*Note: Your next issue of Cabot Profit Booster will arrive next Wednesday, May 28 due to the market holiday next Monday, May 26 in observance of Memorial Day.

Sparked by positive trade developments, the stock market raced higher last week as the S&P 500 rallied 5%, the Dow gained 3.4%, and the Nasdaq added 6%.

The evidence continues to take steps in the right direction, with most of the intermediate-term, top-down measures now pointing up and, after last week, more and more leadership-type names are beginning to perk up. Of course, the headline news from this weekend was the downgrade of U.S. debt, which could be used as an excuse to pull in some indexes and stocks that have had good runs … though today there wasn’t much of that at all. All told, we’re increasingly optimistic when it comes to the bigger picture, though we still want to see more fresh leaders emerge. We have our Market Monitor at a level 7.

This week’s list is a bit eclectic, with everything from earnings winners to earnings setups to news-driven names. Our Top Pick acts like an institutional leader and has the story and numbers to match.

The market is healthy again, or at least WAY healthier than it was a month ago, as tariff worries have faded, for now, and encouraging inflation and jobs data have helped restore investors’ faith in the U.S. market. Stock of the Week stocks have performed even better, as is often the case, led by the likes of Sea Limited (SE), Banco Santander (SAN), BYD (BYDDY) and old reliable, Tesla (TSLA). Today we add to our haul by striking while the iron is hot on growth stocks by recommending Mike Cintolo’s latest addition to his Cabot Growth Investor portfolio.

Details inside.

*Note: Your next issue of Cabot Options Trader Pro will arrive next Tuesday, May 27 due to the market holiday next Monday, May 26 in observance of Memorial Day.

Sparked by positive trade developments, the stock market raced higher last week as the S&P 500 rallied 5%, the Dow gained 3.4%, and the Nasdaq added 6%.

*Note: Your next issue of Cabot Options Trader will arrive next Tuesday, May 27 due to the market holiday next Monday, May 26 in observance of Memorial Day.

Sparked by positive trade developments, the stock market raced higher last week as the S&P 500 rallied 5%, the Dow gained 3.4%, and the Nasdaq added 6%.

From a top-down perspective, the market’s action over the past few weeks is about as good as you could have hoped for -- our Cabot Tides, Two-Second Indicator and Aggression Index have turned positive, and combined with the negative sentiment and blastoff-type indicators, we think the path of least resistance has turned up and solid gains are likely, at least when looking out many months.

The holdup is growth stock leadership, which has been tricky to this point, with many strong stocks getting hit while beaten-down names rally. That situation has improved some this week, but we want to see more fresh leadership kick off in the weeks ahead.

Still, we’ve reacted to the improvement in the evidence by making a few moves, some on the sell side (kicking out laggards), but a bunch on the buy side -- we still have 55% cash and are hoping to put some of that work if and as new leaders emerge. We review all our thoughts and some names we’re watching closely for purchase in tonight’s issue.

Just a little over a month ago, stocks were crashing. But things are changing fast.

The tariff uncertainty has vastly improved with the announcement of trade deals with the U.K. and positive negotiations with China. The S&P has soared 22% from the intraday low on April 7. The index is now in positive territory YTD and within 5% of the all-time high. The technology-laden Nasdaq index is up 28% from the April low.

But the market tends to overreact in the near term. Tariff trouble isn’t over yet. There could still be setbacks. A negative headline can roil the market on any day. There’s also the economy. Growth is slowing. It may pick up or slow further. What will be waiting beyond the tariffs?

Fortunately, there is a trend to bank on that will thrive regardless of the near-term gyrations of the market or economy.

Artificial intelligence is a massive growth catalyst that will endure and thrive in any environment. It is a generational phenomenon that will drive certain stocks to huge gains. The dominant trend has sold down and consolidated in recent months. Such a move was overdue. But technology is coming back strong. It’s the hottest sector again.

In this issue, I highlight a goliath in the technology industry that is poised for a huge growth windfall from artificial intelligence in the years ahead. The stock has fallen far from the high. But the AI trend is revving up again and will likely transcend the current unpredictable environment.

The Federal Reserve event came and passed without much volatility last week as stocks were mostly quiet. For the week, the S&P 500 fell 0.5%, the Dow lost 0.2%, and the Nasdaq declined by 0.3%. But yesterday’s 3% run-up in the S&P 500 and nearly 4% in the Nasdaq – fueled by a 90-day pause on U.S.-China tariffs – may have signaled a turning point for the market. Stay tuned.

There’s no question that, from a top-down perspective, the evidence has continued to improve over the past few weeks, with today seeing the market surge as the U.S. and China slashed tariffs on each other. That said, even with today’s run in the indexes, leadership is hard to spot—many names that approach old highs are rejected, with the buying focused on beaten-down names for the most part. Don’t get us wrong: We’re encouraged and extending our line, but we’re doing so slowly until some real leadership develops. Our Market Monitor stands at a level 6.

This week’s list has a mix of names from different sectors and with some at different areas on their charts. Our Top Pick staged a classic gap to new highs after earnings last week. We’re fine starting small here or on dips.

Tariff fears have eased, or are at least on extended hold, and the market feels jubilant for the first time in months. Is it the start of an extended rally that could get us back to new highs? Probably too early to tell. But it’s been a boon for our portfolio, led by Tesla (TSLA), which is up 14% in the last week. Today we add an undervalued travel stock to the portfolio that’s a household name that got hammered during Covid but has come out the other side with flying colors – and yet shares are still playing catch-up. It’s a stock I recommended to my Cabot Value Investor audience earlier this month.

Details inside.

