Issues
Last week saw the softness in leading growth titles spread to most of the market, with most indexes now in intermediate-term downtrends and there’s no question market leadership has taken a hit. That said, the rest of the market isn’t in nearly as bad shape, and what we’re watching closest is how the current bounce phase progresses: Obviously, a strong, big-volume, multi-day bounce in the market and fresher leading names would be encouraging, but right now, we think it’s best to play defense (our Market Monitor now stands at a level 4) but to also remain flexible.
This week’s list has a lot of names that have gone through corrections in recent weeks and months—likely kicking out most weak hands and, in many cases, resetting their uptrends. Our Top Pick is trying to break free from a nine-month rest; given the market, we’d keep it small if you enter and see how the market and breakout attempt go from here.
This week’s list has a lot of names that have gone through corrections in recent weeks and months—likely kicking out most weak hands and, in many cases, resetting their uptrends. Our Top Pick is trying to break free from a nine-month rest; given the market, we’d keep it small if you enter and see how the market and breakout attempt go from here.
The market is in sell-off mode, with the Nasdaq down more than 7% in less than two weeks. But while growth stocks are in the dumps, value stocks are flourishing, up 5% year to date and outperforming growth by one of the wider margins in recent memory. So today, we sell out of a couple growth stocks that aren’t working and beef up our value exposure by adding the newest recommendation from Cabot Turnaround Letter Chief Analyst Clif Droke. It’s a company whose name you likely know, but a stock that was severely out of favor with Wall Street until recently – a perfect turnaround candidate.
Details inside.
Details inside.
For the second straight week growth stocks got hit hard, which weighed on the Nasdaq. Though interestingly as money rotated out of the 2024 leaders, it raced into slow and steady stocks that have been left behind in years past. By week’s end the S&P 500 had lost 1%, the Dow had gained 1%, and the Nasdaq had fallen 3.5%.
For the second straight week growth stocks got hit hard, which weighed on the Nasdaq. Though interestingly as money rotated out of the 2024 leaders, it raced into slow and steady stocks that have been left behind in years past. By week’s end the S&P 500 had lost 1%, the Dow had gained 1%, and the Nasdaq had fallen 3.5%.
I am in Singapore this week as U.S. markets and Explorer recommendations struggle a bit.
I had a chance to visit three Luckin Coffee shops in Singapore. Hard to draw conclusions from this small sample but all three seemed very professional and fully automated with no cash accepted resulting in no lines at all. Spoke with maybe a dozen customers who like the ease of use, variety of flavors, and the price. Several said they also go to Starbucks. One only needs to download the Luckin app to get service which locks in customers to receiving a stream of deals and incentives.
I had a chance to visit three Luckin Coffee shops in Singapore. Hard to draw conclusions from this small sample but all three seemed very professional and fully automated with no cash accepted resulting in no lines at all. Spoke with maybe a dozen customers who like the ease of use, variety of flavors, and the price. Several said they also go to Starbucks. One only needs to download the Luckin app to get service which locks in customers to receiving a stream of deals and incentives.
Are promises made really promises kept, for President Donald Trump?
No one really knows, so cannabis equity investors remain depressed.
They can’t get any bullish signals from the administration on rescheduling, which Trump promised.
But there is a way to deal with this uncertainty as a cannabis investor. Shift your focus to getting paid to wait. I’ll explain why, and how, below.
No one really knows, so cannabis equity investors remain depressed.
They can’t get any bullish signals from the administration on rescheduling, which Trump promised.
But there is a way to deal with this uncertainty as a cannabis investor. Shift your focus to getting paid to wait. I’ll explain why, and how, below.
At face value, it’s admittedly a challenge to build a bullish case for the long-term viability of satellite radio. Indeed, as the popularity and reach of digital streaming platforms grow, satellite as a communications medium looks antiquated by comparison.
