The turnaround path that Newell Brands (NWL) has navigated in the last few years has been anything but smooth, at times being downright torturous.

What started as a seemingly clear-cut turnaround story as far back as 2018 turned into a frustrating affair for investors who bought the stock back then and continued to hold it over the last seven years. But after the agonizing twists and turns since the stock’s 2017 peak, the road ahead appears clearer now than it has been in several years.

Before we dive into this week’s covered call idea, I am going to revisit our positions that expired on July expiration a week ago.

The market had yet another mostly quiet, mostly positive week, and the vast majority of the top-down evidence is still in good or great shape. That said, there’s no doubt things are a bit extended in time and that more stocks and sectors are beginning to lag, which is one reason we’re not flooring the accelerator. Another is the fact that earnings season really picks up this week—35%-plus of the S&P 500, along with more growth leaders, are reporting, which will obviously be key. Don’t get us wrong, we’re overall bullish, but near term we’re picking our spots. We’ll leave our Market Monitor at a level 7.

This week’s list has a wide variety of names, with many types of names and setups. This week’s Top Pick has earnings this week, but after a huge-volume ramp, shares have dipped on low volume to the 25-day line—we’re OK with a small buy here or on dips with a loose stop.

This is a massive week for the stock market. Forty percent of the S&P 500 will report second-quarter earnings results; the Fed holds its July meeting; the PCE report is due out Thursday, jobs numbers come out Friday, and President Trump’s tariff deadline is Friday, though several key deals have already been struck. With stocks precariously at all-time highs entering the week, these news events loom as potential minefields. If the market can navigate it without getting blown up, then perhaps it will continue to rise until Labor Day.

But we can only go with the evidence in front of us. And today, we try to strike while the market’s iron is still hot by adding a mid-cap medtech stock that was Tyler Laundon’s top pick in this month’s issue of his Cabot Early Opportunities advisory.

Details inside.

This week’s Monday Week in Review is a bit different than most weeks, with a focus on our open positions, as I spent most of my weekend getting caught up on unusual option activity from the previous week while I was in Europe. Let’s dive in …

This week’s Monday Week in Review is a bit different than most weeks, with a focus on our open positions, as I spent most of my weekend getting caught up on unusual option activity from the previous week while I was in Europe. Let’s dive in …

The overall market continues to look very bullish whether looking at our core indicators or the many unusual signs of strength (that portend higher prices down the road). That said, there are some headwinds near-term, especially in many growth stocks, which have been doing more chopping than advancing in recent weeks. That’s no reason to be negative, but we’re following along with that growth stock evidence, trimming our sails a bit while looking to see what earnings season brings.

Uncertainty is growing while the market is perched at the all-time high.

The S&P 500 soared by a remarkable 29% in just over three months. At the same time, tariffs are back and there is still a high degree of uncertainty regarding the economy.

Sure, the overall market is high. But what is true for the S&P 500 isn’t necessarily true for many individual stocks. Technology drove the S&P 500 index higher. But much of the rest of the market is well below the all-time highs. Some stocks and sectors are barely positive YTD.

Energy has lagged the market all year. At the same time, the fortunes of certain companies are improving. Natural gas volumes are growing at a strong clip as demand for electricity is skyrocketing from data centers. At the same time, overseas demand is expanding with no end in sight.

In this issue, I highlight an energy company with rapidly growing demand for its services that sells at a cheap price and pays a high yield. We don’t have to chase stock prices into the stratosphere. Let’s invest where it’s still April.

Complacency is creeping back into the market, but we remain vigilant as the earnings season cranks up into full gear. That said, the broad backdrop is still in good shape as evidenced by some of our favorite indicators. We’ve also done some pruning recently (mostly among laggards) as the market’s multi-month run is becoming a bit extended. But we still see opportunities, especially in areas investors have overlooked. All told, near-term wobbles are possible, but we remain bullish as the odds favor the new uptrend bringing us higher over time. We’ll keep our Market Monitor at a level 7, but we’ll stay nimble as earnings come in.

This week’s list contains some formerly out-of-favor stocks that are now in much better shape as industry trends improve. Our Top Pick is an engineering firm that shows all the classic signs of being under strong institutional accumulation. We’re OK using dips to enter.

