What a week it was for the bulls as the Strait of Hormuz went from a major chokepoint and concern for the market, to signs of hope that progress was being made, to “COMPLETELY OPEN AND READY FOR BUSINESS” to borrow President Trump’s all-caps announcement Friday (though this is back in question again!).

Despite the war-related turbulence in the global energy market, stocks continue to take everything in stride. And while volatility related to the Middle East conflict is still a factor, the market is mostly looking beyond the noise, which has been good for growthy-type names. Aside from AI leadership, we’re starting to see a slow-but-steady rise in participation from other sectors, which is encouraging, and with the intermediate-term trend flipping back to positive last week, it’s hard not to be optimistic right now. We’ll keep our Market Monitor at a level 7, but that could improve if participation broadens even more.

This week’s list contains a nice mix of names across several of the stronger industries—including growth and cyclical. Our Top Pick is a leading freight shipper that boasts improving operating leverage and pricing power against an improving industry backdrop.

What a difference a month makes! A month ago today, the major indexes bottomed after getting pummeled through the first three weeks of March thanks to the onset of the Iran war. The S&P 500 was more than 9% off its highs, and the Nasdaq was in correction territory, down more than 11%. Now? Both indexes are at all-time highs, with the Dow not far behind.

Hopes for an end to the war have fueled the rally. With the war still going, we’re not out of the woods yet. But we’ve been capitalizing on the suddenly-hot market by adding a couple new growth titles to our portfolio this month, so this week we keep our foot on the growth pedal by adding a resurgent retail name that’s been a favorite of Mike Cintolo’s for years. Now, it has enough momentum again that he recommended the stock to his Cabot Top Ten Trader audience last week. Today, we add it to the Stock of the Week portfolio.

Details inside.

What a week it was for the bulls as the Strait of Hormuz went from a major chokepoint and concern for the market, to signs of hope that progress was being made, to “COMPLETELY OPEN AND READY FOR BUSINESS” to borrow President Trump’s all-caps announcement Friday (though this is back in question again!).

What a week it was for the bulls as the Strait of Hormuz went from a major chokepoint and concern for the market, to signs of hope that progress was being made, to “COMPLETELY OPEN AND READY FOR BUSINESS” to borrow President Trump’s all-caps announcement Friday (though this is back in question again!).

What a week it was for the bulls as the Strait of Hormuz went from a major chokepoint and concern for the market, to signs of hope that progress was being made, to “COMPLETELY OPEN AND READY FOR BUSINESS” to borrow President Trump’s all-caps announcement Friday (though this is back in question again!).

The market had a nice setup two weeks ago, the action since then has been nothing short of fantastic, with the major indexes going vertical and, even better, many growth stocks ripping to new highs. We’ve put a chunk of money to work, both with new buys and then quickly averaging up, and are likely to continue adding fresh leaders in the not too distant future. Open up for all our latest thoughts on the market and new leadership.

In the April issue of Cabot Early Opportunities, I feature three stocks spanning different stages of maturity — from a transformative communications company entering a pivotal deployment phase, to a fast-scaling AI infrastructure provider still working through investor skepticism, to a more established cloud platform benefiting from renewed momentum.

What ties them together is timing: All three appear to be transitioning from “prove it” stories into execution-driven narratives that investors can view with increasing confidence.

All the details are inside this month’s Issue.

A fragile two-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran — announced barely an hour before President Trump’s self-imposed deadline to “obliterate” Tehran — transformed what looked like another brutal week for Wall Street into one of the best rallies of the year last week. Oil plunged, fear evaporated (in the short term), and the indexes snapped a five-week losing streak in dramatic fashion.

The ceasefire agreement last Tuesday was met with all sorts of skepticism—but even so, the market’s action has been very solid despite the uncertainties. Of course, there are also more than a few flies still in the ointment, so now it’s a matter of seeing upside follow-through from here. We have our Market Monitor at a level 5 but could ratchet that up quick if more stocks and indexes perk up.

This week’s list has something for everyone, including some hot growth stocks as well as some turnarounds and commodity plays. Our Top Pick has its hands in both the aerospace and AI cookie jars, resulting in a great earnings outlook—and the stock was one of the first to leap to new highs last week.

Stocks continue to get well in April, posting their best results all year this past week. Is the rally as temporary as the two-week ceasefire that sparked it? We’ll probably know by the end of this week. In the meantime, earnings season gets underway, with analysts forecasting a sixth straight quarter of double-digit earnings growth, which could serve as a floor for stocks should the news out of Iran turn blue again. For now, though, stocks are in a better spot, and we try to capitalize on the improved vibes today by adding a growth-y name courtesy of Cabot Early Opportunities Chief Analyst Tyler Laundon.

Details inside.

A fragile two-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran — announced barely an hour before President Trump’s self-imposed deadline to “obliterate” Tehran — transformed what looked like another brutal week for Wall Street into one of the best rallies of the year. Oil plunged, fear evaporated (in the short term), and the indexes snapped a five-week losing streak in dramatic fashion.

The market turned on the afterburners. The S&P 500 made up all the March losses and catapulted to a brand new high in a remarkably short time. It’s a market that sure looks like it wants to go higher. But stocks are being held back this week by more war uncertainty.

The current ceasefire with Iran expires on Wenesday night. Talks may not happen, and war talk is growing. The resumption of the war will almost certainly prompt a decline in the market. Aside from that near-term threat, investors are clearly looking past this war. Hopefully, it won’t last much longer.

The market came roaring back to new highs last week after a tough March. But the war isn’t over yet, and there could be more bouncing around in the weeks ahead.