That said, a case can also be made that reports of satellite radio’s demise are decidedly premature. When researching for this month’s issue of CTL, for instance, I came across an article under the following headline: “Satellite Radio is Dead.” It went on to explain, “Satellite radio will come crashing down to Earth within the next two years. The newly merged Sirius XM Radio is already living on borrowed time—and borrowed money—and simply will not and cannot survive.”
That said, a case can also be made that reports of satellite radio’s demise are decidedly premature. When researching for this month’s issue of CTL, for instance, I came across an article under the following headline: “Satellite Radio is Dead.” It went on to explain, “Satellite radio will come crashing down to Earth within the next two years. The newly merged Sirius XM Radio is already living on borrowed time—and borrowed money—and simply will not and cannot survive.”
The market is sputtering. While the S&P is still up slightly for the year, it’s at the same level it was three months ago.
After two glorious years of being up over 20%, stocks may be expensive and due for consolidation. While that’s certainly possible, it’s normal and healthy in a bull market. And stocks may not be as expensive as they seem.
This bull market has been driven higher by technology and the artificial intelligence catalyst. Without a handful of large technology companies, the bull market returns so far would be quite lame. But things are changing. There are good reasons to believe the relative returns of the rest of the market should vastly improve.
The rally has broadened out. Other stocks are picking up the slack while technology is wobbling. The grossly lopsided performance couldn’t last. And there’s more to the story than just sector rotation. Earnings are catching up.
The energy sector in particular is likely to benefit from the shared bounty going forward.
There are powerful reasons to believe certain energy stocks will benefit from increasing natural gas demand, more oil and gas drilling, and friendlier regulations. Some of these stocks have pulled back from the highs and offer an attractive entry point. In this issue, I highlight two energy stocks that are likely in a multi-year bull market that historically generate high call premiums.
After two glorious years of being up over 20%, stocks may be expensive and due for consolidation. While that’s certainly possible, it’s normal and healthy in a bull market. And stocks may not be as expensive as they seem.
This bull market has been driven higher by technology and the artificial intelligence catalyst. Without a handful of large technology companies, the bull market returns so far would be quite lame. But things are changing. There are good reasons to believe the relative returns of the rest of the market should vastly improve.
The rally has broadened out. Other stocks are picking up the slack while technology is wobbling. The grossly lopsided performance couldn’t last. And there’s more to the story than just sector rotation. Earnings are catching up.
The energy sector in particular is likely to benefit from the shared bounty going forward.
There are powerful reasons to believe certain energy stocks will benefit from increasing natural gas demand, more oil and gas drilling, and friendlier regulations. Some of these stocks have pulled back from the highs and offer an attractive entry point. In this issue, I highlight two energy stocks that are likely in a multi-year bull market that historically generate high call premiums.
Before we dive into this week’s idea, we need to clean up our February positions that expired on Friday. First off, both our NET and HOOD positions closed for their full profits.
However, RBRK and GH stocks closed below their strike prices, which means the calls we sold expired worthless, and we are left with the stock positions, which we are going to sell today.
However, RBRK and GH stocks closed below their strike prices, which means the calls we sold expired worthless, and we are left with the stock positions, which we are going to sell today.
While there have been some encouraging signs here and there, the market never could quite kick into gear during the past two months, which didn’t necessarily portend doom but is why we never turned very bullish in recent weeks—and now we’ve seen a sudden rug pull, as leaders have hit air pockets. Now, to this point, the selling has been mostly seen in the growth arena, so there are still many names that are handling themselves just fine. We’re open to this being the final shakeout to a two-month-long grinding period, but as always we’re taking the evidence as it comes: We’ll yank our Market Monitor down to a level 5, though a lot of it comes down to entry points and what stocks you own.
This week’s list is a hodgepodge of names, with some growth, some turnaround and a few others sprinkled in. Our Top Pick is a great short- and long-term growth story that acts well and could be ready to help lead if the market can turn back up.
This week’s list is a hodgepodge of names, with some growth, some turnaround and a few others sprinkled in. Our Top Pick is a great short- and long-term growth story that acts well and could be ready to help lead if the market can turn back up.
