The market has been inundated with bad news lately, but so far, the indexes are holding up relatively well, and we’re pleased to see the selling pressures on the broad market ease. (Our Two-Second Indicator is positive again.) We continue to believe the next major move will be up.

Our contributors found ideas with great potential in just about every sector this month, and our Spotlight Stock is a company that has taken the lead in women’s healthcare, particularly in the diagnostic, surgical and medical-imaging products sectors.

After surging to new highs in late March, today’s recommendation has pulled back quietly but steadily throughout April and my goal is for readers to get on board somewhere near the bottom of the current correction.

Current Market Outlook


There has been a lot of dramatic headlines recently, and we’ve even seen some sharp market moves. But net-net, the market remains where it’s been for the past few weeks—generally stuck in a tight trading range, with some stocks doing well, some faltering and most just biding their time. Long-term, we’re still optimistic that the next major move will be up, based on the still-bullish major trend of the indexes, the lack of selling pressure on the broad market and numerous studies that point toward higher prices in the months ahead. Because of that, we’re all for holding your strong performers, and it’s fine to pick up shares of new leaders at good buy points. But it’s best to quickly get rid of losers and hold a little cash until the buyers flex their muscles.

This week’s list has a nice mix of growth stories and turnaround situations. Our Top Pick is FMC Corp. (FMC), an agricultural chemicals firm that soared last week after a game-changing acquisition that should significantly boost earnings.

Stock Name	Price	Buy Range	Loss Limit
Darden Restaurants (DRI)	106.63	81-83	76-77
FMC Corp. (FMC)	0.00	71-75	65-68
iRobot (IRBT)	103.17	64-66	59-61
Louisiana-Pacific (LPX)	0.00	24.5-26	23-23.5
Madison Square Garden (MSG)	298.38	196-202	186-189
Medidata Solutions (MDSO)	0.00	60.5-63	56-58
Melco Resorts (MLCO)	0.00	18.5-20	17-17.5
Micron Technology, Inc. (MU)	43.31	27-28.5	24.5-25
Qorvo (QRVO)	129.47	69-71.5	65-67
Wright Medical (WMGI)	0.00	29-31	26-27

Today’s stock is in the ultra-glamourous lead-acid battery recycling market. If you want to be a part of what could be the next great industrial revolution, this month’s Cabot Small-Cap Confidential candidate should be right up your alley.

This month’s Cabot Value Model contains a diversified list of Buy recommendations, with a focus on high quality companies with proven records of steady sales, earnings and dividend increases.

While the Cabot Emerging Markets Timer continues to flash a green light, there’s no doubt that buyers and sellers are locked in a battle right now, as the MSCI Emerging Markets ETF has been heading sideways for 15 sessions. In response, we’re doing a bit of house-cleaning in the portfolio.

Contributors remain positive on a variety of industries, beginning with our Spotlight Stock, a giant in the telecom sector that is poised to greatly benefit from cutting-edge tech developments like the mass-market adoption of the Internet of Things and the coming 5G rollout.

Today’s featured stocks include Johnson Controls (JCI), Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX); and a new addition to the Growth & Income Portfolio, TiVo (TIVO).

Today’s recommendation is a case in point. After a long three-year waiting period, the stock broke out to new highs yesterday and followed through today. The stock’s name will probably be familiar to you; its story is certainly interesting.

It’s not often that we discuss currencies in the Cabot Turnaround Letter, but given the persistent relative strength of the U.S. dollar right now, I think it’s imperative that we address it—mainly because of how it will likely impact our portfolio holdings going forward.

The top haven asset for the first half of 2026 wasn’t gold, U.S. Treasury bonds or the Japanese yen.

After spending much of the year leading the market higher, small caps have finally run into a little turbulence. Through midday today, the S&P 600 Index is down 1.8% from last Thursday’s close, roughly in line with the S&P 500’s 1.9% decline.

That said, it’s important to keep the recent pullback in perspective. Small caps remain the market’s clear leader in 2026, with the S&P 600 up 20.2% year to date versus an 8.1% gain for the S&P 500.

While flashier, more star-studded teams like Lionel Messi’s Argentina, Kylian Mbappe’s France and Erling Haaland’s Norway garnered most of the headlines at the just-completed World Cup, Spain was the best team. There was nothing flashy about Spain: no mega-stars, not a ton of goals, no relentless attack. Instead, they dominated the tournament with precision passing, immaculate ball control and near-impenetrable (just one goal allowed all tournament!) defense.

High-flying AI-related stocks are facing a high bar of performance. Even what normally would be considered staggering growth is met with a yawn. The backdrop of the Middle East conflict and almost $100 oil is not helpful.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) has outperformed the S&P 500 by 57% this year, even after a sharp correction. This is basically a macro trade, and there are few industries as cyclical, or as capital-intensive, as semiconductor manufacturing.

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.

I’m raising my rating on Cardinal Health (CAH) today to Strong Buy. CAH appears in the Growth & Income Portfolio.

I have three pieces of news about BorgWarner (BWA), maker of engineered automotive systems for power train applications.

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.