For turnaround investors, insider stock purchases can provide important clues that a recovery may be ahead. These “insider” trades can indicate that those with the best knowledge of a company believe it will do better in the future. This can be a sign that “outsiders” should consider buying it, too.

In this issue, we dive into seven companies with these appealing traits.

The market remains in fine health, with many of our stocks hitting new highs and a slew of earnings reports providing reassurance that the good times are not over yet.
For today’s recommendation, we have another financial stock to replace the one that was sold profitably last week. It’s a strong sector, with no end to the strength in sight.
As for the current portfolio, overall, our holdings are performing well. But we have one sell, an emerging market stock that’s gone the wrong way and presented us with a small loss. Details in the issue.

Current Market Outlook


The ping pong environment we referenced on this page last Monday continued last week, with growth stocks bouncing back from a ragged prior week, while some of the recently-strong cyclical groups took a breather. We expect more under-the-surface volatility going forward, mostly due to earnings season, which is now moving ahead at a breakneck pace; so far, there have been a few potholes, but many stocks have reacted well to their reports. All in all, we remain mostly bullish, but two pieces of advice: First, don’t forget to book some partial profits when you have them, and second, be sure to keep your feet on the ground and look for advantageous entry points. We’ll keep our Market Monitor where it is as we see how leaders react to earnings.

This week’s list is heavier on emerging market and retail stocks than usual, which could be a clue to future leadership. Our Top Pick is ServiceNow (NOW), a blue chip-ish cloud software firm that decisively broke out of a tight launching pad on earnings next week. Try to buy on dips.

Stock Name	Price	Buy Range	Loss Limit
GDS Holdings Limited (GDS)	80.15	37-39	34-35
Huazhu Group (HTHT)	30.89	41.5-43.5	37.5-39
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet (OLLI)	103.94	93.5-97	85.5-87.5
Pilgrims Pride (PPC)	25.52	25-26.5	22-23
Sea Limited (SE)	132.86	24.5-26	21.5-22.5
ServiceNow (NOW)	341.86	263-273	237-244
Sinclair Broadcasting (SBGI)	54.14	42-44	39-40.5
Ulta Beauty (ULTA)	331.95	345-355	320-325
VeriSign (VRSN)	190.71	191-196	178-181
Workday (WDAY)	194.88	200-206	185-188

The main trend remains up, in both the broad market and the cannabis sector in particular. When these uptrends will end, no one knows, but I guarantee that they will someday.

Long-term, however, I remain very bullish on both the companies and the stocks in the industry and continue to adjust the portfolio’s holdings to optimize growth (with reasonable security.)

When the market picture gets confusing, as it often does, it pays to have some reliable indicators to depend on—rather than the guy on the evening news. So today, after a couple of weeks of market correction that have done serious damage to some leading stocks and led many pundits to ask whether we’ve seen the market top, we turn to our indicators and ask whether the bull market is truly over, and here’s what they say.

There is tremendous growth ahead for technology. There will be incredible opportunities to invest. While you probably don’t associate technology stocks with a dividend newsletter, things are changing. In this issue I identify a technological behemoth that is now a blue chip dividend payer. Its products are so widely used that owning the stock provides a great way to play the technology revolution in general and gain exposure to the explosive growth.

The market remains in good health, and all Cabot’s market timing indicators are positive, telling us the odds are that the market will be higher in the months ahead.
For today’s recommendation, we shift to a somewhat unusual investment, a high-yielding limited partnership that may avoid the cycles of a notoriously cyclical sector, while offering substantial upside potential.
As for the current portfolio, overall, our holdings are performing well. But we have one sell, a stock that has popped higher in recent days on news and is now closing in on resistance. Details in the issue.

