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The market continues to show many small positives, but we’re really looking for a BIG positive to change the market’s character and kick individual growth stocks (many of which are set up well) higher. Until then, many names are subject to potholes, as we saw this week; we trimmed our Shift4 position further and are placing Allegro on Hold.

That said, our general outlook is unchanged--the odds favor the next big move is likely up, but until that happens, we’re playing things cautiously, holding some resilient names, small positions and plenty of cash. Tonight’s issue goes into detail into all our stocks, discusses one reason why the market is so choppy and talks about the hugely negative sentiment out there that could propel the market down the road.

Stocks began the second half of 2024 exactly the way they behaved for much of the first half: at all-time highs, but with only a couple handfuls of mega-cap tech stocks and artificial intelligence plays doing most of the heavy lifting. It remains both a bull market and a stock picker’s market, so today we pick a stock that’s been attracting a lot of institutional attention of late. It’s a tech stock, but it’s no mega-cap; it’s a small-cap, space-related title that Tyler Laundon recommended to his Cabot Early Opportunities audience last month. Its shares have exactly doubled this year and yet still trade 40% below their 2021 highs.

Details inside.

The title of this piece is “The Gold Star and the Falling Knife.” So I guess I’d better pay that off. The Gold Star is a reference to the energetic rebound in the price of gold that’s been lifting mining stocks for the past couple of weeks. This is mostly a defensive move by investors who are looking some something that will hold value in a chaotic market environment. And after a nearly four-year pullback in gold prices, even those who aren’t fans of precious metals (like me) are getting a little gold gleam in their eyes.

IAC/Interactive Corp. (IACI) is up 40% since it was recommended as a top pick in January.

This year marks the 30th year of the Dick Davis Digests’ publication. In addition, later this week, the Investment Digest will publish its 700th issue. Dick Davis started the Digest in 1981, in the middle of a two-year recession. You can see by the orange arrow on the chart of the...

Consumer staples stocks have gotten a boost from COVID-19, as demand for toilet paper and disinfectant has skyrocketed. These four stand out.

In our final issue of 2023, we try and capitalize on the red-hot, Fed-fueled (for once) market by adding a growth play that is resurgent in a post-Covid world. It’s a brand-new recommendation from Mike Cintolo in Cabot Top Ten Trader. It should be a nice addition to a Stock of the Week portfolio that has plenty of shiny objects as we close out the year. Enjoy – and happy holidays!

Insider buying isn’t meaningless; but it’s also not a reliable indicator on its own. Here’s why - and how you should approach the market now.

The market is solid. It is within a whisker of the high. But this is the last week of August. What will it do when investors start really paying attention again after Labor Day?

There has been some back and forth recently. The indexes pulled back as technology and the AI trade ran out of gas. But then stocks rallied again after the Fed Chairman indicated at the Jackson Hole speech last week that the central bank would finally cut the fed funds rate in September. Wall Street loves rate cuts.

Sell Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) for a 21% gain and Buy Federated Investors (FII).

While the market was weak this morning, the bull market remains intact, so I continue to recommend that you be heavily invested in stocks that help achieve your investing goals.

Today’s featured stock is a low-risk dividend payer whose products you have probably bought—and probably never knowing the company’s name. More importantly, Tom Hutchinson says it’s cheap.



As for the current portfolio, most of our stocks look good, so the only changes is an upgrade of Five Below (FIVE) to Buy.

FTAI Aerospace (FTAI) Still Firing

After a holiday-shortened but very productive week for the market, here’s what’s happening with all our positions.

After a holiday-shortened but very productive week for the market, here’s what’s happening with all our positions.

Varonis (VRNS) Moves to Sell. MSFT, FTAI, AAPL, SN up next.

Sell Live Nation Entertainment (LYV) & ThredUp (TDUP)

As we wrote on Monday, our offices will be closed on Friday for the long Thanksgiving weekend, but we wanted to shoot out a barebones Movers & Shakers today with some updated stops on our positions. There will be no issue of Top Ten next week (one of our two weeks off all year), but we will be back at it on Monday if you have any questions and will send out the normal Movers & Shakers next Friday (December 6). Have a great Thanksgiving!

UL Solutions (ULS) Reports; HubSpot (HUBS): Sell for Quick Gain

Heading into mid-day shares of BYRN are down about 20%, canceling out our paper gain that accumulated over the last five weeks. Here are a few thoughts after digesting commentary on this morning’s conference call.

Shares of Artivion (AORT) are up over 12% today after the company beat expectations in the first quarter. Revenue grew 1.6% (Q1 of last year was a monster quarter so a tough comparison) to $99 million versus expectations of $94.8 million while adjusted EPS of $0.06 beat expectations by $0.02.