Markets seemed to rotate and flatten this week, and the Explorer portfolio was relatively steady as well. The Federal Reserve pledged to keep its spigot open by continuing to buy $120 billion per month of Treasury debt and mortgage-backed securities and hold short-term interest rates near zero through 2023. This is encouraging to markets but unnerves me a bit as we already seem awash in liquidity.

In our new recommendation today, we explore a new technology that could shift the electric vehicle market into another gear.

Here is your March Wall Street’s Best Digest issue 839.

Happy almost Spring!



The daffodils are in blooming here in Tennessee, COVID-19 shots are reaching 2 million per day, and many children are going back to school full-time. I think that is certainly a nice beginning to the warmer season.



And the markets are continuing to surpass expectations, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average hovering at almost 33,000. We don’t know how long this bull run will last, but as you can see from our Advisor Sentiment Barometer and Market Views, investors and contributors continue to be mostly optimistic.



We begin this issue with our Spotlight Stock, the nation’s largest fully regulated, natural gas-only distributor. My Feature article further highlights the stock and summarizes the current state of the industry. We move on to Growth stocks, where we include ideas in the medical education, construction materials, and retail industries. In Growth & Income, you’ll find recommendations for transportation, pizza, and industrial companies.



This month, Value stocks have come rocketing back, and here we feature a food and a home building business. Financial stocks are also doing better, and our contributors offer several insurance companies and a Business Development firm for your review. Our Healthcare picks are focused on opioid management and COVID-19.



In Technology, you’ll find companies from the cybersecurity, wireless, semiconductor, credit scoring, hardware, and artificial intelligence sectors. We have quite a few offerings for you from the Resource & Energy industries, including miners, royalty companies, power conversion, timber, and utilities sectors. We also offer one Low-Priced stock for your consideration, heralding from the mobile device solutions business. And our Preferred Stock is backed by a banking institution.



Lastly, our Funds & ETFs section includes a couple of bond ideas, as well as a small cap fund.



I’m looking forward to getting my garden started soon and hope that you will also have much to look forward to this season. Please don’t hesitate to send me your feedback and questions. My address is nancy@financialfreedomfederation.com.

In the March Issue of Cabot Early Opportunities we offer up a diverse mix of growth stocks with exposure to vastly different markets, all of which should be healthy for the duration of 2021.

While it’s been a rough month since the February Issue and investors are still on edge, stimulus checks should be hitting the economy soon and the broader economic picture is a heck of a lot better than even a couple months ago.



Still, on balance it’s best to keep new buying on the small side and average into these positions as the market seeks the firm footing that is needed to launch a sustained advance higher.



Enjoy!

This week is the expiration of March options, and the good news is we appear to be headed to full profits on four of our March positions (JCI, SONO, GS, APHA) and are in good shape with our one position that is unlikely to be called away Friday (DT). Expect to hear from me Thursday afternoon or early Friday morning on these expiring covered calls.

The market rallied nicely last week, and growth stocks joined the crowd (which is good), but today’s strong open didn’t last and now we’re seeing deterioration across the board, reminding us that the market is a two-way street. Plus, in the background is the fact that investor sentiment is so high, and the economic news has been so good, that eventually we’re going to need a big correction.

Still, looking at the stocks in our portfolio, I see no need for any ratings changes today.



As for today’s new recommendation, it’s a growth stock that hit a new high just last Friday and has a long runway of growth ahead of it as its young industry expands.



Details inside.

Current Market Outlook


Up is good, so last week’s rebound in growth and continued push higher in the broad market was encouraging. That said, nothing much has changed with the overall evidence—many areas of the market look just fine, with a few indexes actually hitting all-time highs, but growth stocks are still (mostly) in a corrective mode, with a bunch of names having rallied only into resistance. Really, we think the action of the next week or two will tell the tale—resilience and upside from here would suggest the huge pullback earlier this month was more of a shakeout, but renewed selling pressure would hint toward another leg down. Right now, we’re playing things halfway—we’re OK with some buying, especially in stronger names that pull back some, but we’re not pushing the envelope and need to see more from growth before concluding the storm has passed. We’re leaving our Market Monitor at a level 5 today.

This week’s list is very much a mixed bag, with cyclicals, retail, growth and turnarounds all making the cut. Our Top Pick is Thor Industries (THO), which looks like the leader of a fresh move for that group. You could nibble here or (preferably) on dips.

Stock Name	Price	Buy Range	Loss Limit
Big Lots (BIG)	71	66-69	59-61
Devon Energy (DVN)	25	22-23.5	19-20
Dropbox (DBX)	28	26.5-28	24-25
Dycom Industries (DY)	100	95-98	85-87
Groupon Inc. (GRPN)	60	57-60	48-50
Inari Medical (NARI)	114	110.5-115.5	98-101
Macy’s, Inc. (M)	21	18-19.5	15.5-16.5
Owens & Minor (OMI)	37	33.5-35.5	30-31
Summit Materials (SUM)	30	28-30	25-26
Thor Industries (THO)	147	140-147	125-128

The overall market remains in good shape, with many indexes actually stretching to new highs this week. But growth stocks are another ball of wax, with many leaders having decisively cracked their uptrends and the Nasdaq itself stuck in no-man’s land even after this week’s bounce.

