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Our healthcare system is broken. Insurance costs have risen inexorably. Doctors are frustrated at being paid less than they are worth. Millions of Americans are unable to afford basic insurance. And Americans are in terrible health. Yet previous attempts to fix the system have failed. So President Barack Obama is hunting for a less expensive system that will keep more of us healthy. I say, “Good luck,” sincerely but skeptically, because while I truly desire a better system I believe the institutionalized powers will make achieving change very difficult. In fact, I think what we need for this challenge is not a president but a dictator.

From stamps and coins to art, cards, cars and even wine, collectibles have been rapidly growing their share of the global financial markets. And while some portfolio managers may position them as “alternative assets,” are collectibles even really investments? More importantly, are they worth your hard-earned money? This month, let’s look at the trends of the booming (and busting) collectibles market.

Few stocks have participated in the YTD rally. In fact, just ten large-cap technology stocks accounted for just about all the market gains this year. The market has so far shunned defense and favored growth. But that situation is unlikely to persist.

There is still lots of risk. Inflation could be stickier, and the Fed could be more hawkish than currently anticipated. Even if a recession never happens, it’s reasonable to expect that the economy will slow in the second half of the year. And overall market earnings have already contracted for the last two quarters.

The relative performance of defensive stocks historically thrives in a slowing economy. If the rally broadens in such an environment, it will need participation from the defensive sectors. If the market pulls back, defense should be the best place to be.

I highlight a new buy-recommended stock in the issue. It is a legendary income stock that pays dividends on a monthly basis. It’s also near the lowest price level of the past two years.

China could be a problem.

After spending most of the summer and September making a series of new highs, stocks suddenly tumbled on Friday. The S&P 500 fell 2.71% and the Nasdaq fell 3.56% in one day. It was tariff news that caused the carnage.

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%.

Are you tired of turning on your television first thing in the morning and getting heartburn over the market’s gyrations?

Yeah, me, too. So, I’m swearing it off. I’m only going to peek at it a couple of times a day, since it doesn’t seem to be finishing the day as it starts, and I just don’t need the angst.



Instead, I’m going to keep looking at the macro-economic figures and try to do my very best to find the right investments for you to weather these ups and downs.

This has been one of the strongest years for mergers and acquisitions on record, and 2026 is primed to keep up the pace. This month, let’s explore the sectors dominating the M&A space, companies drawing Wall Street’s attention as potential targets, the big investment banks behind the deals, and how you can leverage M&A activity to boost your portfolio in the year ahead.

Macy’s (M) – With a capable new CEO since February 2018, Macy’s is aggressively overhauling its store base, cost structure and e-commerce strategy to adapt to the secular shift away from mall-based stores. Macy’s acceleration of its overhaul shows considerable promise.

Current Market Outlook


A batch of disappointing earnings reports combined with the 2015 overhead resistance areas (around 2,080 to 2,140 on the S&P 500 and 5,000 to 5,200 on the Nasdaq) to bring out the sellers last week, especially in some big, old tech stocks, which drove the Nasdaq below its 50-day line. However, the other indexes are in good shape, and while a few stocks have cracked on earnings, most are holding up just fine. The bottom line is that, to this point, not much has changed—the market still doesn’t have the leadership we’d like to see, but the trend is up and the broad market is in good shape. Thus, you should be holding your top performers (though booking some partial profits here and there is always smart) and using normal retreats in strong stocks as buying opportunities.

This week’s list is a hodgepodge of stocks from all over the map, including some growth, commodities and turnarounds. Our Top Pick is Teck Resources (TCK), a giant turnaround play in the commodity space—the firm remained profitable throughout the bust, and after a great quarterly report, earnings are expected to boom in the quarters ahead.

Stock Name	Price	Buy Range	Loss Limit
United States Steel Corporation (X)	0.00	19-20	17-18
VCA Inc. (WOOF)	0.00	61.5-63	57-58
Teck Resources Limited (TCK)	0.00	11-12	9.5-10
Square, Inc. (SQ)	91.04	13.5-14.5	12.5-13
Monster Beverage Corporation (MNST)	0.00	145-150	134-136
Core Laboratories (CLB)	0.00	125-129	113-115
Boardwalk Pipeline Partners (BWP)	0.00	15-15.5	14-14.5
Boston Scientific (BSX)	0.00	21-22	19.5-20
Banc of California (BANC)	0.00	19-20	17-17.5
Amazon.com (AMZN)	2.00	660-680	605-615