Stocks are at all-time highs, continuing to climb a Wall of Worry that’s made of tariff fears, economic worries, political turmoil and overseas conflicts. Eventually, a pullback is probably in order. But for now, the good times are rolling, and we need to keep capitalizing on them. So today, we add a dividend payer that’s really more like a growth stock, a recent recommendation from Cabot Dividend Investor Chief Analyst Tom Hutchinson. The tech stock is getting a major boost from (what else?) AI, but Tom thinks it still has plenty of room to run – even while trading at all-time highs.

Details inside.

The independence of Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s position is important, and uncertainty over his role is impacting market sentiment. Dynamism and stability is America’s golden goose. Stay a bit on the defensive and conservative and keep adding some international stocks through the summer.

Data showed consumer inflation keeping pressure on the 30-year bond’s yield which touched 5% for the first time since early June. And in Japan, the trend is the same, with rising government bond interest rates raising the costs of paying interest on its debt equal to 250% of its GDP.

With the broad market making new highs in the face of renewed tariff threats, it seems investors are willing to shrug off macro concerns, at least for now.

We’ll heed the bullish action by stepping into three new positions this month, but hedge our bets by making one of them a half-sized position. We also add two new names to our Watch List.

Retail stocks are having a rough year.

The S&P SPDR Retail ETF (XRT) is down 3.8% year to date, and consumer discretionary as a whole has been the worst performing of the 11 major S&P sectors. It makes sense. Tariffs threaten to hit U.S. retailers hardest, including the many companies that sell products like toys, child car seats, and sports apparel (such as our own Dick’s Sporting Goods (DKS)), most of which are made in places like China, Indonesia, Japan and Thailand – the places with the highest potential tariff rates. Combine that with escalating fears of a U.S. recession – also brought on by tariffs – and it could be a double whammy for retailers who don’t sell the essential everyday items that consumers buy regardless of the economic environment.

Last week was another up week for the S&P 500. The index has made up all the tariff Armageddon losses, it’s in positive territory YTD and is within 3% of the all-time high.


The market is flat so far this week. But after the big surge higher, it’s encouraging that the index isn’t pulling back. Perhaps stocks are consolidating a bit ahead of another move higher.

Last week was another up week for the S&P 500. The index has made up all the losses since April and is now in positive territory for the year.

After a multi-month barrage of relentlessly negative headlines, the S&P is within 3% of the all-time high. Seven of the eleven market sectors are higher YTD, and two of the negative sectors are down less than 1% for the year so far.

In today’s note, we discuss pertinent developments for some of the stocks in the portfolio, including Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM), Alcoa (AA), Centuri Holdings (CTRI), Dollar Tree (DLTR), GE Aerospace (GE), Intel (INTC), Pan American Silver (PAAS) and Toast Inc. (TOST).

Intel’s prospects hinge on the success of its 18A process node, which has the potential to be a major catalyst for its turnaround.

The S&P 600 Small Cap Index rallied back to its March 25 levels early this week following weekend talks between China and the U.S. in Geneva, Switzerland. Those talks led to a 90-day ceasefire in the insane trade war between the two countries.

The latest news on trade is also positive, with supposed progress on talks between the U.S. and India, Korea and the EU. The market is a lot happier now that President Trump appears to be working to generate trade deals rather than destroy them.

As the United States and China reached a 90-day trade conflict ceasefire, markets have responded positively though the deal is not binding and lacks much detail. The S&P 500 edged into positive territory for 2025. A number of Explorer stocks are having very good years.

Stocks are back in business!

Yes, a little more than a month after some of the worst investor sentiment readings in years, soaring volatility, and a 19% decline in the S&P 500 – not to mention both the Nasdaq and the Russell 2000 swinging to bear market territory – stocks are suddenly on a roll, recession fears are abating, and, perhaps most importantly, tariff deals have been struck. The 90-day pause on most reciprocal tariffs initiated by President Trump on April 9 – one week after the deeply unpopular “Liberation Day” was announced – triggered one of the biggest one-day rallies in stock market history. Indexes flirted with their early-April lows two weeks later but eventually stabilized, and May has brought a wave of positive tariff news – first, a deal with the United Kingdom, in which key imports like cars were reduced to 10% and steel and aluminum tariffs were eliminated; then, last weekend came a 90-day truce with China. That sent stocks soaring more than 3% on Monday, and they haven’t looked back.

It’s cannabis company earnings season once again. Below, I summarize the highlights from our portfolio companies. But first, here are the major sector trends that emerged from the calls.

