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Here is the August 2020 issue of Cabot Undervalued Stocks Advisor.

Thank you for subscribing to the Cabot Undervalued Stocks Advisor. It’s earnings season, and in this issue we review fresh reports from MKS Instruments (MKSI), Tyson Foods (TSN), Columbia Sportswear (COLM), Amazon.com (AMZN) and Marathon Petroleum (MPC). Marathon also announced a deal to sell their Speedway retail gas station business for $21 billion in an all-cash deal, which we discuss.



As a newsletter looking for undervalued stocks in a market full of enthusiasm for only a select few mega-sized tech companies, we almost feel a moral obligation to highlight contrarian ideas. In this issue, we recommend a stable but meaningfully out-of-favor company that has the potential to provide solid long-term returns. “Out-of-favor” implies that it doesn’t have the immediate profit potential of a “digital economy” stock, but that lack of zest produces the opportunity. With low expectations comes upside surprises. We believe global beverage company Molson Coors (TAP) fits the bill.



You may notice that we are tweaking some of the components of the Cabot Undervalued Stocks Advisor letter. For example, we’re bringing back the portfolio tables to every weekly and monthly issue. A “Hold” rating means that we believe the stock is fine to hold in the portfolio, but that the risk/return trade-off isn’t compelling enough to warrant a “Buy” nor unfavorable enough to warrant a “Sell.” Also, for the monthly issue, we may not always have a “Feature” stock in each portfolio – that doesn’t mean we don’t like any of the names, it probably just means that we featured it recently and want to avoid being repetitive to save you time and effort.



Please feel free to send me your questions and comments. This newsletter is written for you and the best way to get more out of the letter is to let me know what you are looking for.



I’m best reachable at Bruce@CabotWealth.com. I’ll do my best to respond as quickly as possible.

Current Market Outlook


The repeated bouts of heavy-volume selling have driven the major indexes below their key 50-day moving averages, and that’s a clear sign that the bulls are not in control. We’re moving our Market Monitor down to a level 5 and advise you to hold a good chunk of cash on the sideline, cut back on new buying (keep any new positions much smaller than normal) and honor your stops. None of this is to say that we’re bearish—it’s certainly possible the market snaps back, as there’s plenty of pessimism and many liquid leaders are holding up well. But after weeks of sloppy action and distribution, the odds favor further downside in the near-term, and we’ll need to see a few strong days before concluding the overall uptrend is resuming.

This week’s list, though, has a bunch of resilient growth-oriented names, which is encouraging. Our Top Pick is DXC Technology (DXC), which is the product of a recent merger and sports giant cash flow.

Stock Name	Price	Buy Range	Loss Limit
Abiomed (ABMD)	0.00	148-152	139-141
Alibaba (BABA)	254.81	156-166	145-150
DXC Technology (DXC)	0.00	82-84	76.5-78
Insulet (PODD)	175.69	52.5-54.5	48.5-50
Kite Pharma (KITE)	0.00	120-127	105-109
Realpage (RP)	0.00	40-42	37-38
Red Hat (RHT)	0.00	99-102	94.5-95.5
Salesforce.com (CRM)	0.00	89.5-92	84-85
Stamps.com (STMP)	0.00	198-210	177-184
Weibo (WB)	98.16	85-89	77-79

The global trend toward financial technology has made fintech stocks a hot commodity. Here are seven worth your consideration.

Centrus Energy (LEU) shares jumped almost 19% this past week and are up 70% in the last six months. Dutch Bros (BROS) shares gained 6.3% this week following weekly gains of 10.6% and 36%.

Tariffs took center stage this week as the incoming Trump administration indicated day-one 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico and some more for China as well.

I recently noticed a few popular stocks such as MicroStrategy (MSTR) offering exposure to leveraged Bitcoin which to me seems like excessive risk and a sign of potential trouble.

This is like pouring gasoline on a roaring fire. It reminds me of a quote from Edward Chancellor’s book The Price of Time, which offered this gem:

“……as a rule, panics do not destroy capital; they merely reveal the extent to which it has previously been destroyed by [the taking on of excessive leverage in good times].”

As the U.S. economy recovers, M&A activity is picking up steam. You could profit from owning these potential takeover targets.

Here’s the funny thing: I’m not describing 2007. I’m talking about 1998, a year that’s paralleling this one so closely I believe it’s prudent to look back before looking ahead.

Let’s turn our attention to additional profitable opportunities

In that light, I added four extra stocks at the end of this month’s issue; bonus stocks that won’t permanently join the portfolios, but nevertheless offer excellent money-making opportunities today.

In the closing days of 2020, when many people were focused on preparing for the holidays, a small software company went public through a SPAC IPO. The event occurred on December 23.

Part customer relationship management (CRM) platform, part lead generation and marketing platform, the company’s software helps home services companies grow and manage their businesses, and it streamlines the move-in and post-move journey for homeowners.



The stock represents a compelling way for investors to gain exposure to evolving consumer and business trends related to the housing market and home services, especially home inspection, moving, insurance and utility services. After a pandemic-affected 2020 growth could top 60% in 2021, then remain well above 30% for the foreseeable future.



All the details are inside. Enjoy!

Want a low-risk investing idea? There are probably plenty that show up at your doorstep every week. Let’s talk about cardboard stocks.

In today’s note, we discuss a number of earnings results and new developments for several of our portfolio positions, including American Airlines (AAL), Atlassian (TEAM), Duluth Holdings (DLTH), Intel (INTC), SLB Ltd. (SLB) and Super Hi International Holding (HDL).

Senior housing has expanded beyond care homes to include new concepts like village living and cohousing communities, but it’s important to make sure your lifestyle aligns with the community.

Our portfolio advanced this week led by India’s ICICI (IBN), which was up 19% on the back of a tax cut and prospects for higher growth.

Everybody is talking about the potential of generative AI. But a lot of organizations haven’t yet organized their digital data in such a way that they can leverage it for AI, let alone protect it once AI applications gain access.

Today, we’re jumping into a steady-growth software company that helps solve this problem.

Today’s recommendation is a small company, and there are no analysts following the stock. But it has big clients for which its products are absolutely critical. The stock has been on a wild ride this week. I have a hunch I know why, and we’re going to step in and to try and grab shares at a discount, starting with half a position.

Donald Trump has been lashing out at Amazon in recent days, sending AMZN stock on a downward spiral. And that spells buying opportunity in a great stock.

Three of today’s featured companies seem most obviously ready to begin or continue run-ups in the coming days Yesterday’s earnings report made it clear that a fourth’s dividend is safe, with a current yield of 8.4%. Plus, energy stocks are acting well recently.

The good news is that it seems that the markets are back on track, although we remain cautious.

Economic statistics continue to be strong, with factory orders and consumer confidence better than analysts expected. Home prices have moderated somewhat, although interest rates and the continuing lack of inventory are not helping that market.

Despite fears to the contrary (or perhaps because of them), 2010 has so far been a pretty good year for investors—especially the last few months. Stocks in a lot of sectors—retail, automobiles, banks—recovered from their recessionary lows, creating plenty of profits for smart investors. But there were also new stocks...