Coronavirus fears re-emerged in a big way over the weekend, causing today’s across-the-board selloff. As we look at the evidence, here’s what we see: The intermediate-term uptrend has been cracked, especially when you look at the broader major indexes, and given that this selling comes after a big run and more than a few yellow flags during the past month, it’s likely we’re in a correction that will take some time to play out. That said, it’s also very unlikely that this is the end of the overall bull market, as the longer-term trends and stance of the indexes and most leading stocks are positive; heck, many stocks look just fine (so far) on their charts. Put it together, and we think it’s time to play a little defense and build up some cash by cutting losers and laggards, though we’re also aiming to hold most of our resilient, profitable performers, giving them a chance to hold up and get going.

Encouragingly, this week’s list has a bunch of decent-looking growth-oriented names to consider. Our Top Pick is Zoom Video Communications (ZM), which has not only a very strong chart but also a growth story that appears to benefit from the spread of the coronavirus.

Stock Name	Price	Buy Range	Loss Limit
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)	82.24	47-50	43-44.5
Carvana (CVNA)	82.90	102-106	91-94
Domino’s Pizza (DPZ)	339.47	353-365	320-327
Floor & Décor (FND)	68.03	55-57	50-51
HealthEquity, Inc. (HQY)	70.70	80-83	72-74
MercadoLibre, Inc. (MELI)	980.83	660-690	620-640
SiteOne Landscape Supply (SITE)	98.49	108-112	98-100
SolarEdge Technologies Inc. (SEDG)	124.37	132-137	116-119
Zillow (Z)	76.64	57.5-60	52-53.5
Zoom Communications (ZM)	155.83	100-105	86-89

The outperformance of small caps continues.

Through Tuesday’s close, the S&P 600 is up 10% year to date versus just 1.6% for the S&P 500.

All but three small-cap sectors are outperforming their large-cap counterpart. The strongest small-cap sectors are materials (+20%), energy (+23%), industrials (+17%), and tech (+11.4%).

What was promising action two weeks ago got off to a bad start last week, but it was the late-week collapse in regional banks that caused the market to hit one giant air pocket. Clearly, at this point, the intermediate-term trend has turned down and the broad market is under a lot of pressure; we’re not in the business of catching falling knives, so we’re in the better-safe-than-sorry camp. That said, there are still many potential leaders in a variety of fields that are pulling back sharply, but normally—including some (like many from last weeks issue) that are hardly giving any ground at all. We’re moving our Market Monitor to a level 5—but also taking things on a stock-by-stock basis, which means giving some resilient names a chance.

This week’s list has a collection of mostly resilient names, with some steady actors but also a few true growth stories, too. Our Top Pick is a young upstart that’s higher risk, so keep positions small and look for weakness.

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.

Apple (AAPL) and Alibaba (BABA) are two blue chip stocks headed in two different directions. And therein lies the problem with buy-and-hold investing.

Things are looking up. Inflation is falling. The Fed is almost done hiking. And there is no recession to be found.


The market has surprised just about everybody in the first half of the year. The S&P had risen 13% as of days before midyear and over 24% from the October low. This new bull market is not what was expected.



After an abysmal 2022, most pundits were expecting more ugliness in the first half of this year and a recovery somewhere in the second half. But investors sensed that we could get through this Fed rate hiking cycle with minimal pain. Then artificial intelligence (AI) gave stocks a further boost.

We’re going through a highly unusual period in the history of the stock market during which earnings estimates keep rising for a broad spectrum of companies. That’s because we’re experiencing a growing economy, deregulation and lower income tax rates, all of which contribute to rising corporate profits.

First off, a quick note: Due to our regular schedule (50 weeks a year), there won’t be a Movers & Shakers update this shortened week, or a Top Ten issue next Monday—but we will send out a Movers & Shakers update next Monday and will be around all next week if you have any questions. Have a fantastic Thanksgiving!

Nothing much changed with the market last week: The major indexes were down, but not severely, and the intermediate-term trend continues to point up. That said, under the surface, it remains a very mixed bag—some areas look great, but there are as many (or more) wobbly names out there compared to names in solid uptrends. We’ll keep our Market Monitor at a level 5 this week, though we’d like to individual stocks act better soon.

This week’s list is heavy on old world companies, though there are a few great-looking growth names, too. Our Top Pick is in that space and has shown great power before and after its recent earnings report.

Even though there was some crazy action in the market last week the bulls remain in charge and many stocks are breaking out to fresh highs.