We’re open to anything, and in fact we’re putting a small piece of cash back to work tonight (buying a half-sized position in a high-potential stock), but we’re mostly going slow and waiting for growth stocks to set up properly. Our cash position will be right around 50%.

Today, we are recommending a biotech company.

The company is trading well below an offer to take it private and has numerous other catalysts on the horizon.



This company’s characteristics include:

• Insiders own over 40% of the company.
• A proxy fight - A hedge fund is lobbying to have the company sold to the highest bidder.
• Royalty income streams which provide downside protection.
• Much, much more.

All the details are inside this month’s Issue. Enjoy!

Cyclical or open-up stocks are on fire, and for good reason.

The U.S. economy has far exceeded expectations at every phase of the recovery so far. The vaccines promise to end the remaining lockdowns and restrictions. With the shackles removed, the economy will kick into high gear. Even several normally dour economists are predicting the highest GDP growth in decades this year.



In anticipation, cyclical financial stocks are on fire. The Financial Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) is up 45% just since the vaccine announcement in early November. Yet, many financial stocks are still undervalued ahead of what should be an ideal environment for the sector.



In addition to the bright near-term prospects for financial stocks in general, there is also an incredible growth trend in a particular niche area, alternative investments. These include investments outside of the stock and bond markets. Individuals and institutions desperate to diversify are piling in. And massive growth in this arena is accelerating.



In this issue, I highlight a company I believe to be the very best player in alternative investments. Stock performance has far exceeded its peers and there is every reason to believe the outperformance will continue going forward.

While I’m keeping most stocks at Buy this week, I do think near-term upside is somewhat limited and that being more selective with new purchases is a wise decision. Look to nibble on those stocks that aren’t overly extended but still have strong momentum.

Emerging market stocks have had another soft week, with the iShares EM Fund (EEM) below its 25-, 50- and 200-day moving averages, although Chinese stocks continue to hold steady.

This week’s retail news and earnings reports brought great surges in the share prices of two of the stocks in our portfolio.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose over 3.1% last week following several strong economic releases and a handful of speeches by current and incoming Fed members. That’s kept utilities and other high-yield investments depressed for another week. Most of our holdings are looking constructive and a few potentially on the cusp of big breakouts.

There’s one thing that common stocks and the price of oil—and virtually all other investments—have in common: their price charts. The study of price charts is called technical analysis.

The S&P 600 Small Cap Index broke out to a fresh all-time high this week and is now officially above the 1,000 level! I suspect that milestone isn’t going to make many headlines, but in our little corner of the world it’s kind of a big deal.

Today we’re selling one stock and ask you to consider owning another in its place, because their debt numbers and price chart are improving, and their EPS and P/E numbers continue to look very appealing!

Remain optimistic, but continue to take it day by day. The green light from the Cabot Tides remains in effect, which, combined with our solidly bullish Cabot Trend Lines, tell us to lean bullish. Tonight, we have no changes in the Model Portfolio, where we’re holding about 30% in cash.

After a two-week rally, the major indexes pulled back yesterday, but the retreat isn’t surprising given the market’s recent gains. The last two weeks have turned the market’s intermediate-term trend up, and conditions are in place for a sustained rally. Most importantly, the major indexes have now successfully (meaning they bounced) re-tested their correction lows three times since the start of the year.

Energy stocks are thriving, and some of them have risen into the stratosphere. I never recommend that people chase stocks that just rose 20% to 50% without resting. Let them rest, then jump in to catch the next run-up. On the flip side, financial stocks are just now emerging from a resting period. Many of my favorites appear ready to not only retrace their recent highs, but to surpass them as well!

This was another big week for our portfolio as four stocks reported quarterly results. Fortunately, the wind was at our backs as the broad market is on track for its best weekly gain since March!

Our Emerging Markets Timer is still negative, but it’s good to see EEM perk above its (still downtrending) 25-day line today. A good day or two from here could flip the intermediate-term trend.

Earnings estimates are moving up for this alcohol beverage company.

One major factor in investing, particularly in small stocks and young sectors where growing pains are still the norm, is sentiment. Good sentiment can take a sector to extreme highs—as it has done for the marijuana sector at every major legalization milepost.

One of our portfolio stocks moves is being retired and there is news on five more.

This global insurance company beat analysts’ EPS estimates by $0.04 last quarter.

This energy company has absorbed its most recent acquisition and is posting significant cash flow, yet the shares remain undervalued.

The major indexes were mixed today, with the Dow up 74 points and the Nasdaq losing three points. But the story once again was weakness under the surface, as growth stocks remained under the gun.

This P&C and energy services company beat EPS estimates by, $0.03 last quarter.

We’re making some portfolio adjustments today.

The major indexes are tilted to the upside to start the week—however, under the surface, we’re continuing to see increasing selling pressure on most growth stocks.

This building materials company recently announced a new acquisition—Heritage One Door & Carpentry.

This company continues to spin off and acquire other businesses, strengthening its medical and commercial strategy.

As summer morphs into fall and Wall Street returns to full operation, I’m seeing some welcome signs of buying in the cannabis sector. So today we’ll join them, by averaging up in two of our holdings.

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.