Artificial intelligence is a massive catalyst that is changing the market. It is spreading beyond technology and transforming other industries.

Utilities are companies that provide water, energy, and electricity to homes and businesses. They operate monopolies or near monopolies in their areas and the rates they charge are usually determined by regulatory bodies.

They usually pay strong dividend yields and provide highly defensive earnings that continue in any kind of economy. But, aside from the dividend and defensive characteristics, they’ve typically offered little else. Good stocks tend to outperform the indexes in flat or down markets and underperform them in bull markets. They are the market sector that most closely resembles bonds.

But skyrocketing electricity demand, mostly from data centers supporting AI, is changing that sector for the better. The phenomenon is making electric utilities growth businesses as well. The changing environment is adding another hugely positive dimension to these underrated stocks.

In this issue, I identify a beneficiary of that positive change that’s ahead of the pack. It’s an opportunity that has never existed before in modern times. The combination of defense and growth is the best of both worlds.

Led higher by major tech stocks (and especially AAPL), the Nasdaq gained nearly 4% last week, closing at a new record high. Less impressive were the other leading indexes, though their gains were very positive as well, as the S&P 500 added 2.4%, while the Dow rallied 1.3%.

The big-cap indexes remain in an uptrend, but it’s still a tricky and narrow environment, with just about every other index making no progress (net-net) for the past few weeks while they test their key 50-day moving averages. That means the intermediate-term trend is on the fence, which is obviously something that bears watching. On the positive side of the ledger, though, we’re still encouraged by what we’re seeing during earnings season, with many signs of strength from growth-y titles. All in all, we’re sticking with the stance we’ve been in—our Market Monitor remains at a level 7.

This week’s list has something for everyone, with strength seen in a variety of sectors. Our Top Pick just broke out of a beautiful launching pad after earnings, with some others in the general group also doing well.

The major indexes continue to march higher, but trouble is brewing under the surface. That’s been reflected by the number of earnings blowups of late, including in many stocks of companies that beat estimates. Our portfolio was not immune to that phenomenon last week, and as a result, we’re doing some late-summer housecleaning this week, selling four positions that have been lagging and got worse after reporting earnings. Meanwhile, with technology stocks becoming a bit overcooked, today we add to our portfolio a manufacturing name that makes essential real-world products that are always in high demand. It’s a stock whose shares have been building momentum – enough to attract the attention of Cabot Top Ten Trader Chief Analyst Mike Cintolo.

Details inside.

Led higher by major tech stocks (and especially AAPL) the Nasdaq gained nearly 4% last week, closing at a new record high. Less impressive were the other leading indexes, though their gains were very positive as well as the S&P 500 added 2.4%, while the Dow rallied 1.3%.

Led higher by major tech stocks (and especially AAPL) the Nasdaq gained nearly 4% last week, closing at a new record high. Less impressive were the other leading indexes, though their gains were very positive as well as the S&P 500 added 2.4%, while the Dow rallied 1.3%.

The big-cap indexes remain generally resilient, but under the hood, the market continues to thin out, with fewer names participating in the rally. To be fair, we are seeing more growth titles either emerge or set up nicely after earnings, and of course, the market’s big-picture outlook remains favorable. But we’re comfortable staying relatively close to shore for now as the broad market decides which way to go. We’ve made a flurry of moves in the past couple of weeks and have one small buy today, but we’re holding a good chunk of cash as we look to see if growth stocks can get moving en masse.

Today’s addition is one of the world’s best engineering and construction firms in the highly specialized natural gas-fired power plant industry.

It’s a highly leveraged play on increasing U.S. energy loads and the expected, multi-year gas power plant buildout. If you want exposure to a picks and shovels play on AI, EVs and other electrification trends, this one is for you.

Enjoy!

