Issues
The long-awaited correction has begun, and it’s been a doozy, driving the major indexes and many stocks dramatically lower; our Cabot Tides turned negative on Monday, and despite coming into the week with 17% in cash, we’ve been paring back quickly, selling all of Inphi and taking partial profits in both Vertex and Sea Ltd, leaving us with 36% in cash. And going forward, we have a few names on tight leashes should the selling continue.
That said, it’s not all doom and gloom; our Cabot Trend Lines are still positive, and many leading stocks, while dented, are hanging in there (including some we own). The odds favor this correction needing more time to finish up, but the odds also favor the overall bull market still being intact.
In tonight’s issue, we dive into all of our stocks, highlight a few we’re watching, and talk about one sector that, despite this week’s maelstrom, seems to be in position to thrive during the market’s next sustained upmove.
That said, it’s not all doom and gloom; our Cabot Trend Lines are still positive, and many leading stocks, while dented, are hanging in there (including some we own). The odds favor this correction needing more time to finish up, but the odds also favor the overall bull market still being intact.
In tonight’s issue, we dive into all of our stocks, highlight a few we’re watching, and talk about one sector that, despite this week’s maelstrom, seems to be in position to thrive during the market’s next sustained upmove.
We’re now presented with an interesting situation. The broad market, which hit record highs just last week, is now sick, thanks to investors’ perception that the coronavirus will negatively affect global trade. But the marijuana sector, which has been in a correction for more than two years, has many stocks that have been building bottoms.
No one knows how this will shake out in the short term, though clearly, the long-term potential of the marijuana sector remains intact.
Nevertheless, by observing the action of individual stocks and following time-tested procedures, we will come through this in fine shape. Today’s issue includes a few partial sells as well as a handful of downgrades while we wait for the dust to settle.
Full details in the issue.
No one knows how this will shake out in the short term, though clearly, the long-term potential of the marijuana sector remains intact.
Nevertheless, by observing the action of individual stocks and following time-tested procedures, we will come through this in fine shape. Today’s issue includes a few partial sells as well as a handful of downgrades while we wait for the dust to settle.
Full details in the issue.
Real estate stocks are on fire right now, thanks largely to plunging mortgage rates and record lows in housing inventories for sale.
The market needed a correction and now we have one, or at least the start of one. And the kickoff has been powerful enough to turn our short-term timing indicator negative, which means it’s time to turn a bit defensive, raising cash and leaning toward lower-risk investments. Thus, we sell two more stocks today and downgrade two to hold.As for the new recommendation, it’s a slow and steady telecom company that not only pays a good dividend but also is poised to benefit from the rollout of 5G technology.Full details in the issue.
Coronavirus fears re-emerged in a big way over the weekend, causing today’s across-the-board selloff. As we look at the evidence, here’s what we see: The intermediate-term uptrend has been cracked, especially when you look at the broader major indexes, and given that this selling comes after a big run and more than a few yellow flags during the past month, it’s likely we’re in a correction that will take some time to play out. That said, it’s also very unlikely that this is the end of the overall bull market, as the longer-term trends and stance of the indexes and most leading stocks are positive; heck, many stocks look just fine (so far) on their charts. Put it together, and we think it’s time to play a little defense and build up some cash by cutting losers and laggards, though we’re also aiming to hold most of our resilient, profitable performers, giving them a chance to hold up and get going.
Encouragingly, this week’s list has a bunch of decent-looking growth-oriented names to consider. Our Top Pick is Zoom Video Communications (ZM), which has not only a very strong chart but also a growth story that appears to benefit from the spread of the coronavirus.
