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Aerospace and oilfield service supply company KLX Inc. (KLXI) reported a strong fourth-quarter 2018 earnings beat this week (January year-end). Non-GAAP earnings per share (EPS) were $1.00 vs. the expected $0.88.

With the calendar flipping to 2025 and the long holiday weeks/weekends behind us, most traders will be back at their desks starting yesterday. Let the fun begin!

With the completion of the Super Tuesday primaries, the final grid for the 2024 U.S. presidential election appears to be set. While it is always possible that some surprise will lead to a different lineup on one or both cards, our country is now on track for a rematch of Biden v. Trump. The election date of Tuesday, November 5, is less than eight months away.

If you invest in MLPs or are considering it, there are special tax considerations that should influence where you hold them.

The leading stocks in the Consumer Discretionary and Materials sectors will likely outperform other stocks.

Gold is in high demand, already one of the top-performing assets in 2025, but a look at the global backdrop shows fresh catalysts should continue to drive the yellow metal higher.

Gold has been one of 2025’s top-performing assets, and persistent tailwinds of geopolitical tension, trade uncertainty, and stubborn inflation could drive it much higher.

It’s been a challenging week for growth investors as the stocks that climbed the fastest are getting hit the hardest, such as our Cloudflare (NET) position, despite still posting strong numbers. On the other hand, Oracle (ORCL), where expectations are more modest, jumped from 89 to 104 this week on earnings that beat expectations.

The market could be a bit vulnerable in the short-term, but our market timing indicators remain bullish. In the Model Portfolio, we’re putting one stock on Hold, but we’re adding a new stock. That will leave us with about 20% in cash.

Current Market Outlook


There’s been a bunch of news during the past few trading days, including this morning’s revelation that a likely autumn Italian election could threaten the euro, as well as continued China trade shenanigans, both of which attracted sellers. Today’s move did put a dent in a couple of indexes—the NYSE Composite’s intermediate-term green light went up in smoke, for instance—but the other indexes continue to hold most of their early May gains. Much more selling from here could put a fork in this rally, so our antennae are up. But right here, we are still leaning bullish though we are knocking our Market Monitor down a notch. Thus, continue to hold your resilient performers, but don’t forget to take some partial profits when you have them and hold some cash until the buyers truly take control.

This week’s list has an array of ideas from various corners of the market. Our Top Pick is Carpenter Technologies (CRS), a specialty metals firm with huge earnings estimates and whose stock is hitting new highs.

Stock Name	Price	Buy Range	Loss Limit
Carpenter Technology (CRS)	53.25	56.5-58.5	51-53
Foundation Medicine (FMI)	136.68	88-92	80-82
iQIYI (IQ)	0.00	21.5-22.5	19-19.5
Lululemon Athletica (LULU)	304.69	100-104	93-96
Macy’s, Inc. (M)	36.36	33-35	30-31
Micron Technology, Inc. (MU)	43.31	59-62	52-54
PBF Energy (PBF)	38.93	42-45	38-39.5
Turtle Beach (HEAR)	26.70	14.5-17	11-12.5
WTW (WTW)	100.47	76.5-79.5	70-72
ZTO Express (ZTO)	28.84	19.5-21	17.5-18.2

It’s possible stocks are stretched, at least in the near term, and the just-underway earnings season will put that to the test in the coming weeks. The next big move may be to the downside, so today we’re adding some more portfolio protection in the form of a mega-cap health insurer that pays a modest dividend but has a history of beating the market. It’s the latest recommendation from Cabot Dividend Investor Chief Analyst Tom Hutchinson.

Growth stocks and many indexes perked up nicely during the past couple of weeks, but the intermediate-term trend is effectively neutral and we still haven’t seen much big-volume buying. We’re optimistic, but advise you to continue being selective on the buy side and holding a chunk of cash on the sideline.

Current Market Outlook


While there are still a handful of growth stocks in decent shape, the spate of setups we saw during the past few weeks has been replaced by a ton of breakdowns, including many big winners from last year slicing below longer-term support. Meanwhile, the broad market is OK, while some areas (commodity stocks, financials and many turnaround situations) are accelerating higher. For the here and now, sticking with what’s working (and avoiding what’s cracked) is key, but also keep in mind that such divergences can lead to wild action and reversals. Thus, some buying here or there is fine, but pick your spots (and stocks) carefully, take partial profits on the way up and don’t get too aggressive.

This week’s list is chock-full of names that are thriving in this environment, including a few that are getting going after multi-month rests. Our Top Pick is Wesco (WCC), a dominant electronic products distributor, which just gapped out of a base on earnings last week.

Stock Name	Price	Buy Range	Loss Limit
Celanese (CE)	167	162-166	149-152
Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF)	21	19.5-21	16.5-17.5
Devon Energy (DVN)	26	25-26.5	21.5-22.5
Fortune Brands Home & Security (FBHS)	112	107-110	97-99
Franklin Resources, Inc. (BEN)	35	33-34.5	29.5-30.5
Funko, Inc. (FNKO)	23	22-23.5	19-20
Revolve Group (RVLV)	48	52-54	45-47
Schlumberger (SLB)	32	29.5-31	26.5-27.5
Under Armour, Inc. (UAA)	23	22.5-24	20.5-21
WESCO International (WCC)	108	105-108.5	94-96

The election of Donald Trump has altered the trajectory of the economy and the market.

Investors perceive his election will deliver stronger economic growth, primarily through deregulation and tax cuts. Although interest rates spiked higher on the expectation of a stronger economy, the market views the revised prognosis as overwhelmingly bullish, so far.

The new administration will employ drastically different policies that will have a significant effect on different sectors and can’t be ignored. The most obvious sector beneficiary of the new administration is energy.

A huge beneficiary will be natural gas exports. The U.S. has recently become the world’s second-largest exporter of natural gas. Exporters ideally sell cheap American gas overseas where it fetches a much higher price. More production and cheaper domestic prices are ideal for exporters. At the same time, the new administration is likely to encourage as much natural gas exporting as possible.

In this issue, I highlight a company that runs the largest liquid natural gas (LNG) export facility in the country. It is a subsidiary of existing portfolio position Cheniere Energy (LNG), which is up 15% since the election. It pays a huge income and still sells at a reasonable price.