Current Market Outlook


From a top-down perspective, nothing has really changed with the key evidence; there remain a couple of divergences (number of new highs, lagging small-cap indexes), but the intermediate-term trends of the major indexes and most leading stocks (and even non-leading stocks) are pointed up. Under the surface, though, we’re seeing some ping pong action—the major indexes have been alternating up and down days for the past couple of weeks, while many sectors are whipping in and out of favor on a weekly basis. (Growth stocks have been alternating good and bad weeks for a month.) What does it mean? It’s fair to say the broad buying pressures have eased up, though to this point, the sellers haven’t done much damage at all. We’re going along with the back-and-forth action, nudging our Market Monitor down a notch—we remain overall bullish, but the current earnings season will have a lot to say about the intermediate-term outlook for the market and leading stocks.

In the meantime, we’re still seeing a good number of setups from a wide variety of stocks and sectors. We have a couple of favorites this week, but for our Top Pick we’ll go with Qualcomm (QCOM), which has shown extreme power after a game-changing deal with Apple last week. We’re OK buying here or (preferably) on dips.

Stock Name	Price	Buy Range	Loss Limit
Ctrip.com International Ltd. (CTRP)	34.94	42.5-44.5	39-40.5
D. R. Horton (DHI)	66.55	43-45.5	39.5-41.5
Fastenal (FAST)	37.08	67.5-69.5	62.5-64
First Solar (FSLR)	83.74	57-59	52.5-54
Five Below (FIVE)	134.58	136-142	124-127
Kansas City Southern (KSU)	176.54	121-124	112-113.5
ManpowerGroup (MAN)	90.84	93.5-95.5	84.5-86
Microchip Technology (MCHP)	79.12	95-97	88-89
QUALCOMM Incorporated (QCOM)	106.36	78-82	69-71
Redfin (RDFN)	40.40	21-22	19-19.5

After two near-record-setting months, stocks are encountering their first real turbulence since March. It’s no surprise.

While stocks go up an average of 10% a year, they rarely do so in a straight line. And after the S&P 500 rallied nearly 20% in April and May and the Nasdaq shot up nearly 30%, a pullback of some kind – or possibly even a true correction – was to be expected. It seems it’s happening all at once.

Stocks look set to enter the summer near all-time highs, but leadership has narrowed, volatility has ticked up, and there’s been renewed scrutiny on the AI trade and valuation concerns in some of the market’s biggest winners.

At the same time, the macro backdrop remains a mix of resilience and intermittent turbulence. While economic data continues to hold up, energy prices remain elevated due to the ongoing Iran conflict – which has no end in sight – keeping upward pressure on inflation and yields.

Tech, commodity, AI, and Explorer stocks struggled this week as concern over capital expenditures increased. Mideast tensions intensified and inflation numbers came in yesterday at their highest rate in over three years, fueled by rising energy costs. The combination of anticipated higher interest rates and rising bond yields impacted the price of precious metals, with gold sliding below $4,200 an ounce and silver falling below $64 an ounce.

Stocks look to enter summer near all-time highs, but leadership has narrowed and volatility has ticked up thanks to renewed scrutiny on the AI trade and open-ended questions about valuations in some of the hottest areas of the market.

There’s also been more focus on the evolving macro landscape, which features a resilient U.S. economy but stubbornly high energy prices due to the ongoing Iran conflict, and somewhat elevated yields. We’re now looking at a higher likelihood of a Fed rate hike, with the odds of a hike by December now well over 50%.

The high-flying AI stocks got crushed on Friday. But those stocks started this week higher. Where do we go from here?

The technology-heavy Nasdaq index fell 4% on Friday, and the S&P 500 fell for the week for the first time in 10 weeks. A couple of things spooked investors. The AI trade turned sour after Broadcom (AVGO) reported earnings that included slightly lower revenue projections for its AI chips than were expected. Also, a blowout jobs report strengthened the case for a Fed rate hike by the end of the year.

A major economic narrative that took shape in recent years was the decline and (presumptive) inevitable death of the so-called “petrodollar,” as a growing number of countries diversified their foreign exchange reserves away from the U.S. dollar and toward gold and alternative currencies like the Chinese yuan.

