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Today, I’m changing the rating on many Smart Investing stocks to Hold. These rating changes are only about share price. Other than Axiall, none of these stocks are experiencing earnings downgrades or corporate troubles. They are all undervalued growth stocks.

When I do research for this weekly update, I review the consensus earnings per share (EPS) estimates for each portfolio stock. The consensus estimate represents the average of all the estimates of the Wall Street analysts who do research on the company. This past week, estimates surged more than I’ve ever seen, involving a majority of our portfolio stocks, and involving much more than the typical one- or two-penny per share increases.

Current Market Outlook


The market was due for a pullback after three straight good weeks, and that’s what we’re seeing now as investors ponder 50-50 polls on Britain’s upcoming E.U. vote (a yes vote is generally considered bearish), the Fed’s meeting this week and Sunday’s horrible terrorist attack. The bottom line is that many indexes are approaching their 50-day lines, though few leading stocks have broken down. As always, you should play it by the book: By our measures, the market’s trends are still sideways-to-up, so we’re sticking with our overall bullish stance; dips following strong advances still look buyable. That said, you should also honor your stops and loss limits, jettisoning any stocks that break support. Further market weakness would have us turning cautious, but today we’ll keep our Market Monitor where it’s been.

Encouragingly, we had no problem finding some great-looking stocks. Our Top Pick is Dave & Buster’s (PLAY), which has a newer retail concept that’s working well, and the firm is on a solid expansion pace.

Stock Name	Price	Buy Range	Loss Limit
Dave & Buster’s (PLAY)	57.01	44.5-46.5	41-42
Penumbra Inc. (PEN)	173.25	57-59	53-54
Match (MTCH)	0.00	13.5-14.5	12-12.5
LLL (LLL)	0.00	142-146	132-134
Halliburton (HAL)	0.00	43-44.5	39.5-40
Cornerstone OnDemand (CSOD)	51.01	39.5-41.5	36.5-37
CDK (CDK)	0.00	54-56	51-52
Burlington Stores (BURL)	193.95	61-63	56-57
AMN Healthcare (AHS)	0.00	38-40	35-36
Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM)	79.05	49-51	45-46

The recent dip in Tesla (TSLA) shares due to the public fallout between Elon Musk and President Trump isn’t a cause for concern; it’s a buying opportunity.

Current Market Outlook


The market’s snapback in recent days has been impressive, with the Nasdaq toying with new-high ground, some other indexes popping back above their 50-day lines and many growth stocks acting much better. But not all is bright and sunny—there remain many divergences in the market, and the advance is extremely thin, with just one-third as many stocks hitting new highs today as during the Nasdaq’s initial run at this level in early July. Because the evidence has improved, we’re shifting our Market Monitor toward bullish territory, so you can put some sidelined cash to work, but we advise stepping back into the market slowly.

Regardless of the daily gyrations, we remain encouraged by the many growth stocks showing better action. Our Top Pick this week is LinkedIn (LNKD), a stock that still has resistance to chew through, but has turned the corner after getting cut in half.

Stock Name	Price	Buy Range	Loss Limit
YY Inc. (YY)	0.00	86-88	77-79
Western Refining (WNR)	0.00	43-45	40-41
Tata Motors Limited (TTM)	0.00	43-44.5	40-41
Tesla, Inc. (TSLA)	818.87	250-260	235-240
Medivation (MDVN)	0.00	82-85	77-78
LinkedIn Corporation (LNKD)	0.00	208-218	189-193
Jumei Holdings (JMEI)	0.00	36-38	33-34
Green Plains Energy (GPRE)	0.00	40-42	35.5-36.5
FleetCor Technologies (FLT)	0.00	140-146	132-134
Carter’s (CRI)	0.00	78-81	73-74

Current Market Outlook


We’ve now seen four constructive weeks in a row for the overall market, not just because the major indexes are rallying, but also due to the amazing breadth during the advance (a good longer-term sign and indicative of a vacuum of selling pressure) and the action of individual stocks, a ton of which are setting up good-looking launching pads. That said, it’s not all peaches and cream—the intermediate-term trend is still on the fence (could turn up this week, but hasn’t quite yet), most indexes and stocks are below longer-term moving averages and, after four good weeks, some shakeouts and potholes (possibly on earnings) could emerge. Overall, we’re optimistic and are bumping up our Market Monitor to a level 6, but it’s best to step (not plunge) into stocks and keep looking for lower-risk entry points.

This week’s list contains another batch of great stories, with a variety of strong charts (some coming off lows, others at new highs, others setting up). Our Top Pick is Coupa Software (COUP), which is in a strong group and has seen superb buying volume in recent days.

Stock Name	Price	Buy Range	Loss Limit
Alarm.com (ALRM)	71.33	57-59	51.5-53
Bilibili (BILI)	28.71	15.5-17	13.5-14.5
Coupa Software (COUP)	262.20	73-77	64-67.5
Cronos Group (CRON)	17.62	13-14.5	10-11
HubSpot (HUBS)	582.89	148-153	135-138
Lending Tree (TREE)	411.51	275-285	253-259
LPL Financial Holdings (LPLA)	85.22	67.5-70	62-64
Novocure (NVCR)	0.00	43-46	38-39.5
Pinduoduo (PDD)	87.53	23.5-25.5	21-22
Veeva Systems (VEEV)	180.23	103-107	93-95

Current Market Outlook


Turkey’s currency crisis is the latest of what seems like a never-ending string of worries this year (volatility implosions, trade wars, rate hikes, etc.) that have hit the market to some extent. That said, we’re relatively encouraged by what we’ve seen during the past couple of weeks, with the major indexes holding and bouncing off important support, some new leadership emerging on earnings and other leading names forming solid bases. It’s still a tricky, narrow and choppy environment, which is a good reason to pick your spots, honor your stops and hold some cash. But we’re nudging our Market Monitor up another notch, as we see a healthy number of good-looking leading stocks and the market’s major trends remain up.

