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When I look at my favorite online weather site, there’s always a graph that charts neat temperature averages.

In part two of my two-part series on monthly dividend stocks, I offer up six more monthly dividend payers for investors seeking a steady income stream.

This week Conde Nast announced it was killing Gourmet magazine, leaving my wife and thousands of other foodies feeling betrayed. Many blamed Editor in Chief Ruth Reichel for the failure, but to me the termination of Gourmet is one more symbol of the times.

There has clearly been abnormal selling in many of the higher-quality income names in the market.

While we’re growing more optimistic that the next big move will be up, we continue to advise a cautious stance as the market’s numerous crosscurrents continue—the indexes are still range bound, there’s rotation under the surface and relatively few stocks are hitting new highs.

The market’s attention has been squarely focused on jobs this week as updates on that front are likely to influence the Fed’s upcoming decision on interest rates next week. If it hikes (which is likely), it will mark just the third increase since the financial crisis.

How are gun stocks behaving in the wake of the senseless shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School? About how you would expect.

I scanned my database to find 10 stocks with the right credentials to perform very well in 2016. My top 10 picks are stocks of U.S. companies with exceptional prospects for 2016. All of my stock selections are selling at bargain prices, and all have the potential to easily beat the stock market indexes in 2016!

“Markets are never wrong, only opinions are.” – Jesse Livermore

Few quotes related to investing have stuck with me more than that one.

Jesse Livermore, of course, is an investment legend who, in the early 20^th century, pioneered day trading and who was the basis of the best-selling Edwin Lefevre book, Reminiscences of a Stock Operator – considered by many to be the investing Bible. Many of his words are relevant to today’s market, nearly 85 years after his death. And I think the above quote is as evergreen as any and is important to remember in bull markets like this one.

The market and most stocks remain in a solid uptrend, though earnings are beginning to have the anticipated push-pull effect on the market, with lots of gaps up and down to start the day. We think increased volatility is nearly a sure bet going forward, especially after such a great rebound. In the short-term, then, make sure you have a plan of how you want to deal with earnings season (we include any upcoming earnings dates of our recommendations in today’s issue), and be prepared for lots of action in both directions. Long-term, though, the path of least resistance remains up, so we favor using normal retreats as buying opportunities.

This week’s list is one of the more growth-oriented that we’ve seen this year; just about every stock has a real, sustainable growth story with solid numbers. Our favorite of the week is Proto Labs (PRLB), which has set up a nice risk-reward entry here after tightening up for a few weeks.

Stock Name	Price	Buy Range	Loss Limit
Zillow (Z)	76.64	67-69	59-60
Vipshop Holdings (VIPS)	14.25	34-36	30-31
Trulia (TRLA)	0.00	35.5-37	31-32
Santarus (SNTS)	0.00	23.5-24.5	20-21
Spirit Airlines (SAVE)	57.03	33-35	30-31
Proto Labs (PRLB)	0.00	63-65	56-58
Nu Skin Enterprises Inc. (NUS)	46.07	78-80	70-71
Nationstar Mortgage (NSM)	0.00	44-46	40.5-41.5
Generac Holdings (GNRC)	86.60	39.5-41	36-37
Ambarella (AMBA)	52.79	17.5-19	16-16.5

Current Market Outlook


Officially, the major indexes are still in no-man’s land, gyrating within their two-month ranges. But the action is definitely feeling heavier. While a few stocks have emerged during earnings season (including a few in today’s issue), every market rally of a day or two has led to quick selling pressure; the broad market can’t get its act together and most stocks that poke into new high ground quickly retreat. We’re still not willing to make any bold predictions here—the environment remains more choppy than bearish—but the bottom line is that no money is being made. Thus we are knocking our Market Monitor down a notch (though it’s still in neutral territory) due to the recent deterioration.

The silver lining is that our screens are still picking up on a good number of resilient stocks, including more than a few earnings winners. Our Top Pick this week is Harman International (HAR), which has come to life after a yearlong rest. Try to buy on dips.

Stock Name	Price	Buy Range	Loss Limit
Pacira Biosiences (PCRX)	54.85	103-107	95-97
ServiceNow (NOW)	341.86	70-73	65-66
Netflix, Inc. (NFLX)	423.92	420-440	385-390
Lowe’s Companies (LOW)	98.15	66-68	60-62
Harman International Industries, Inc. (HAR)	0.00	126-131	115-116
Freescale Semiconductor (FSL)	0.00	30-32	26.5-27
Blackstone Group (BX)	49.12	35.5-36.5	32-33
Burlington Stores (BURL)	193.95	45-50	44.5-45
Biogen (BIIB)	0.00	378-385	348-352
Boeing (BA)	432.22	141.5-146.5	130-132

Current Market Outlook


Early January is almost always a tricky time as big investors rotate and reposition their portfolios, leading to lots of crosscurrents and volatility. We saw some of that today and won’t be surprised to see more gyrations in the days ahead. Thus, we’re focusing mostly on the bigger picture, and on that front, the trend remains up, and we’re seeing a lot of pullback resumption set-ups (mostly from cyclical and financial stocks) and base-breakout set-ups (among some growth-oriented stocks). Now’s not the time to chase a stock’s every tick higher or lower, but you should remain bullish, and have a list of set-ups ready should the buying pressures resume after the modest late-December market retreat. We’re leaving our Market Monitor at a level 8 out of 10.

This week’s list has many stocks that have formed the aforementioned set-ups—should they resume their uptrends, many could have nice runs. For our Top Pick, we’re going with Micron Technology (MU), which gapped up strongly on earnings two weeks ago before pulling back. Dips look buyable to us.

Stock Name	Price	Buy Range	Loss Limit
Arista Networks (ANET)	0.00	95-98	90-92
Dave & Buster’s (PLAY)	57.01	54-56.5	51-52
HD Supply Holdings, Inc. (HDS)	0.00	41-43	37.5-38.5
Micron Technology, Inc. (MU)	43.31	21.5-23	19.5-20
Nabors Industries (NBR)	0.00	16-17	14.5-15
Oasis Petroleum (OAS)	12.57	14.5-16	13-13.5
Quanta Services (PWR)	91.45	34-36	31.5-32.5
Texas Capital Bancshares (TCBI)	0.00	76-78	71-72
United States Steel Corporation (X)	0.00	31.5-33	29.5-30.5
WellCare Health Plans, Inc. (WCG)	271.83	135-138	127-129

Over the past month or so, it seemed like stocks would continue their frenetic surge. This week, however, the market appears relatively lackluster with a lot less excitement. Some investors may yearn for more fireworks, but as a value investor, I find this calm to be more sane.

So far, earnings season is showing that investor expectations have become overly negative. Results from banks indicate that consumer activity remains healthy even as domestic economic growth stalls.

A listing of positions currently available at Cabot Wealth Network, one of the largest and most-trusted independent investment advisory publishers in the country.