We were having a pretty good month on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, until the trade tariffs issue raised its ugly head again. That consternation has driven the markets back to their month-ago trading levels—after a 1,000 point or so gain. While short-term trading is volatile again, most market insiders remain very bullish, as you’ll see in our Advisor Sentiment Barometer and in our Market View.

Calling market tops is impossible, but leaning against the wind is something you learn after a while, if you pay attention. So today, with many of our stocks once again hitting or near new highs, I’m leaning into the wind by selling one and downgrading another to hold.

As for new buying, today’s recommendation comes straight from Cabot Top Ten Trader. It’s an underappreciated retail stock that surged higher on a great earnings report two weeks ago and has since pulled back to what I think is a great entry point.

Current Market Outlook


We have a few main thoughts when it comes to the market. First, of course, the intermediate-term trend remains up, and most stocks are acting well, thus we continue to advise a bullish stance. Second, though, divergent action is still in evidence, with small caps and growth stocks racing up the charts, while many sectors and indexes (the NYSE Composite is down 1% this year!) are stuck in the mud. And third, we’ve seen a bit of froth emerge, with some IPOs and other growth names going vertical, whether it’s on news or not. Like we said, we remain bullish—it’s hard not to be when the leading indexes (Nasdaq, S&P 600 SmallCap) and stocks are acting well. That said, given some of the froth we see out there, be sure to keep your feet on the ground, looking for decent entry points and taking some partial profits on the way up.

This week’s list is chock-full of rapidly growing companies with super-strong charts. Our Top Pick is Nutanix (NTNX), which blasted off in March and, after months of up-and-down action, looks to be resuming its uptrend here.

Stock Name	Price	Buy Range	Loss Limit
Canada Goose Holdings (GOOS)	46.21	60-64	53-56
Dropbox (DBX)	31.80	39-41	33-34
Etsy (ETSY)	112.97	40-43	35-36.5
Exact Sciences (EXAS)	116.91	65-69	58-61
HealthEquity, Inc. (HQY)	70.70	77-80	70-72
HubSpot (HUBS)	582.89	135-140	123-126
Inogen (INGN)	210.84	182-189	165-170
Nutanix (NTNX)	55.91	61-64	54.5-56.5
RH Inc. (RH)	252.93	148-156	123-130
Twilio (TWLO)	183.39	57-60	50-52

The market continues its good news/bad news behavior, with emerging market stocks as a whole not doing well but Chinese stocks performing strongly. So, while we don’t have a formal Buy signal, we’re taking advantage of Chinese strength to inch a little deeper into the market. Today’s featured stock is another old friend that we’ve made money on before that has broken out of a nice consolidation pattern.

We have a great variety of sectors and companies for your review this month, beginning with our Spotlight Stock, a Real Estate Investment Trust, paying a high yield, that operates in non-urban locales—a pretty rare find, indeed—as most REITs concentrate their holdings in large cities.

Today I’m leaning back toward the low-risk end of the spectrum with a recommendation of a stock that is a potential takeover candidate; I think you’ll like the story.

Current Market Outlook


The major indexes and (to a greater extent) leading stocks hit a pothole late last week, but while we see smatterings of abnormal action here and there, the vast majority of stocks are simply undergoing normal rests after what’s been a solid five weeks. Of course, this week has plenty of events on the schedule, including the Singapore Summit Tuesday and the Fed’s likely interest rate hike (and accompanying statement) on Wednesday, both of which could result in some news-driven moves. But we’re just going with the evidence today; the trends of the market and most stocks are up, so we advise sticking with a bullish stance.

As for this week’s list, it’s interesting in that we see a handful of turnaround-type plays that were left for dead until a few weeks ago. A good example is our Top Pick this week: Twitter (TWTR), which just emerged from its first proper launching pad since coming public.

Stock Name	Price	Buy Range	Loss Limit
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)	82.24	14.2-15.5	12.5-13.2
Coupa Software (COUP)	262.20	57-60	51-53
G-III Apparel (GIII)	45.25	45.5-48.5	41.5-43.5
Kohl’s (KSS)	70.62	74-77.5	67-69.5
Momo Inc. (MOMO)	44.65	49-52	43-45
MongoDB (MDB)	156.56	49-52	43.5-46
Peabody Energy Corporation (BTU)	43.32	44.5-46	40.5-41.5
PTC Therapeutics (PTCT)	0.00	35-37.5	31-32.5
Twitter (TWTR)	40.37	39-41	35.5-36.5
Williams-Sonoma (WSM)	64.96	59-61.5	54.5-56

Wide swaths of the market are still in no man’s land, including a handful of major indexes. But the growth areas of the market are looking great, with individual stocks, the Nasdaq and small-cap indexes hitting new highs.

Bottom line, while the picture isn’t perfect, there’s no question the evidence has improved enough to continue extending our line. In the Model Portfolio, we’re adding one familiar name tonight, bringing our cash position down to 20%, and are looking at more potential buys in the days ahead.

In addition to reviewing all our stocks, in tonight’s issue we also talk a bit about surviving shakeouts, something that has been (and will likely continue to) be key as the bull market progresses.

The market rolls sideways amidst a slew of conflicting forces.