The market is booming. The worst appears to be over, and sustained upside from here is entirely possible.

The S&P 500 closed on Friday up about 17% over the last month. The index also moved to within 8% of the all-time high. And that was before the huge rally on Monday.

The Trump administration announced huge progress with China in trade talks over the weekend. The two sides reportedly agreed to a 90-day pause on tariffs, with duties set to drop 115% on both sides by Wednesday. President Trump and the Chinese president are likely to talk in the coming days. This follows the announcement of a comprehensive deal with the U.K. last week.

In today’s note, we discuss pertinent developments for some of the stocks in the portfolio, including Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B), Intel (INTC), Pan American Silver (PAAS), Sirius XM Holdings (SIRI) and SLB Ltd. (SLB).

Consensus assumptions for the energy sector this year are mostly bearish, but several factors argue in favor of a contrarian bullish view.

WHAT TO DO NOW: From a top-down perspective, there’s plenty of good news from the secondary evidence and our Cabot Tides is very likely to turn positive tomorrow, which is another good sign. That said, individual stocks remain very tricky, with lots of selling on strength and poor earnings reactions among names we own or have been watching—that’s not a reason to be bearish, but we advise going slow until we see more real breakouts. In the Model Portfolio tonight, we’re jettisoning our small stake in Argenx (ARGX), which has fallen apart this week pre- and post-earnings, but we’ll add two new half-sized positions: Halozyme (HALO) and GE Aerospace (GE). That will leave us with around 70% in cash—we’d like to put more cash to work but will wait for names to emerge instead of forcing the issue.

Despite the Federal Reserve’s decision to sit tight on interest rates yesterday and rising concerns about upside inflation risk in the mid-term, the broad market continues to act well on hopes of tariff de-escalation.

So far, those hopes are well-founded.

WHAT TO DO NOW: Remain defensive as the ferocious selling in growth stocks continues. Today’s bulletin concerns Duolingo (DUOL), which reported a fine quarter and better-than-expected outlook—but the stock is cracking nevertheless. We’ll cut bait here, leaving us with around 72% in cash.

FTAI Aviation (FTAI) Reports

WHAT TO DO NOW: While we’re not aiming to sell wholesale given our large cash position (60% coming into this week), today we’re going to sell the remaining portion of our stake in AppLovin (APP), which is being mauled by a couple of short reports today. We had already sold the vast majority of our stake, but today we’ll sell the rest and hold the cash. Details on that (and other stocks) below.

The market has quickly moved from one in which companies were given the benefit of the doubt when things weren’t perfect to one in which everything that’s not perfect is a disaster.

Shares of Weave (WEAV) are selling off today following yesterday’s Q4 report that beat on both the top and bottom lines.

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.

Primo Brands (PRMB) and FTAI Aviation (FTAI)

Enovix (ENVX) reported yesterday after the close, and once again the financial results are way down the list in terms of what matters most, for now. It’s all about executing the ramp-up to full-scale production, securing customer orders, and continuing to develop batteries that major electronics manufacturers will qualify for their devices and then order in mass quantities.

WHAT TO DO NOW: The growth stock environment remains challenging, with lots of selling on strength and, this week, more than a few air pockets showing up, and this morning is showing ugly action. We’ve been holding plenty of cash for weeks and probing small new buys here and there without much luck, while paring back or kicking out names that break. Today we’re going to pare back further based on the action of individual stocks: First, we’ll sell one-third of our remaining Palantir (PLTR), while also ditching our half-sized stake in Reddit (RDDT). That will leave us with around 58% in cash—as always, we could redeploy some of that soon, but we want to see institutions step up.

WHAT TO DO NOW: The market is nosing generally higher of late, however, the action remains very hit or miss among individual stocks, with some emerging and others getting hit. Today’s bulletin regards Shift4 (FOUR), which is cracking today after a mundane Q4 report and a big announced acquisition—we took partial profits a couple of months ago and are going to take the rest of our gain off the table today.

Shares of Perpetua Resources (PPTA) are having a tough day today following the release of a Financial Update. This Financial Update is part of the process for formalizing its loan application with the U.S. Export-Import Bank (EXIM), which indicated potential financing of up to $1.8 billion in the Stibnite gold project via a Letter of Interest in April 2024.

Reddit (RDDT) and Cellebrite (CLBT)

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.