The Federal Reserve event came and passed without much volatility last week as stocks were mostly quiet. For the week the S&P 500 fell 0.5%, the Dow lost 0.2%, and the Nasdaq declined by 0.3%

The Federal Reserve event came and passed without much volatility last week as stocks were mostly quiet. For the week the S&P 500 fell 0.5%, the Dow lost 0.2%, and the Nasdaq declined by 0.3%

In today’s note, we discuss pertinent developments for some of the stocks in the portfolio, including Alcoa (AA), American Airlines (AAL), Berkshire Hathaway (BRKB), Sirius XM (SIRI) and SLB Ltd. (SLB).

Overall market liquidity remains ample, yet small-cap stocks have lagged in recent months, suggesting money availability isn’t as profuse as it was last year.

WHAT TO DO NOW: We continue to stay relatively close to shore as the major indexes remain rangebound and many stocks are hit and miss—but we are impressed given the resilience shown after some worrisome headlines, and earnings season has gone fairly well so far. Today and tonight, we’re making a few small moves: On the sell side, we sold one-third of our AppLovin (APP) stake today and, tonight, will sell half of our On Holding (ONON) position—but we’ll also buy an additional 3% position to Duolingo (DUOL) and start a half-sized stake in DoorDash (DASH). All told, we’ll still have a mid-40% cash position, but we could do more buying if the recent resilience leads to clear buying.

Small caps have underperformed since last Thursday with yesterday’s selloff pushing the index to the lowest level since mid-January.

The main culprits are yesterday’s slightly hotter-than-expected CPI report, concerns about tariffs (carveouts expected) and an uptick in bond yields. Yesterday the 10-year yield jumped back to 4.64%, a three-week high.

On last Friday’s Cabot Street Check episode, the weekly podcast I co-host with my colleague Brad Simmerman, we welcomed on four different Cabot analysts to help us take the market’s temperature in the midst of an eventful and rather volatile start to 2025. All four of them – Mike Cintolo, Cabot’s Chief Investment Strategist; Jacob Mintz, our options trading expert; Tyler Laundon, our small-cap and early-stage stock expert; and Clif Droke, my fellow value investor who runs the Cabot Turnaround Letter – described themselves as varying degrees of “cautiously bullish.” Given all the headlines of late, that qualifies as a victory.

These are dark days for cannabis investors, maybe the darkest ever.

AdvisorShares Pure U.S. Cannabis (MSOS), one of the key benchmark exchange-traded funds in the space, is down 85% in the past five years against market gains of 80%.

As has always been the case, the fate of cannabis stocks is much more about politicians than the leadership and results at cannabis companies.

Stocks continue to move higher despite more tariff news. A 25% tariff was announced over the weekend on all imported steel. But the market is so far taking the news in stride during a good earnings season.

We’ll see what happens with the tariffs. But whatever happens with this latest round, it is most likely that tariff issues will remain at least a background story for most of this year. Meanwhile, stocks are being buoyed by strong earnings.

In today’s note, we discuss pertinent developments for some of the stocks in the portfolio, including Alcoa (AA), Janus Henderson Group (JHG), Paramount Global (PARA), Starbucks (SBUX) and Teladoc Health (TDOC).

The market is continuing its bumpy ride higher. Despite a barrage of concerns, 10 of the 11 S&P 500 stocks sectors are higher year to date.

While Nvidia (NVDA) has pulled back more than 20% over the past two weeks, our conservative AI play IBM (IBM) has tacked on 40 points over the same period- hitting an all-time high early this week.

Cloudflare (NET) shares were up again this week and are now up 28% in 2025 to reach 140.

Dutch Bros (BROS) shares rose 8.5% this week and have surged 23% so far in 2025.

It’s one thing after another. But stocks keep inching higher.

January featured the interest rate scare, as the ten-year Treasury hit the highest level since 2023, and the DeepSeek news, which called AI spending into question and sent related stocks reeling. Yet the S&P 500 finished the month up 2.7% with 10 of the 11 sectors higher for January. This week features more potential market-moving issues.

In today’s note, we discuss pertinent developments for some of the stocks in the portfolio, including Alcoa (AA), Atlassian (TEAM), Fidelity National Services (FIS), Paramount Global (PARA) and Starbucks (SBUX).

WHAT TO DO NOW: It’s been a typically volatile January, with this week’s huge convulsions among AI stocks the latest crosscurrent to deal with. Overall, the top-down evidence is mostly neutral at this point, and leading stocks are in a similar boat as last week—improving, but without much decisive buying so far. To be fair, we’d like to put some money to work and could do so soon (next day or two) if we get the right setup, but tonight we’ll stand pat and look for signs big investors are getting involved. In the Model Portfolio, we cut our loss in Marvell (MRVL) on a special bulletin Monday, though most of our stocks are acting well and tonight we’re placing On Holding (ONON) back on Buy as it looks to be resuming its overall uptrend. Our cash position is right around 50%.

UL Solutions (ULS) Reports; HubSpot (HUBS): Sell for Quick Gain

Sell a Half of Atlassian (TEAM)

Apple (AAPL) Reports

Willdan Group (WLDN) Delivers Q3

Earnings Roundup: MSFT, SN, FTAI

Varonis (VRNS) Moves to Sell. MSFT, FTAI, AAPL, SN up next.

Shares of our silicon battery startup Enovix (ENVX) are trading up nicely today after the company reported Q3 results after the close yesterday. Lots to cover here so I’ll bullet point the most relevant stuff then give my two cents:

We went into the TransMedics (TMDX) Q3 earnings report yesterday afternoon with a quarter of our original position and lingering questions about the underlying trends in the business.

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.