The S&P 500 has bounced around and is at the same level it was in the middle of May. The primary culprit is technology. That sector has been in a funk. The S&P 500 is hard-pressed to generate any lasting traction while this massive sector, accounting for over 40% of the index, flounders.

The market has gone sideways since May. It seems to be deciding what to do.

It’s encouraging that the resumption of hostilities with Iran has not sent the market lower. It’s also positive that oil prices aren’t rising back to the $100 level earlier in the war, although prices have risen. It’s also another earnings season and analysts expect a big one.

With war being one of the most dominant themes of the last four years, it stands to reason that investors should position their portfolios to account for this conspicuous (and unwelcome) trend.

And lest one be tempted to think that the warfare theme will diminish anytime soon, last week’s article by NPR deflates that illusion: It revealed that global military conflicts are at their highest level since WWII.

Price targets are standard practice on Wall Street. But sometimes, they can act as an artificial ceiling.

For example, say Truist sets a price target on an up-and-coming growth stock that’s 25% higher than its current share price. For a growth stock, a 25% return isn’t much. But then again, the stock could be a total flop, which is the natural boom-or-bust tradeoff growth investors must endure in trading off increased risk for massive upside. So, a price target on a growth stock seems almost like an unnecessary cap on a stock that has the potential to go through the roof.

WHAT TO DO NOW: Continue to trim your sails. In the Model Portfolio, we’ve been getting closer and closer to shore as growth funds and indexes are under pressure and AI stocks cascade lower. Tonight we’re going to further trim Marvell (MRVL) given its ugly action, selling a third of what we have left. That will leave the portfolio with a big 58% cash position. We could put some of that to work if growth names find support, but we want to see key growth measures firm up before buying.

After a brief pause last week, small caps are once again leading the pack.

Through Wednesday’s close, the S&P 600 Small Cap Index is up roughly 21% year to date, compared to gains of about 15% for the S&P 400 MidCap Index, 17% for the Nasdaq and 11% for the S&P 500.

Its earnings season again! That’s a good thing. Earnings just might save the day in an otherwise confusing and uncertain market.

The market is causing whiplash. The Iran peace deal changed things. Stocks held back by high oil prices, and the resulting higher inflation and interest rates, reignited as oil prices came back down after the peace deal. But hostilities with Iran have resumed.

The peace deal may be on hold again. But stocks are hanging in there so far.

The ceasefire with Iran is over and hostilities have resumed. That sounds like a bigger bummer than it’s been in the market so far. Falling oil prices enabled previously beleaguered stocks to soar higher again as the prognosis for inflation and interest rates simultaneously improved. But that rally is over if oil prices spike higher again.

It’s no surprise that summer often brings lower market volatility levels as Wall Street heads to the Hamptons and participation rates diminish.

Indeed, what we’re seeing right now has all the classic symptoms of a low-participation environment, with investor sentiment being remarkably muted. This can be seen across a number of sentiment indicators for several different markets, most of which are flashing decisively “neutral” signals.

The divide between value and growth stocks is widening, as the Nasdaq is now more than 5% off its highs after peaking in early June while the Vanguard Value Index ETF (VTV) is hovering near its late-June apex and is up 3% in the last month.

That can flip in an instant, of course, as we saw in April and May. But the bottom line is that value stocks have risen 15% year to date, compared to an 11% gain in the Nasdaq and a 9.5% boost in the S&P 500.

After a very strong run from the March lows, the market appears to be going through an uncomfortable but healthy rotation. Many of the biggest winners from the AI and semiconductor trade have come under pressure, while value stocks, equal-weight indexes and other areas that had lagged earlier in the year have held up much better.

Markets are facing more inflation as the Iran mess gets messier. Concerns over high AI capital spending are a cloud over a resilient market. On the bright side for our portfolio, however, International Business Machines (IBM) shares were up 7.4% this week following last week’s 8.9% gain. Sea Limited (SE) shares leapt 9.6% this week and are up about 20% over the past month. MercadoLibre (MELI) shares are up 11.6% over the last two weeks.

This stock broke down badly last week when financial stocks fell apart.

Our first stock idea is rated ‘Buy’ by Zacks, based on rising earnings estimates and value.

This stock was dropped to Sell, largely because the stock seemed pricey.

We downgraded this stock to Sell.

General Motors (GM) is trading nearly 4% lower today after March auto sales data fell short of estimates.

This resources company beat analysts’ estimates by $0.11 last quarter and five analysts have increased their forecasts for this year.

Three analysts have raised their 2018 earnings forecast for this animal health company. Wall Street expects double-digit growth for the next five years.

There’s no change in our overall market view from yesterday, as our market timing indicators are split, but many growth stocks are acting well.

I review hundreds of stocks on a regular basis for possible inclusion in the Cabot Undervalued Stocks Advisor portfolios. Many companies that didn’t previously make the grade will, at some point, gain a stronger balance sheet or earnings growth prospects. Such is the case with Chipotle, the restaurant chain.

More than three quarters of the analysts following this energy company rate it a ‘Buy’. In the midst of a turnaround, the company looks cheap.

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) rose 22% this morning on reports of successful results of Phase III studies of VX-661, a cystic fibrosis combination treatment.

This tech giant continues to post double-digit growth, and with its unparalleled R&D chops, shows no sign of slowing down.

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.