The past few sessions have brought an avalanche of news and rumors involving inflation, rumors of China/Taiwan tensions, a worldwide tech shutdown and, this weekend, a shakeup in the 2024 election, all of which have caused some reverberations. At this point, the top-down measures look fine, but there’s no doubt that leading stocks (especially growth stocks) have gotten very sloppy, with a pickup in breakdowns and distribution. All in all, we’ll move our Market Monitor to a level 6 and stay flexible: A strong rebound and some positive earnings gaps could still launch many new leaders, but we need to see the buyers step up in individual names to get more aggressive.

Another piece of good news is that it’s still not hard to find strong stocks with good stories, as this week’s list has names from a variety of areas. Our Top Pick is a big-cap name that reacted well to earnings last week and looks poised to help lead a fresh upturn in its sector.

We rarely draw major conclusions from a couple of days of trading, but there’s no doubt the action since last week’s inflation report is very interesting, with the broad market coming alive, though that’s happening as some extended tech leaders wobble a bit. All in all, the intermediate-term trend is turning up and we are seeing a few more names emerge, though to us, it remains a stock-by-stock environment, so we’re focused on great setups and potential breakouts in stocks showing relative strength. We’ll leave our Market Monitor at a level 7.

This week’s list is very eclectic, with everything from precious metals to bull market stocks to AI plays to biotech—a sign the broad market is kicking into gear. Our Top Pick is a mid-cap in the biotech space with very strong sales and earnings projections as their new drug grows rapidly.

Two of the past three weeks have had odd mid-week holidays, which combined with the time of year, has led to some pretty slow trading since the tail end of June. We’re now seeing more tightness and legitimate setups out there, so if the buying pressures spread we think there could be a surprising number of names that provide solid entry points. While there are some signs that could be starting, earnings season is set to ramp, and as always, that will likely tell the intermediate-term story. For now, given that the market’s decent-but-tricky evidence hasn’t changed much, our advice isn’t changing, either. Our Market Monitor remains at a level 7.

This week’s list has another batch of intriguing setups that could go if the market cooperates. Our Top Pick has always had a good story and great numbers, and now the stock seems to be ready to move as its sector comes back to life.

If you’ve been with us for a while you might remember that we frequently write that January can be a tricky month, since, as the calendar flips, tax-related moves (profit taking) can occur and big investors will often reposition their portfolios, creating lots of crosscurrents. July is not the same thing, but we wouldn’t be shocked to see some repositioning and volatile action in the days ahead given how many investors are rowing in different directions already. Our point: Don’t fight the evidence, which continues to tell us things remain choppy and narrow, but also stay flexible in case the market flashes some change in character. Right now, we’ll once again leave our Market Monitor at a level 7, taking things on a stock-by-stock basis.

This week’s list has a ton of setups, with many stocks rounding out launching pads that could get going if all goes well. Our Top Pick is part of a strengthening sector, has terrific growth numbers and is under strong accumulation. Try to start a position on dips, with the idea of adding more of a decisive breakout.

We have been starting to see signs that the stretched rubber band might be snapping back a bit, with a few strong areas taking on water while the Dow Industrials and the broad market rally. It’s something to watch and, if it gets a head of steam going, could launch some new leadership while denting some popular names. That said, we’ll see how things play out, especially as the end of Q2 (and the first half) is this week, which can often bring some volatile trading. All in all, we remain in our current stance and are taking things on a stock-by-stock basis.

This week’s list has some familiar names, but also a few that have recently come under big accumulation on some sort of news. Our Top Pick has come alive after earnings as the long-term growth plan (buoyed by some industry consolidation) comes into focus. Aim for dips to enter.

On the one hand, there are still a decent number of stocks that act well and are generally advancing, but on the other hand, more and more names across a variety of areas are hitting air pockets or simply falling by the wayside. To us, the divergence tells us the risk of a big character change is elevated, and that’s why we continue to advise holding a decent chunk of cash—but with plenty of stocks still acting well, we’re also OK with selective buying in names that are under strong accumulation. We’ll again leave our Market Monitor at a level 7, though we remain flexible and will adjust exposure if need be.