A sizzling summer for stocks has delivered some strong returns for investors, though not all sectors have enjoyed the ride. In fact, seven of the 11 S&P 500 sectors have underperformed the benchmark index’s 8% return so far this year. As a result, there’s plenty of value still out there. So today, we set our sights on of those underperforming sectors: consumer staples. While the sector hasn’t trailed the market as much as a few others, we’ve found a usually steady, reliable stock that just touched five-year lows despite reporting record sales. The company dates back to the 1800s, and is a brand everyone knows – and has likely been in your house, your parents’ house, your grandparents’ house and your great-grandparents’ house. And now it’s on sale.

Details inside.

Despite big earnings from leading tech stocks, the good times came to an end last week for the market as the leading indexes fell all five days. For the week, the S&P 500 lost 2.4%, the Dow declined by 1.2%, and the Nasdaq dropped 2.2% … though the indexes bounced back nicely on Monday.

The big-picture market outlook remains very bullish in our view, but there’s no question we’re seeing more potholes, with more stocks and sectors chopping sideways in recent weeks—and then, last week, we saw sellers step up. Of course, today’s bounce was encouraging, but the odds of a volatile rest period are growing given the prior extended run. Right here, we’ll leave our Market Monitor at a level 7, though we’re mostly taking things on a stock-by-stock basis.

The best news from the last week came from earnings season, where there were a large number of positive earnings reactions among names with solid stories and numbers. Our Top Pick is a well-run company, and now growth is strong as AI demand ramps.

For a second straight year, an eye-poppingly bad July jobs report sent stocks tumbling. Last year, the selling lasted a few weeks, taking the S&P 500 down 8% and the Nasdaq down more than 13%. Is a similar correction in store this time around? This week will likely give us the answer. So far, however, it’s just one bad day, so we’ll keep our foot on the gas pedal by adding a high-growth semiconductor stock that is starting to show signs of life after a rough start to the year. It’s a new recommendation from Cabot Explorer Chief Analyst Carl Delfeld.

Details inside.

As the United States and China reached a 90-day trade conflict ceasefire, markets have responded positively though the deal is not binding and lacks much detail. The S&P 500 edged into positive territory for 2025. A number of Explorer stocks are having very good years.

Stocks are back in business!

Yes, a little more than a month after some of the worst investor sentiment readings in years, soaring volatility, and a 19% decline in the S&P 500 – not to mention both the Nasdaq and the Russell 2000 swinging to bear market territory – stocks are suddenly on a roll, recession fears are abating, and, perhaps most importantly, tariff deals have been struck. The 90-day pause on most reciprocal tariffs initiated by President Trump on April 9 – one week after the deeply unpopular “Liberation Day” was announced – triggered one of the biggest one-day rallies in stock market history. Indexes flirted with their early-April lows two weeks later but eventually stabilized, and May has brought a wave of positive tariff news – first, a deal with the United Kingdom, in which key imports like cars were reduced to 10% and steel and aluminum tariffs were eliminated; then, last weekend came a 90-day truce with China. That sent stocks soaring more than 3% on Monday, and they haven’t looked back.

It’s cannabis company earnings season once again. Below, I summarize the highlights from our portfolio companies. But first, here are the major sector trends that emerged from the calls.

The market is booming. The worst appears to be over, and sustained upside from here is entirely possible.

The S&P 500 closed on Friday up about 17% over the last month. The index also moved to within 8% of the all-time high. And that was before the huge rally on Monday.

The Trump administration announced huge progress with China in trade talks over the weekend. The two sides reportedly agreed to a 90-day pause on tariffs, with duties set to drop 115% on both sides by Wednesday. President Trump and the Chinese president are likely to talk in the coming days. This follows the announcement of a comprehensive deal with the U.K. last week.

In today’s note, we discuss pertinent developments for some of the stocks in the portfolio, including Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B), Intel (INTC), Pan American Silver (PAAS), Sirius XM Holdings (SIRI) and SLB Ltd. (SLB).

Consensus assumptions for the energy sector this year are mostly bearish, but several factors argue in favor of a contrarian bullish view.