Investors are clearly already looking past this war, as there is a high degree of optimism that hostilities will soon end. There is probably still a big rally or two left in the tank when the war actually ends. Sure, there is still headline risk in the meantime. But the war is clearly fading as the biggest market catalyst and giving way to earnings.

The old adage that markets trade on expectations, not news, was certainly validated in the wake of President Trump’s announcement last weekend of his intention to block the Strait of Hormuz.

Although the announcement was initially made as a categorical threat against any and all incoming vessels, it was later softened to a more targeted blockade in which the U.S. and other non-Iran-bound ships are generally allowed to transit the Strait.

Markets have remained strong, with the Nasdaq up 11 days in a row and on track for its third consecutive up week. The S&P 500 is also on track to post gains for its third week in a row, and it looks like the S&P 600 SmallCap Index will post its fourth consecutive weekly gain.

Markets have proved to be resilient in making a comeback despite the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. The churning of sectors earlier this year has led to some bargains and momentum in stocks, from semiconductors to minerals and mining. This is paired with consumer and energy prices climbing steeply. Recent big bank earnings have been solid and volatile markets are good news to bank trading desks.

All of a sudden, stocks are trading at new all-time highs!

How did it happen? Hopes of an end to the war in Iran, first and foremost, as the ceasefire announcement 10 days ago sparked a rally that’s still going, with the S&P 500 now up 10 of the last 11 trading days, gaining nearly 10% during that time. Prior to Wednesday, that was the best 10-day trading stretch since the market came off the Covid lows in March 2020.

What a turnaround! We may not be out of the woods yet, but investors are moving beyond the Iran war.

Optimism about the end of Middle East hostilities is palpable as the market has already made up all losses from a rough March. The S&P 500 had fallen 7.7% in the month of March at its lows on the 30^th. Since then, the index has rallied 9.7%. As of midday on Tuesday, the S&P is back above where it was when the war began and within less than 1% of the all-time high.

The bad news is that tensions in the Middle East are escalating. The good news is that the market doesn’t seem to care.

Peace talks with Iran collapsed over the weekend. The U.S. has moved into the Strait of Hormuz and is blockading Iran. Iran has vowed attacks on Gulf region oil interests in response. The price per barrel of oil has shot up over $100 again after pulling back last week. As of midday on Monday, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are higher for the day. Go figure.

With all that’s going on in the world today, it’s quite remarkable—at first glance—that stocks have held up against the headwinds as well as they have. But when considering the market still enjoys massive support from the historic high in defense spending and the ongoing AI buildout, it’s actually not that surprising.

This brings us to what I think is a pertinent review of some of the key trends we’ve focused on in the newsletter for 2026.

WHAT TO DO NOW: The market’s rally of the past two days (and the week before that) is encouraging, and some signs (like our Aggression Index) are looking good. That said, most of the evidence out there is still neutral (like our Cabot Tides) or negative (like most everything else). Given our huge cash hoard, we’re adding two half positions tonight—Marvell Tech (MRVL) and Dell Tech (DELL)—and restoring a Buy a Half rating on Corning (GLW). But we’ll still keep around two-thirds of the portfolio in cash and look for further green lights to extend our line in the days ahead.

Markets have shifted back toward a risk-on stance over the past week following news of a two-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran. This “de-escalation trade” was fueled by short covering and the removal of macro hedges as investors pivoted back toward the domestic growth narrative. As a result, attention has begun to drift away from the unrelenting geopolitical uncertainty that sidelined all but the most risk-tolerant investors in March, and back toward earnings growth and a still-solid U.S. economy.

Wars are never good for the stock market. But ceasefires evidently are, at least in the short term.

That’s why stocks had their best day all year on Wednesday, hours after President Trump announced a two-week ceasefire, raising hopes that the Strait of Hormuz would soon reopen. All three major U.S. market indexes were up more than 2% yesterday, while oil prices tumbled back to the low $90s and the VIX dipped as low as 20, after touching the low 30s last week. Value stocks had a good day too, continuing a pattern of outperformance – they’ve fallen less than 3% since the Iran war began, and are up 5% year to date.

GE Vernova (GEV) Delivers in Q1

WHAT TO DO NOW: Today we’re going to make one move in the Model Portfolio—selling the rest of our small-ish position in GE Aerospace (GE), but we’ll be looking to put some money to work in the days ahead. Our cash position will be around 53% after the moves. Details below.

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.

WHAT TO DO NOW: The market continues to rush higher, with a lot of good news released today helping the major indexes, though many growth stocks are resting while economically-sensitive names ramp. A short-term wobble is possibly after the last three weeks, and earnings season will surely throw us a few curveballs, but with the evidence turning very strong, we’re putting a bit more money to work today -- we’ll buy a half-sized stake in Nebius (NBIS) today and add a 3% position to our ProShares S&P Fund (SSO), leaving us with 48% in cash. Details below.

Sell Atmus Filtration (ATMU); Advanced Energy Industries (AEIS) Moves to Hold

WHAT TO DO NOW: Do some more buying. The evidence has continued to improve, with our Cabot Tides now positive, joining the Aggression Index last week. Of course, this is still a news-driven environment and with many names extended to the upside, there’s risk of an upcoming wobble. But we always go with the evidence, and with more green lights, we’re going to add to our stakes in three names we already own, buying 3% additional stakes in Marvell (MRVL), Dell (DELL) and Macom Tech (MTSI). That will leave us with around 56% in cash, though we’ll likely put more money to work soon if the bulls remain in control.

IDEAYA Biosciences (IDYA) Delivers Landmark Phase 3 Data

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.