For the second week in a row, we have a growth-oriented list, a positive sign after the late-July selloff. Our Top Pick is Roku (ROKU), a very volatile name with a very big story. Keep it small, try to buy on dips and expect plenty of wiggles.

Stock Name	Price	Buy Range	Loss Limit
Alteryx (AYX)	132.78	51-54	44-46
Carvana (CVNA)	82.90	49-52	42-43.5
CF Industries (CF)	45.23	46.5-48.5	43-44
CyberArk (CYBR)	111.74	68-71	62-64
Match (MTCH)	0.00	47-49.5	43.5-45.5
Michael Kors Holdings Limited (KORS)	73.22	70-72.5	65-66.5
Roku, Inc. (ROKU)	150.46	53.5-56.5	47-49
Seattle Genetics (SGEN)	150.85	71-74	64.5-66.5
Teladoc, Inc. (TDOC)	127.95	67.5-71	59.5-62
Wingstop (WING)	121.52	58-60	53-54.5

The market is going from wobbly to ominous. As of Tuesday’s close, the S&P is negative for the month of July after having been up 3.5% in the first few weeks of the month.


It’s technology. The weakness in the sector that began in the middle of July is continuing. The worry started with the report of AI chip export restrictions to China and has grown into fears of sector overvaluation and slowing growth. But it’s the heart of earnings season. And earnings will confirm or deny those fears.

It’s been a good month in the market, so far. The S&P 500 has regained all the dip from April and is now within a whisker of the all-time high. The driving forces have been an improving interest rate story and solid earnings.

With 92% of S&P 500 companies having reported, earnings increased an average of 5.4% over last year’s quarter. But it’s better than that. If you take out the report of Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY), average earnings growth would be 8.3% for all the other stocks on the index. That’s a strong gain.

What had been a tug-o-war between the souring interest rate narrative and earnings excitement is showing signs of veering in yet another direction.

The news on both inflation and the economy has been worse. The Fed’s favorite inflation gauge, the Personal Consumption Expenditures Index (PCE), came in higher than expected at 3.7% last week. Inflation continues to creep higher this year. And that’s with interest rates already at the highest level in decades.

It’s ugly again. The market recovered from the 10% correction bottom earlier this month. But it plunged again below the earlier low on Monday as tariff issues have taken center stage.

Hopefully, stocks will bounce off the low again, but it isn’t looking good right now. The tariff deadline is this week, and uncertainties abound. It is yet unclear how many countries will be included in the reciprocal tariffs and to what extent there will be exceptions. The market may be happier about things by the end of the week. But if it isn’t, stocks will likely go lower.

The calendar has flipped, and so far the early-January effect has been in effect, with some volatile ups and downs, as well as some sharp rotation into and out of certain areas. Still, we always go with the evidence, and stepping back, not much has changed: For the overall market, the evidence is tilted higher, though growth stocks look worse, still in intermediate-term sideways-to-down phases for most names, but it depends where you look. Overall, we’ll leave our Market Monitor at a level 7 from here, but we’re flexible and will be keying off any breakouts or breakdowns among individual stocks.

Our first list of the New Year is a mix between strong growth titles, aerospace/defense-related names and cyclical stocks. Our Top Pick is a blue-chip growth name that has a history of stair-stepping higher over time—and whose stock just broke out from a three-month range last week.

It continues to be a very bumpy ride for small-cap growth stocks, while those names with a slightly more value-oriented profile are providing a somewhat smoother ride. Big picture, there is no doubt the risk-off environment continues. The good news for more aggressive investors is that valuations have come down significantly, as have analyst price targets. That latter point often seems to be one signal that the worst of the selling is in the rearview mirror. Though, clearly, there are many factors in play.

The bull market is alive and well, as the intermediate-term negative signal I mentioned in recent weeks has been erased by a new positive signal. Happily, we sold very few stocks during the correction (most of ours behaved very well) so today’s recommendation means the portfolio is once again full.

And what is today’s recommendation? A major provider of global infrastructure services whose stock has low risk at this point and good potential for profit as the world slowly gets back to business.

The evidence has improved during the past couple of weeks, with our Two-Second Indicator looking much better and, importantly, a Three Day Thrust signal (one of our Blastoff Indicators) flashing green last week, both of which prompted us to put a little money to work last week. Still, while that’s definitely a feather in the bulls’ cap, the primary evidence remains negative, so we’re continuing to hold plenty of cash while setting our sights on next week: If our Tides turn positive and many potential leaders gap on earnings (there are tons of names reporting next week), we’ll definitely be putting a good chunk of money to work ... but as always, we’ll take it as it comes, which today means going slow but staying flexible should the market’s recent good vibes accelerate.

The potential for an accelerated timetable for the Fed to raise interest rates and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine situation led to volatility this week. As always, other events and news also moved stocks. In particular, Sea (SE), after bouncing back the previous two weeks, was off sharply on Monday following reports that India has banned its popular mobile hit “Free Fire”. The stock has since recovered half of this pullback to close Wednesday trading at 141.

You should have an advisory that will get you out of the market and into cash when the tides turn against you.