After weeks of withstanding a geyser of negative headlines – higher inflation, tariffs, slower interest rate cuts, the DeepSeek impact on AI, etc. – the market finally took on water last Thursday and Friday. Whether that’s the start of a deeper correction, we’ll likely know in the next few days. Even if it is, it’s nothing abnormal. After all, the S&P just touched new all-time highs three trading days ago. A pullback was probably inevitable.
Out of respect for the about-face in U.S. stocks in recent days, however, today we’ll turn our attention to Europe, where stocks have been outperforming their U.S. counterparts by more than 2-to-1 so far this year. Our new addition comes from Spain and is a company that’s been in Carl Delfeld’s Cabot Explorer portfolio for several months.
Details inside.
Out of respect for the about-face in U.S. stocks in recent days, however, today we’ll turn our attention to Europe, where stocks have been outperforming their U.S. counterparts by more than 2-to-1 so far this year. Our new addition comes from Spain and is a company that’s been in Carl Delfeld’s Cabot Explorer portfolio for several months.
Details inside.
After notching an all-time high earlier in the week, the S&P 500 and its index peers came under intense selling pressure to close the week. By week’s end, the S&P 500 fell by 1.7%, while the Dow and Nasdaq both lost 2.5%.
Updates
Editor’s Note: Due to the Fourth of July holiday next Thursday, your July issue of Cabot Value Investor will come out next Friday, July 5. Happy 4th!
Leveraging cyclicality is a good way to squeeze more profits out of value stocks.
That was an idea put forth by Matt Warder, the newest addition to the Cabot analyst team and the successor to Bruce Kaser in Cabot Value Investor’s “sister” value investing advisory, Cabot Turnaround Letter, on the latest edition of the Street Check podcast I host with my colleague Brad Simmerman.
Leveraging cyclicality is a good way to squeeze more profits out of value stocks.
That was an idea put forth by Matt Warder, the newest addition to the Cabot analyst team and the successor to Bruce Kaser in Cabot Value Investor’s “sister” value investing advisory, Cabot Turnaround Letter, on the latest edition of the Street Check podcast I host with my colleague Brad Simmerman.
The market has been fantastic. But it was driven higher by technology. Now, technology is rolling over. Will the market roll over too, or will the neglected sectors pick up the slack?
Earnings season is over, so there were no companies that reported earnings this past week. However, we do have at one last company on a slightly different fiscal schedule reporting next week – Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA), who will announce results on the 27th.
WHAT TO DO NOW: Today is an ugly day for growth stocks, with sellers driving many stocks lower as the Nasdaq and some mega-cap winners wobbled. That said, the evidence is basically the same—very mixed and divergent on an intermediate-term basis, with some names doing well but much of the market chopping sideways. We think holding a good-sized chunk of cash makes sense given that risk is elevated, but we’re also holding on to our stocks and giving them some room to wiggle around. In the Model Portfolio, we’re watching things closely, but will sit tight tonight, holding our 30% cash position.
With the Juneteenth Holiday this week and our last update just three business days ago (and right after the FOMC meeting), there is very little to talk about today. So, I’ll keep things short and sweet and we’ll jump right into company-specific updates, of which there are hardly any.
In other words, enjoy a break in the action! They rarely last long.
In other words, enjoy a break in the action! They rarely last long.
The market is at all-time highs. But most stocks are undervalued.
That’s the strange but true reality in today’s Magnificent 7/AI-centric bull market. Yes, if you’ve invested in the seven largest mega-caps or a handful of artificial intelligence-related stocks (Broadcom (AVGO), Palantir (PLTR), Super Micro Computer (SMCI), Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM), etc.), you’ve done quite well. But most other sectors have lagged.
That’s the strange but true reality in today’s Magnificent 7/AI-centric bull market. Yes, if you’ve invested in the seven largest mega-caps or a handful of artificial intelligence-related stocks (Broadcom (AVGO), Palantir (PLTR), Super Micro Computer (SMCI), Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM), etc.), you’ve done quite well. But most other sectors have lagged.
