the uncertainty radiating outward from it. Volatility has spiked, investors have reacted by taking risk off the table, and the odds of bad things – recessions, energy shocks, rate hikes, etc. – have gone up.

Not surprisingly, sudden macro shocks tend to wreak havoc on the stock market in the short term. But they also create opportunities in companies where the underlying catalysts – new products, capacity expansions, commercialization cycles or structural industry shifts, etc. – are still unfolding.

Despite the big shake-up at the top of the Department of Justice, the catalyst of cannabis rescheduling is likely still on track. It may happen fairly soon.

The backdrop here is that cannabis reform slow-walker Pam Bondi is out as attorney general (AG). Near term, she is being replaced by her former underling, Todd Blanche.

Things are looking up. Investors sense an imminent end to this war. We may not be out of the woods yet. Hostilities may continue for a while longer. But there is increasing optimism among investors that the war will end soon.

The S&P 500 pulled back 7.7% in the first 30 days of March. The index has gained back 3.8% in the three trading days since, not including Monday. And that’s from just a whiff of hope for peace in the weeks ahead. With an actual end to the conflict, stocks could gain back all the March losses and more in a short period of time.

Sell Atmus Filtration (ATMU); Advanced Energy Industries (AEIS) Moves to Hold

WHAT TO DO NOW: Do some more buying. The evidence has continued to improve, with our Cabot Tides now positive, joining the Aggression Index last week. Of course, this is still a news-driven environment and with many names extended to the upside, there’s risk of an upcoming wobble. But we always go with the evidence, and with more green lights, we’re going to add to our stakes in three names we already own, buying 3% additional stakes in Marvell (MRVL), Dell (DELL) and Macom Tech (MTSI). That will leave us with around 56% in cash, though we’ll likely put more money to work soon if the bulls remain in control.

IDEAYA Biosciences (IDYA) Delivers Landmark Phase 3 Data

WHAT TO DO NOW: The market tried to stabilize earlier this week, but today’s action is ugly and is hitting many areas; our Cabot Tides have turned down, joining most growth stock measures. The Model Portfolio is already nearly two-thirds in cash, but today we’ll add to that, cutting loose Axsome Therapeutics (AXSM), which is following through to the downside after its post-earnings dip. That will leave us with a high-60% cash position; we’ll have more details (and possibly more changes) in tonight’s update.

Allient (ALNT) Delivers in Q4

Time to Lighten Up

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 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.