This week’s list is another eclectic one, with an increasing number of turnaround-type stories. Our Top Pick is a bigger outfit that’s very cheap but is starting to see some AI benefits—and the stock has shown exceptional power of late.

It’s now been a couple of months since the market’s April low, but instead of a firm uptrend that’s telling you big investors are diving in or adding to positions, we’re seeing lots of split action. Whether this is a fresh launching pad for most stocks or near-term toppy action that will lead to a summer slump is anyone’s guess—right now, we’re just following along with the evidence, which means holding and targeting stocks that are fresher and under accumulation, raising stops and dumping names that crack and holding a chunk of cash given the sloppiness seen in the broad market. We’ll leave our Market Monitor at a level 7, but once again, it’s mostly about what you own.

From solar to chips to biotech to aerospace, this week’s list is another that has something for everyone. Our Top Pick is a turnaround-type chip player whose stock has decisively blasted off in late April as business is set to turn up.

After a sharp correction in early April, the market posted a nice, but not powerful, rebound for four weeks but the past two weeks have definitely hurt the near-term evidence, whether you look at the overall market or leading stocks, where some abnormal action has appeared. There’s still more positive evidence than not, but at this point it’s very much a mixed bag, with some stocks acting fine, some coming under the gun and lots of up-and-down action. We’ll leave our Market Monitor at a level 7, but it’s vital to be in the right names and sectors.

This week’s list has many resilient names, including a few that have been out of the spotlight for a while. Our Top Pick is a small medical device outfit that, thanks to a good-sized acquisition of late, looks like a major player in the spinal surgery area, with new products and technology selling well.

All in all, the good-not-amazing environment remains in place, with intermediate-term uptrends intact for the major indexes and a solid amount of good-looking leadership out there. That said, there also remain a fair number of potholes out there, and most broader indexes tested their 50-day lines late last week. All told, there are plenty of stocks in a variety of sectors that are working, so we’re bullish, but picking strong names, targeting decent entry points and booking a few partial profits on the way up are advised. We’ll leave our Market Monitor at a level 8.

This week’s list has something for everyone, and we like how many of them have shown excellent power of late. Our Top Pick looks like an institutional way to play the energy transition trend. Aim to enter on dips.

Quick note: Because next Monday is Memorial Day, our next issue of Top Ten will be published Tuesday after the close, May 28.

The market’s good-looking rebound continued last week, with big-cap indexes notching new highs and most other indexes close to doing so. Granted, a lot of individual stocks are still battling with resistance from their prior highs in February/March and many growth names are set to report earnings during the next couple of weeks. Throw in the fact that sentiment has definitely gotten a bit complacent again and you want to pick your stocks and entry points carefully. Still, right now the intermediate-term trends are up for the market’s major indexes and most leading and potential leading stocks. We’ll keep our Market Monitor at a level 8.

This week’s list has a lot of enticing names, with some showing power and others set up nicely to break out if the bulls remain in control. Our Top Pick is a retail name that appears to be finally getting going after a long, tedious consolidation.

There’s no doubt the evidence has improved during the past three weeks, with the major indexes living above their 50-day lines, the broad market returning to good health and with some leadership names perking up, too. Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s perfect out there—defensive-type indexes and stocks have been outperforming, earnings season has been very tricky and we’re even starting to see some hot and heavy action in speculative names, which usually isn’t a great sign. All in all, the evidence is certainly more good than bad, so we’ve extended our line a bit but are also looking to be “pulled” into a more heavily invested position should more leadership names emerge. For now, we’ll leave our Market Monitor at a level 7.

This week’s list has something for everyone, with a lot of charts showing power, usually following earnings. For our Top Pick, we’re going to the cyclical side of the market, with a name that has out-of-this-world earnings and is just emerging from a tight area.

