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The S&P 600 Small Cap Index has pulled back a bit more after trading up near the high end of my expected trading range last week. We’ll continue to watch this range (900 to 1,000) as I expect the index to bounce around within it for several weeks, if not months.

As we enter the brand-new year, we have a renewed buy signal from our intermediate-term timing indicator, and the best stocks are hitting new highs—including a lot in our portfolio. But one of ours is a true laggard, and will be sold today.




As for the new addition, it’s a hot growth stock favored by Mike Cintolo, which is seeing great growth in the exciting area of networking at the edge of the cloud.




Details inside.

Last week I told you that we’d received a new buy signal from our intermediate-term market-timing indicator—but it didn’t last long. The market’s widespread selling on Wednesday and Thursday quickly turned it negative again.

So capital preservation is once again of primary importance—though the charts say the time is ripe for at least a modest bounce.

Editorial Note: With the market closed tomorrow, January 9, we’ve bumped up this week’s Issue to today.

At the end of 2024, we were in a “buy now to win tomorrow” type market. Now, we’re in more of a “buy now to win in the coming quarters” type market.

Given this backdrop, our first portfolio addition of the year is a lower-risk, high-quality software company specializing in digital banking solutions. It’s the fastest grower in its space and is on pace to deliver its first full-year profit in 2025.

Like a lot of stocks in both the software and financial arenas, shares of this company have been a little weak lately. I think that’s good – we can step in at a price modestly lower than just a few weeks ago.

Today’s addition is a profitable small-cap MedTech company specializing in products to treat peripheral nerve injuries.

Management has a number of growth-oriented irons in the fire. And I think the company could be an attractive acquisition target.

While the sock has been relatively stable in this increasingly volatile market, we’ll still start with a half-sized position, just in case.

What follows just might sound like the craziest thing I’ve ever written. But hear me out if you can—and try to keep an open mind. I’ve been writing about investing and capitalism for the past 29 years, and in that time I’ve seen a lot of truly great companies created. Among the public companies that have changed my life—in a good way—are Amazon, Apple, Cisco, Chipotle Mexican Grill, eBay, Expedia, Facebook, Google, Home Depot, Intel, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Monster.com, Netflix, Paypal, Tesla Motors, TripAdvisor and Whole Foods.

The market is getting stronger and higher-growth names are leading the charge.

This month we dig into an overlooked company with a global payments platform that’s helping solve digital payment challenges in complex industries.



Growth is expected to be over 30% for a number of years, and the stock is acting well.



Enjoy!

Viatris (VTRS) reported 1Q 2024 results yesterday, narrowly missing on revenue but coming in line with earnings expectations at 67 cents per share. Sales of older drugs Lipitor and Norvasc declined, with the branded drugs unit’s revenue dropping 4.5% to $2.31 billion. The company has completed its women’s healthcare business divestiture and expects its API unit sale to close soon. Despite the challenges, Viatris reaffirmed its financial guidance for the year, projecting total revenue between $15.5 billion and $16.0 billion, with adjusted EBITDA estimated at $5.0 billion to $5.4 billion. The company remains focused on debt reduction, having paid down $546 million during the quarter.

One of the minor predictable patterns that the stock market has developed over the years involves the days before and after holidays (like the Fourth of July). Basically, stocks do a little bit better on those days, but the pattern is neither big enough nor dependable enough to make money on. Still it’s worth keeping in mind as you watch the action of stocks this week.

We discuss earnings from Adient (ADNT), ESAB (ESAB), Frontier Group Holdings (ULCC), Gannett (GCI), Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (IRWD), Janus Henderson Group (JHG), Kaman Corporation (KAMN), Molson Coors (TAP) and Western Union (WU).

Though the current market rally is just two weeks old, we’re already beginning to see some big-volume upmoves in the most fundamentally and technically attractive stocks in the market … a sure sign that institutional investors are getting active on the buy side. While this week’s Fed meeting will almost certainly have a big say in the market’s near-term direction, the evidence right now tells us the bulls are re-taking control. And that means you should be putting some money to work! The last couple of Top Ten Reports have highlighted many leaders, and this week’s batch has plenty of interesting stories, big and small, new world and old world. Our favorite of the week is Gafisa (GFA), a Brazilian homebuilder that came public just a few months ago. It’s just now lifting from its first basing structure on good volume, but be aware the shares are somewhat thinly traded, so the stock can be choppy.

Stock Name	Price	Buy Range	Loss Limit
BIDU (BIDU)	0.00	350-390	-
BUCY (BUCY)	0.00	88-92	-
CCC (CCC)	0.00	14-16	-
DE (DE)	0.00	84-87	-
EDU (EDU)	0.00	77-85	-
FCSX (FCSX)	0.00	40-45	-
GFA (GFA)	0.00	37-40	-
MLNM (MLNM)	0.00	14-16	-
RTP (RTP)	0.00	440-475	-
WDC (WDC)	0.00	29-32	-

A growing share of adults believe their finances are heading in the wrong direction, and if you count yourself among them, it’s time to do something about it. This month, it’s time for a financial checkup. We’ll dive into the 10 financial mistakes you must avoid when it comes to spending, saving, investing, and even managing your credit, so you can get yourself on the path to a clean bill of (financial) health.

In many individual stocks I’d say the action is starting to lean more towards frothy, than bearish. That’s why I’ve been pulling on the reins in recent weeks, moving more stocks to hold and suggesting taking smaller positions if you’re buying.

We comment on earnings from several recommended companies. Also, we raise our price targets for three stocks that have moved above our existing price targets. And, rooting for the turnaround Cincinnati Bengals.

U.S. stocks have stabilized over the last few days as investors keep confidence in markets despite the Omicron variant, concern over inflation, and mixed economic data. Today we have two upgrades and a new recommendation from a country with an emerging and vibrant fintech culture supported by its government. The standout stock this week in the Explorer recommendations is Marvell Technology Group (MRVL), which jumped from 71 to 91 after the company recently reported that adjusted earnings soared 72% on a 61% increase in sales.