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This was a tough week for all of us as growth stocks, particularly tech stocks, were impacted by concerns over higher interest rates and slower economic growth. Events in China with its economic slowdown and European conflict are not helping matters either. This week we head to Chile for a double commodity play on food and electric vehicles.

The market’s uptrend is under a bit of pressure and the Fed’s dovish stand on interest rates is a sign of weakness that is unlikely to impress Wall Street. Nevertheless, Sea Limited (SE) has regained its momentum and NovoCure (NVCR) is up 35% over the past two weeks. And our emerging markets timer (EEM) is positive. This week we go to Australia for a new fintech idea that has been on a tear, but fortunately has pulled back for a decent entry point.

Now, unlike Wellcare Group, Crocs still has an excellent growth business, and we still have high expectations for the company. But we don’t confuse the stock with the company, and we never argue with the stock. CROX, like WCG, is heavily damaged. Every rally from here will be met with selling pressures from investors who bought higher who will now be content to “get out even.” And thus it’s highly unlikely that this stock will return to its winning ways in the near term. So we say sell.

Today’s note includes earnings updates, ratings changes, the podcast and the Catalyst Report.

This week’s market recap is a familiar story—the major big-cap market indices are doing great! But the small cap index is still wallowing in the mud.

Today’s addition is a small-cap networking company on the cusp of a potential multi-year growth cycle.

The big-picture growth catalyst? Emerging AI and cloud computing technologies that place new strategic importance on network infrastructure and security for data centers, hyperscalers and global enterprises.

All the details are inside this month’s Issue.

Enjoy!

*Note: Your next issue of Cabot Explorer will arrive next Wednesday, November 26 due to the market holiday next Thursday, November 27 in observance of Thanksgiving Day.

Nvidia (NVDA) sales in the October quarter hit a record $57 billion as demand for the company’s advanced Blackwell AI data center chips continued to surge, up 62% from the year-earlier quarter and beating consensus estimates. This should keep AI momentum moving forward.

By coincidence, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s (MBS) high level visit to Washington this week led to the Commerce Department approving sales of substantial advanced chips to Saudia Arabia as well as a slew of related deals. My question is whether these deals are investing in Saudi’s economic transformation rather than in American jobs, technology, and growth.

This was a challenging week for investors with little movement either way in Explorer stocks.

The Iranian conflict has expanded into a Mideast pressure cooker with wider repercussions for energy markets. Opening the Strait of Hormuz is crucial as higher energy and oil prices impact not just Americans but our allies and partners that depend on imports for almost all their energy. The challenge is that the situation is volatile and overall security and economic goals collide with day-to-day actions.

I scanned my database to find six stocks with the right credentials to perform very well in 2015.

Welcome to our 2026 TOP PICKS issue! This is one of my favorite issues each year as our Cabot analysts take a deep look at their portfolios and share their top stock ideas for 2026.

You’ll find a well-diversified selection of stocks—growth, value, dividend payers, metals, technology, healthcare, retail, manufacturing, and much more!

I hope you’ll find one or more to your liking!

We started to see the market shake and bake a bit last week, which isn’t unusual considering the heady run the indexes and dozens of growth stocks have had since the late-June low. Exactly what happens next is anyone’s guess; our feeling is simply that the next month will probably be more difficult than the last month, so you should expect a few potholes or sudden selloffs. But with the main trend still pointed up, we think higher prices are likely in the weeks and months ahead. Thus, while plunging into a bunch of stocks right now probably isn’t the best idea, we do think you should work to remain (or work toward becoming) heavily invested.

This week’s list has some old friends and a couple of new faces. There’s lots of strength to choose from, but our favorite is Michael Kors (KORS) a fashion house with ambitious growth plans.

Stock Name	Price	Buy Range	Loss Limit
Under Armour (UA)	0.00	69.5-71.5	64-65
Ocwen Financial (OCN)	0.00	49.5-52	45.5-46.5
LKQ Corp. (LKQ)	0.00	28.5-30.5	25-27
Michael Kors Holdings Limited (KORS)	73.22	69-72	63.5-64.5
Jazz Pharmaceuticals (JAZZ)	0.00	77-80	74-75
Harman International Industries, Inc. (HAR)	0.00	66-69	59-60
Facebook, Inc. (FB)	0.00	37.5-39.5	32-33
Cubist Pharmaceuticals (CBST)	0.00	59-62	52-54
Baidu (BIDU)	0.00	130-136	118-120
Activision Blizzard, Inc. (ATVI)	0.00	17-18	15.5-16

Current Market Outlook


The market remains very volatile, reacting to the news of the day (Greece, in particular, seems to be pushing and pulling the market on a daily basis), and most indexes are still trapped within trading ranges. However, stepping away from the headlines reveals increasing bullish evidence—growth stocks have been acting well for a few weeks and the Nasdaq has punched out to multi-year highs, yet investor sentiment remains apathetic. It’s not time to jump in with both feet (selectivity on the buy side and taking partial profits on the way up still makes sense), but we’re nudging our Market Monitor up another notch in reaction to the market’s action.

This weeks’ list has a good mix of names from a variety of industries. Our Top Pick is Ciena (CIEN), which has a history of big pops and drops, and started a fresh uptrend during the past few weeks.