WHAT TO DO NOW: From a top-down perspective, there’s plenty of good news from the secondary evidence and our Cabot Tides is very likely to turn positive tomorrow, which is another good sign. That said, individual stocks remain very tricky, with lots of selling on strength and poor earnings reactions among names we own or have been watching—that’s not a reason to be bearish, but we advise going slow until we see more real breakouts. In the Model Portfolio tonight, we’re jettisoning our small stake in Argenx (ARGX), which has fallen apart this week pre- and post-earnings, but we’ll add two new half-sized positions: Halozyme (HALO) and GE Aerospace (GE). That will leave us with around 70% in cash—we’d like to put more cash to work but will wait for names to emerge instead of forcing the issue.

Despite the Federal Reserve’s decision to sit tight on interest rates yesterday and rising concerns about upside inflation risk in the mid-term, the broad market continues to act well on hopes of tariff de-escalation.

So far, those hopes are well-founded.

Warren Buffett isn’t concerned about the market’s slow start this year. “What’s happened in the last 30, 45 days is really nothing,” the Oracle of Omaha said at Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder meeting last weekend. In the grand scheme of market history, he’s right.

The market just had a big leg higher. Last Friday the S&P 500 concluded an epic nine-day run of positive gains, the longest such streak in more than 20 years. The index rose by more than 10% during the streak. What’s going on?

Things are certainly looking up in the market. The S&P 500 had an epic nine-day run of positive gains, the longest such streak in more than twenty years. The index rose over 10% during the streak. What’s going on?

The rally began after President Trump indicated a de-escalation of the trade war with China. There are ongoing negotiations with the other trading partners during the 90-day pause initiated on April 9^th. A perception is building that the worst of the tariff uncertainty is behind. Stocks also got a boost from earnings and economic news.

In today’s note, we discuss pertinent developments for some of the stocks in the portfolio, including Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM), Berkshire Hathaway (BRKB), Intel (INTC), Kenvue (KVUE), Pan American Silver (PAAS) and SLB Ltd. (SLB).

The S&P 500 and other major indexes finished up yesterday after slightly negative first-quarter economic growth. Not much movement in Explorer stocks this week except Sea Limited (SE), up 11%.

Chinese exports have recently plunged as the psychology of tariffs takes a toll. China relied on exports for about a third of its economic growth last year.

WHAT TO DO NOW: The market has rallied nicely in the past week, which has improved the evidence—though for both our indicators and leading stocks, it’s been good but not necessarily decisive just yet. Even so, we’ve been sitting on a big cash hoard for a few weeks and we’ll start to come off that today, buying half-sized (5% of the portfolio) positions in Marvell Tech (MRVL) and Reddit (RDDT) while also restoring our Buy rating on Shift4 (FOUR). Our cash position will now be around 48%—more details in tonight’s issue of Growth Investor.

FTAI & GEV Updates

Today, a whopping eight Profit Booster positions will expire. Most are “slam-dunk,” full-profit trades, while others will go down to the wire.

The big takeaway, before we dive in, is we are going to let the situation play itself out, and come Monday/Tuesday of next week we will revisit our profits, as well as how we will manage the remaining positions.

FTAI Aviation (FTAI) Short Report

WHAT TO DO NOW: The market is again mixed today, with the major indexes holding their own—but the under-the-surface action remains very hit-and-miss among growth stocks. Today’s bulletin concerns Palantir (PLTR), which has been churning for many weeks and is now starting to slip. It’s not a death knell, but we’re going to trim here, selling one-third of our remaining shares in the stock.

Enovix (ENVX) Pops After Achieving Milestones

WHAT TO DO NOW: Happily, the year is off to a generally good start, but the situation remains tricky, with the market’s intermediate-term trends neutral-to-negative and with the early January effect (tons of volatility among individual stocks) being seen in many names. Today’s bulletin is regarding Axon Enterprises (AXON), which has been a solid winner for us but has been losing ground for a few weeks and today is cracking support on big volume. We’ll sell our remaining shares, taking the rest of our profit off the table. Details below.

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.