Encouragingly, this week’s list has a bunch of decent-looking growth-oriented names to consider. Our Top Pick is Zoom Video Communications (ZM), which has not only a very strong chart but also a growth story that appears to benefit from the spread of the coronavirus.
| Stock Name | Price | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) | 82.24 | ||
| Carvana (CVNA) | 82.90 | ||
| Domino’s Pizza (DPZ) | 339.47 | ||
| Floor & Décor (FND) | 68.03 | ||
| HealthEquity, Inc. (HQY) | 70.70 | ||
| MercadoLibre, Inc. (MELI) | 980.83 | ||
| SiteOne Landscape Supply (SITE) | 98.49 | ||
| SolarEdge Technologies Inc. (SEDG) | 124.37 | ||
| Zillow (Z) | 76.64 | ||
| Zoom Communications (ZM) | 155.83 |
You might not think that flowers are a global business but American Airlines moved 417 tons of flowers from the Netherlands to America for Valentine’s Day.
The Cabot Global Stocks Explorer portfolio is led by our rocketing Virgin Galactic (SPCE), which has zoomed from 11 to 37 in a wink of the eye. Meanwhile, Sea Limited (SE) and Luckin Coffee (LK) were both up 10% this past week even as our emerging markets timer (EEM) moved to neutral.
Concerns over the impact of coronavirus are deepening as Apple announced revenue will be below expectations. In this issue, we’ll address these concerns, as well as why and how to hedge them, plus I’m putting a European 5G player on my watch list.
The Cabot Global Stocks Explorer portfolio is led by our rocketing Virgin Galactic (SPCE), which has zoomed from 11 to 37 in a wink of the eye. Meanwhile, Sea Limited (SE) and Luckin Coffee (LK) were both up 10% this past week even as our emerging markets timer (EEM) moved to neutral.
Concerns over the impact of coronavirus are deepening as Apple announced revenue will be below expectations. In this issue, we’ll address these concerns, as well as why and how to hedge them, plus I’m putting a European 5G player on my watch list.
I just returned from the Orlando Money Show, where I had an opportunity to see and speak with several of our contributors. The mood was festive, and the advisors were optimistic. And why not? The markets continue to outperform, as we navigate through the nasty election season. Both investors and advisors continue to be very bullish, as you can see from our Advisor Sentiment Barometer, as well as our Market Views.
The economy is very strong, with a healthy housing market, steady employment, and good retail sales. We’ve yet to see if the coronavirus outbreak will have any major and long-lasting effects on the global economy.
But for now, the investment opportunities are plentiful. Read the Issue for more details.
The economy is very strong, with a healthy housing market, steady employment, and good retail sales. We’ve yet to see if the coronavirus outbreak will have any major and long-lasting effects on the global economy.
But for now, the investment opportunities are plentiful. Read the Issue for more details.
I just returned from the Orlando Money Show, where I had an opportunity to see and speak with several of our contributors. The mood was festive, and the advisors were optimistic. And why not? The markets continue to outperform, as we navigate through the nasty election season. Both investors and advisors continue to be very bullish, as you can see from our Advisor Sentiment Barometer, as well as our Market Views.
The economy is very strong, with a healthy housing market, steady employment, and good retail sales. We’ve yet to see if the coronavirus outbreak will have any major and long-lasting effects on the global economy.
But for now, the investment opportunities are plentiful. Read the Issue for more details.
The economy is very strong, with a healthy housing market, steady employment, and good retail sales. We’ve yet to see if the coronavirus outbreak will have any major and long-lasting effects on the global economy.
But for now, the investment opportunities are plentiful. Read the Issue for more details.
In this Month’s Issue of Cabot Early Opportunities I discuss one simple way to measure how much a given stock will move relative to the market. I also feature five stocks, from quite small to larger than we normally go. All have something different going for them. We are tilted toward software names this month, though I round things out with another solar name and an emerging biotech opportunity.
Updates
The Cabot Emerging Markets Timer has edged its way up to a new buy signal. While we want to be cautious until we get confirmation of this uptrend, we will increase our exposure slightly. We will fill our position in TAL Education, changing its rating from Hold a Half to Buy.