Stock Name	Price	Buy Range	Loss Limit
Youku Tudou (YOKU)	0.00	26.5-28	24-25.5
Intrexon (XON)	0.00	48-50	43.5-44
Bank of the Ozarks (OZRK)	0.00	46-47.5	41.5-42.5
Outerwall Inc, (OUTR)	0.00	80-82	73-74
Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. (LGF)	0.00	35.5-37	32.5-33
Insys Therapeutics (INSY)	0.00	37.5-39.5	33-34
HD Supply Holdings, Inc. (HDS)	0.00	34-35.5	32-32.5
Salesforce.com (CRM)	0.00	74-77	69-70
Cheetah Mobile (CMCM)	0.00	32-34	29-30
Ciena (CIEN)	44.25	24.5-26	22.5-23

Current Market Outlook


It’s hard to talk about “the market” right now, partly because there are so many diverging trends out there. The broad market remains in rough shape, with 200 to 300 stocks hitting new lows every day and small- and mid-cap indexes looking poor. But the bigger-cap indexes are holding up, and, surprisingly, we’re seeing lots of growth stocks holding up (and a few shooting ahead) despite the turbulence out there. Overall, then, we remain in a cautious (but not defensive) stance—you should hold stocks that are acting fine, and some buying (preferably on dips) is fine, too. But we’re still advising you to hold a good amount of cash in case the broad market infects the resilient sectors.

This week’s list features many stocks that remain in favor today. Our favorite is Stratasys (SSYS), a leader in 3D printing whose stock has spent most of the year consolidating. The recent pullback looks normal, and you could start a position around here.

Stock Name	Price	Buy Range	Loss Limit
Twitter (TWTR)	40.37	50-53	46.5-47.5
Stratasys (SSYS)	0.00	118-123	110-112
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN)	512.96	350-360	335-340
Medivation (MDVN)	0.00	97-102	88-90
Mobileye N.V. (MBLY)	0.00	49-51	43-45
Facebook, Inc. (FB)	0.00	76-79	71.5-72.5
Deckers Outdoor Corp. (DECK)	141.68	96-98	91-92
Community Health Systems (CYH)	0.00	53-55	50-51
Ambarella (AMBA)	52.79	41-43	35-36
American Eagle (AEO)	0.00	14.5-15	12.5-13

Current Market Outlook


September is often a herky-jerky month, with crosscurrents arising as institutional investors position their portfolios for the rest of the year. So far, though, despite some ups and downs in the major indexes, the action has been encouraging—growth stocks are waking up, with some glamour stocks (including a few recent IPOs) tearing up the charts. As we’ve written repeatedly, there are still some dark clouds out there; despite the improved action, we still see many broader, smaller-cap indexes acting poorly, and even the big-cap indexes have hit resistance in recent days. But the action of individual stocks continues to have us leaning bullish.

This week’s list has a few out-of-the-way ideas today, and our Top Pick is one of them—Mallinckrodt (MNK) is a little-known (but well-established) drug firm with huge earnings estimates for the next few quarters. And the stock has been super strong during the past few weeks.

Stock Name	Price	Buy Range	Loss Limit
Western Refining (WNR)	0.00	46-48	42.5-43.5
Mallinckrodt (MNK)	0.00	82.5-85.5	75-76
Health Net (HNT)	0.00	44-46.5	42-43.5
GoPro, Inc. (GPRO)	0.00	57-61	50-51
Green Plains Energy (GPRE)	0.00	43-45	39.5-40.5
Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG)	773.32	660-685	625-635
Cavium (CAVM)	0.00	52-54	49.5-50.5
Baidu (BIDU)	0.00	218-228	205-208
Banco Bradesco (BBD)	0.00	17-18	16-16.5
Ambarella (AMBA)	52.79	36-38	32-33

Last week’s market action provided an awesome opportunity to discover leading stocks; they were the ones that quickly bounced back from the broad market selling and broke out to new highs! It’s not often you get such a clear opportunity to separate the wheat from the chaff, but when you do, it’s worth taking advantage of. Today, all those stocks that broke out are on our favored list, while those that bounced weakly are suspect. And those that did worse? They should be sold—note that our Hold list on page 12 has shrunk a bit. Also arguing for selling is the fact that our Market Monitor remains in neutral territory, mainly because the market’s intermediate-term trend is down. In short, holding some cash and keeping new buys small is advised. Our favorite stock in today’s crop is WebMD (WBMD), which has solid growth prospects and a great technical set-up.

Stock Name	Price	Buy Range	Loss Limit
WebMD Health Corp. (WBMD)	0.00	44-46	39-40
Twitter (TWTR)	40.37	60-65	54-55
Sangamo BioSciences (SGMO)	0.00	16.5-18.5	14-15
Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL)	0.00	47-50	45-46
Qihoo 360 (QIHU)	0.00	95-98	84-85
Pandora Media Inc. (P)	0.00	33-36	30-31
NPS Pharmaceuticals (NPSP)	0.00	32-35	29-30
Keryx Biopharmaceuticals (KERX)	0.00	14-15.5	12.5-13.5
Facebook, Inc. (FB)	0.00	60-62.5	55-56
Concur Technologies (CNQR)	0.00	113-115	100-102