This market just continues to forge ever higher. The S&P 500 closed at new all-time highs four times last week. The index is now up 15% YTD, and we’re not even at the halfway point.
Just when it looked like the rally was petering out, the market is having a great June so far. The S&P is up about 5% in June after making four consecutive record closes last week. The index is now up 14% so far this year, and it’s not even half over.
Ammo Inc (POWW) beat on revenue of $40.42M but its EPS of $0.01 per share missed expectations by $0.03. The company experienced sequential revenue growth in the ammunition segment and maintained robust margins in the GunBroker marketplace, but total revenues and gross profit margin were both down year-on-year, influenced by a shift in sales mix and macroeconomic pressures. The year ended with substantial operational cash flow and an improved net working capital position including $55.6M in cash, positioning the company for future growth.
Small caps are off ever so slightly over the last five sessions, though yesterday’s CPI data and Jerome Powell’s press conference/FOMC meeting helped the asset class bounce back from what was a fairly ugly looking four-day slide. The big-picture takeaway here is that the asset class is suffering from the same type of bad breadth malaise that’s keeping a lid on much of the broader market.
Good enough.
That was the resounding sentiment on Wall Street after Wednesday morning’s inflation print came in slightly better than expectations … but still stubbornly above 3% year over year. The headline CPI number for May, 3.3% year over year, was just below the 3.4% economists anticipated; the month-over-month increase (0.2%) was also a bit lighter than expected (0.3%).
That was the resounding sentiment on Wall Street after Wednesday morning’s inflation print came in slightly better than expectations … but still stubbornly above 3% year over year. The headline CPI number for May, 3.3% year over year, was just below the 3.4% economists anticipated; the month-over-month increase (0.2%) was also a bit lighter than expected (0.3%).
Inflation cooled for the second straight month in May, the U.S. labor market seems back to pre-pandemic levels, and the economy is expanding at a low but steady pace.
Therefore, the Fed is holding back on interest rate cuts. Probably the right move. Keep the ammo dry for when it is really needed. This was a solid week for Explorer stocks with all making gains except for a small pullback in Super Micro (SCMI).
Therefore, the Fed is holding back on interest rate cuts. Probably the right move. Keep the ammo dry for when it is really needed. This was a solid week for Explorer stocks with all making gains except for a small pullback in Super Micro (SCMI).
Alerts
We have a few more December 15, 2023 positions to roll into the January/February expiration cycle. I will most likely get out of those (DBC, VNQ, TTE, etc.) later this afternoon. Stay tuned!
We’ve held on as long as we could, but we’ve hit our stop loss, so it’s time to close our SPY December 15, 2023, 456/461 trade. Earlier in the week, SPY dropped down to roughly 454, so we thought we were on the dancefloor. Unfortunately, the 454 area acted as a strong area of support throughout the week so we never saw any true decline that would have helped the position.
Let’s try to lengthen out our deltas a little so we can take advantage of any additional upside prior to the December 29, 2023, expiration cycle. If JPM rallies through the 160 strike, we will gladly close out the position for the year, take our profits, and wait for the new year to reestablish our position.
VTI is currently trading for 227.81.
In the Yale Endowment portfolio, we currently own the SPY January 17, 2025, 345 call LEAPS contract at $98.00. You must own LEAPS in order to use this strategy.
WHAT TO DO NOW: Continue to piece your way into leading stocks showing power—while also pulling any weeds out of your portfolio. In the Model Portfolio, we’re going to make two moves today: First, selling our stake in Noble (NE), which remains weak; on the flip side, we’ll fill out our position in Pulte Homes (PHM) by adding another half-sized position (5% of the account). The combination will still be in the mid-30% range. We may do a little more buying soon, but near-term, the market and some leaders are hitting a little turbulence, so we’ll just make these two changes today and go from there.
There is little to no value left in our XLU December 15, 2023, 56 puts. As a result, I’m going to buy them back, lock in profits and immediately sell more premium. I’ll be doing the same in a few other positions as we move throughout the week.
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 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.