Our portfolio is hunkered down in a pretty conservative stance and we’re selling the rest of our Novo Nordisk (NVO) position today and moving our PowerShares Preferred ETF (PGX) to Hold. We have no other rating changes today.
Global stock, bond, oil and gold markets continue to bounce around as investors look for trends that signal a re-entry into stocks. Today, I’d like to review facts vs. fiction, in order to give us a little more peace as we live through the stock market correction.
This week we had three of our stocks report, and we become incrementally more defensive. Two stocks are moved to Sell. Two more are moved to Hold.
The market is retesting its January 20 lows this week, and some minor positive divergences could lead to another short-term bounce attempt. But the market’s major trends remain down, and our three key market-timing indicators are all bearish. Thus, you should remain mostly on the sideline as we patiently wait for a new bull move to develop. In the Model Portfolio, we sold Amazon (AMZN) on a special hotline Monday morning, leaving us with just two stocks and a cash position near 80%.
Today I’m putting CVS Health (CVS) and Home Depot (HD) on Hold because of the broad market, taking profits in half of our Costco (COST) position and selling half of Novo Nordisk (NVO) with plans to unload the rest in the coming days.
In recent days, several portfolio companies reported quarterly and/or full-year 2015 results. General Motors (GM), Robert Half (RHI), Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL) and Vulcan Materials (VMC) all surpassed market earnings per share (EPS) expectations.
The Cabot Emerging Markets Timer remains negative, counseling us to stay defensive. We have two changes in the portfolio today; Baidu (BIDU) is changed from Hold a Half to Sell and Sinovac Biotech (SVA) is shifted from Watch to Drop.
We have one portfolio change today: I’m selling half of Nordic American Tankers (NAT) from the High Yield tier based on the stock’s lousy technical action. But there are still plenty of strong performers in our portfolio, including our newest buys, Mattel (MAT) and CVS Health (CVS). Read on for details on recent earnings reports and more.
Yesterday, Johnson Controls (JCI) reported an agreement to purchase Tyco International (TYC). We had strong earnings reports from three portfolio stocks last week: Delta Air Lines (DAL), D.R. Horton (DHI) and E*Trade Financial (ETFC), and many more portfolio companies will report earnings this week. Today, I’m upgrading Chemtura (CHMT) to a Buy rating.
The chart of the S&P 500 is showing us that the index may be finishing a double-bounce pattern; bouncing at the same low of approximately 1,880 where it touched down twice during the late summer 2015 market correction.
Today, I’m changing the rating on many Smart Investing stocks to Hold. These rating changes are only about share price. Other than Axiall, none of these stocks are experiencing earnings downgrades or corporate troubles. They are all undervalued growth stocks.
Alerts
Bank of America (BAC) reported a big second-quarter earnings beat this morning.
Our second recommendation is some profit-taking.
Our first idea is a healthcare company that beat analysts’ estimates by $0.02 last quarter.
This low-cost optical component maker beat analysts’ earnings by $0.04 last quarter and is forecast to grow 44.4% this year.
Our second update is an online automobile services company that beat analysts’ EPS estimates by $0.08 last quarter.
Our first Top Pick update is a Chinese cloud company whose shares were recently initiated at Guggenheim with a ‘Buy’ rating.
Our new Top Pick makes cutting-edge medical devices to prevent surgical burns.
Our first Top Pick beat analysts’ estimates by $0.02 last quarter, and Wall Street expects the company to grow at a rate of 112.5% next year.
Analysts expect this health care technology company to grow by more than 12% next year.
This infrastructure construction company beat Wall Street’s estimates by $0.14 last quarter, and analysts expect the company to grow by 15.71% annually over the next five years.
This bank’s shares have recently been upgraded by Wedbush, to ‘Outperform’ and by PiperJaffray to ‘Overweight’.
The shares of this bank holding company were recently upgraded to ‘Buy’ by Compass Point.
Portfolios
Strategy
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 Momentum 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 Momentum Trader features.