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%.

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%.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

There’s little doubt the market’s evidence has worsened of late, with our Cabot Tides and Two-Second Indicator re-joining the Cabot Trend Lines on the bearish side of the fence; thankfully, we went slow on the buy side in July and early August, and today, stand with about 65% in cash. But we’re also not completely in the storm cellar, as we still see signs the market could be in a bottoming effort (and in-between phase between bear and bull), so we’re happy to hold onto some resilient stocks and aim to nibble on potential leaders if the market can find its footing.


In tonight’s issue, we dive further into our thoughts on the market, but spend most of the time writing about future leaders, including a few from one sector that’s clearly in pole position to do well if the bulls can step up to the plate

There’s no doubting the dominance achieved by mega-tech companies like Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, Google and the other members of the “FANGMAN” club (Microsoft, Apple and Nvidia). Over the past decade or two, these have created entirely new industries, grown to unprecedented size and rewarded shareholders with vast profits. And, like all of the technology companies that preceded them, they have reached their peak potential.

Over the past couple of weeks, the market has been flat despite a lot of news flow. There are rumors that the Biden administration may try to push through a tax hike on high earners and separately propose a massive infrastructure bill. Meanwhile, another round of stimulus checks are being mailed out and perhaps that will provide support for stocks. What impact will all this news have on our stocks? It’s hard to say.

The bull market in our turnaround stocks continues to drive several names to prices above our targets.

Remain cautious. The market has thrashed around in recent days, which hasn’t changed the overall outlook—most of the market remains in decent shape, but growth stocks and the Nasdaq are mired in a correction and there’s still a chance we see another leg down. That doesn’t mean we couldn’t on something here or there for the most part we think it’s best to stay close to shore until the sellers finish their work.

Neither the broad market nor the S&P 600 Small Cap index have done much over the last week. But both received a small boost yesterday after the Fed upgraded its 2021 growth outlook and said it didn’t expect to raise rates until 2024.

Being a contrarian investor often means buying stocks that are outside of the current zeitgeist. Many investors would look at a list of new buys in a contrarian’s portfolio and wonder just what, exactly, the contrarian was thinking. “Why don’t you just buy these stocks that are working” is a common thought which is also frequently shared in such examinations.

What a difference a week makes. It’s been a reversal of fortunes. Technology stocks are soaring and energy stocks are pulling back.

After a little volatility in the past couple of weeks, most of our recommendations are at or close to all-time highs. The S&P 500 is back to all-time highs. The NASDAQ Index, after pulling back ~11.0%, has rebounded sharply and is up ~8.0% in a little over a week. In times like these, it’s important to make sure we are checking the fundamentals to ensure our recommendations haven’t run ahead of fair value.

So much for the technology selloff. The sector dipped its toe into correction territory and has roared back with a vengeance.

The bull market in our turnaround stocks has pushed more names above their price targets. Many (most) of these companies continue to see their fundamentals improve while their valuations still look attractive enough to keep, so we are raising our price targets on six stocks today.

As promised in yesterday’s Special Bulletin today we’re looking past the big picture stuff to focus on our stocks. With one quick note … we just may have a three-day streak going! Yields have backed off and a lot of stocks from different sectors are clicking. Suffice to say, this is a welcome change for those of us with two feet in the growth stock pool.

In a bit of a reversal, tech stocks gyrated and industrial stocks jumped this past week. In particular, energy and financial stocks led the way as the Dow closed above 32,000 for the first time. Tech company stalwarts rebounded a bit yesterday but have been stung by the sharp pullback.

A move to invest more than expected in its non-capital investment, created an earnings miss for this building products and equipment company, but it looks like the investment will pay off as six analysts have just increased their earnings forecast for the company.

Sprout Social (SPT) reported Q4 results yesterday that surpassed expectations. Revenue was up 32.6% to $37.3 million (beating by $1.4 million) while adjusted EPS of -$0.06 beat by $0.05. Guidance for 2021 looks solid with management calling for 2021 revenue of $172.5 million (up 30%), modestly ahead of estimates for $170 million.

Upwork (UPWK) reported Q4 results yesterday that surpassed expectations on the top and bottom lines. Revenue was up 32% to $106.2 million (beating by $8.8 million) while adjusted EPS of $0.06 beat by $0.06. Guidance for 2021 also surpassed consensus.

This power solution company beat EPS estimates by $0.14 last quarter and set record annual earnings.

Last week wasn’t great for growth stocks and so far, this week is just plain awful. The primary culprits are known; risk of inflation and higher interest rates have pushed cyclical stocks up and growth stocks down (generally speaking).

The overall market isn’t cracking yet, but growth stocks are beginning to flash lots of abnormal action. With our trend-following indicators still positive, we wouldn’t sell wholesale, especially if you came into this week with some cash (we had 20% in the Model Portfolio).

With the shares continuing to surge past our recently raised 65 price target and now being priced at a premium to even our upgraded valuation metrics

With the shares continuing to surge past our recently raised 65 price target, and now being priced at a premium to even our upgraded valuation metrics

This Canadian telecom company’s shares were recently upgraded by Canaccord Genuity to ‘Buy.” The shares have a current annual dividend yield of 4.75%, paid quarterly.

This preferred stock is issued by a North Carolina bank that is expected to increase earnings by 65.5% next year.

Sell CVX April 1 $95.50 call at $4.30 or better

Everbridge (EVBG) reported Q4 results yesterday that exceeded expectations on both the top and bottom lines and have sent shares soaring over 20% to a new all-time high this morning. Part of the reason is that the stock has been consolidating forever and is one of the few high-growth software stocks that has not traded at a crazy valuation. Today’s move may be the beginning of a reset to a sustained higher valuation (hopefully).

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.