WHAT TO DO NOW: The overall market remains in good shape, though we are seeing some exuberance on the upside and also a few leaders begin to act sloppy. Near term, then, it’s still a coin flip as to what comes, but the vast majority of intermediate-term evidence remains bullish. In the Model Portfolio, we took partial profits in Marvell (MRVL) earlier this week; tonight, we’re buying a half-sized position (5% of the account) in Bloom Energy (BE), which is extremely volatile but also strong and coming off a few weeks of rest. Our cash position will now be around 28%.

This market just keeps going higher.

Sure, there’s uncertainty out there. The war isn’t over. Inflation and interest rates are still too high. But stocks didn’t get the memo. After a strong April, the S&P 500 rose 5% and the Nasdaq soared 8% in May. The indexes are up 20% and 30%, respectively, since March 30 and are continuing to make new highs this week.

Despite the negative headlines and volatility, stocks just keep going.

After a strong April, the S&P 500 rose 5% and the Nasdaq soared 8% in May. The indexes are up 20% and 30%, respectively, since March 30. It’s also worth noting that despite the ongoing Iran war, the price per barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude oil closed down 17% for the month of May.

This week’s Memorial Day observance marked the traditional onset of the summer vacation season for millions of Americans. It’s a time of traveling, sightseeing, picnics and parties. It’s also the peak season for enjoying cold, carbonated beverages like soda pop and energy drinks.

With this dynamic in play, I think it’s time that we give some attention to our holding in PepsiCo (PEP), which is entering a critical period of its sales year.

On the heels of a miserable March and a euphoric April, I wrote several weeks ago in this space that I thought May would determine which direction the market is truly headed, at least in the intermediate term. We have our answer, and it’s a definitive “up.”

All three major U.S. indexes are touching record highs as of this writing, with the S&P 500 up 4.3% in May, the Nasdaq up 7%, and the slower-moving Dow Jones Industrial inching higher by 1.6%. That’s despite the ongoing Iran war and the accompanying sky-high oil and gas prices, escalating inflation, bond yields at multi-year highs, possible Fed rate hikes later this year, and record-low consumer sentiment.

Stocks have largely shrugged off this week’s dust‑ups in the Middle East as investors continue to bet on a near‑term memorandum of understanding (MOU) that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and push bigger sticking points between the U.S. and Iran down the road.

Yields have cooled off this week and continue to do so this morning, thanks to a slightly lower‑than‑expected core PCE reading. April core PCE rose 0.2% month over month, below both March’s 0.3% reading and consensus, giving the Fed some breathing room as policymakers weigh the competing forces of inflation and growth.

There was significant share price action in two of out stocks today.

Six analysts have increased their earnings forecast for this energy company in the past 30 days.

This medical equipment company beat analysts’ estimates by $0.19 last quarter, and Wall Street is forecasting an annual growth rate of more than 27% for the company for the next five years.

One of our stocks reported a third-quarter earnings beat, and steel stocks are up.

These two ideas are a bet on a better year for natural gas—whether you are a conservative or aggressive trader.

Our first idea is an auto parts supplier that pummeled analysts’ earnings estimates by $0.09 last quarter. We also include two sell recommendations today.

Our first idea is an auto parts supplier that pummeled analysts’ earnings estimates by $0.09 last quarter. We also include two sell recommendations today.

Our first idea is an auto parts supplier that pummeled analysts’ earnings estimates by $0.09 last quarter. We also include two sell recommendations today.

Tonight, we’re selling one stock that broke down today, and booking partial profits in another. We’re also putting one stock on Hold because it’s been correcting sharply, though it’s still in an overall uptrend.

Three stocks move from Strong Buy to Hold, and two stocks are good buys here.

This financial services company beat analysts’ estimates by $0.18 last quarter, and 23 analysts have recently increased their EPS forecasts for the company.

Here’s an opportunity to pick up shares of a growing media company at a discount.

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.