Last week was another constructive week, with the major indexes surviving some early volatility to finish the week higher—and with more leading (and potential leading) stocks perking up as they round out multi-week launching pads. It’s pretty obvious the intermediate-term evidence has improved during the past couple of weeks, though we wouldn’t say it’s all clear out there, as the major indexes and growth measures are moving into the thick of resistance, and this week brings an avalanche of earnings reports from key stocks, so it’s still very much a day-by-day process here. Even so, we always go with what’s in front of us—we’ll nudge our Market Monitor up to a level 7 and could go higher if more individual names kick into gear.

This week’s list has a bunch of recent earnings winners, some of which are out to new highs, while others are setting up. Our Top Pick is one of the former that has a great near- and longer-term outlook in the aerospace and defense area.

The selling that hit the big-cap indexes last week continued this week—the Nasdaq and growth-oriented measures (like the IBD 50 Index) have decisively moved below their 50-day lines, while the S&P 500 is testing that key trend line. Meanwhile, the broad market, while volatile, mostly held up (small caps are up on the week).

It remains very unusual times in the market, with a big rotation and then this week’s selloff that’s included most names, all on a bevy of news and rumors (chip sales restrictions to China, China/Taiwan tensions, a massive tech snafu this morning due to a CrowdStrike gaffe, etc.). We have many thoughts, and we’ll go through them point by point here.

For the past few weeks we’ve written about the narrow, divergent market environment, saying that, while not bearish (these things can keep going for many weeks or even months), they do raise the risk of a sharp character change—be it a general selloff or a sharp rotation.

It’s been more of the same in this holiday-shortened week, with the Nasdaq up a couple of percent, the S&P also sporting gains, but most of the rest of what we look at is flat to down on the week.

It’s been a relatively quiet week in the market, with most indexes up a bit as of this morning, but generally less than 1% (Nasdaq a bit better than that). Interest rates have also been quiet, checking in with their second straight week of little net change (up four basis points total in the past two weeks).

It started as a relatively quiet week as summer gets going and Wednesday was off. But the past two days have brought a good-sized rotation, with a lot of elevated, strong names deflating in a hurry even as the major indexes don’t move too much.

We’ve seen plenty of split tapes in our day, but this one is about as divergent as we can remember, and this week was another example of it playing out. Coming into today, the big-cap Nasdaq was up about 3% on the week while the S&P 500 was up 1.5%—but outside of a couple of growth measures, the rest of the market was flat (up 0.5% to down), and that’s before what looks like a down opening this morning.

This week was a lot like the overall environment—mixed—with the big-cap indexes and most growth measures up 1%-ish, while the broader market has struggled, down 1% to 2% on the week, give or take.

It’s been a sour week for the market, with the major indexes down a bit (1% give or take depending on what index you’re looking at), growth measures down more (call it 2%-ish) and some abnormal action among a few names (especially in the software group, which went over the falls yesterday).

After a few constructive weeks in the market, this one was a bit of a bummer, with the selling pressures picking up in some key names—and the broad market. As of this morning, the big-cap indexes are up or down a smidge on the week, though broader indexes (small- and mid-caps, NYSE Composite) were off 2% or so.

Make it four in a row when it comes to constructive weeks for the market, as the major indexes and key growth indexes and funds are all again in the black, generally up in the 1% to 2% range.

It’s been yet another constructive week in the market, with prices rising and some key levels being overcome—after this morning’s open, most major indexes are up 2% or more and are now beginning to “live” above their 50-day lines. By the letter of the law, in fact, the intermediate-term trend has turned back up, joining the longer-term trend (which never came close to turning down).

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.

Cabot Top Ten Trader is meant to be something where we do the first four or five steps of the process for you and then let you take it from there.

Guidelines to improve your investment results with Cabot Top Ten Trader.

The Cabot Top Ten Trader system evaluates price and relative performance of 8,000 charts each week to select the strongest momentum stocks.

By following thse guidelines, we’ve always been able to get on board relatively early in each new bull cycle.

A brief guide on using the Cabot Top Ten Trader.

This is a collection of tips on stock chart reading, something that’s key to Mike Cintolo’s growth stock methodology, but something few individual investors (and even professional investors) understand too well.

If you follow these rules, you’re sure to boost your portfolio’s results.

Here some of the most common questions Mike Cintolo gets from the readers of Cabot Top Ten Trader.