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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.

The market continues to be messy, but we’re going to take a partial swing at a profitable software company playing in a big, growth market – cloud services.

This company is like a smaller version of Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure. But without all the other parts of those much, much larger companies.



We may be a bit early. But we’ll manage that risk by taking a half position in a company that’s likely to grow above 30% for years and is very profitable.


Enjoy!

In today’s note, we discuss the recent earnings report from Advance Auto Parts (AAP). We also discuss two new additions to the portfolio in the form of YETI Holdings (YETI) and Alibaba Group Holding (BABA).

In today’s note, we discuss the recent earnings reports from Agnico-Eagle (AEM) and Janus Henderson Group (JHG). Our note also includes the monthly Catalyst Report and a summary of the August edition of the Cabot Turnaround Letter, which was published on Wednesday.

In today’s note, we discuss developments and institutional ratings upgrades for some of the stocks in the portfolio, including Fidelity National Information (FIS), Paramount Global (PARA) and Starbucks (SBUX).


The famed “Santa Claus Rally” is underway and, assuming a successful conclusion, portends a bullish early part of the coming New Year.

With the turn of the calendar only a few days ahead, just about every investor is mapping out their market views for the coming year. Some do this formally, like Wall Street brokerage firms who publish their opinions on where the S&P 500 and interest rates will finish next year and their outlooks for all sorts of economic and financial indicators. Others will informally develop their views and expectations for the coming year.

With mortgage rates leveling off and housing prices still elevated, here’s everything you need to know to confidently buy a new home in less-than-ideal conditions.

Last week’s pullback in the major indexes was pretty disappointing, but when we took a look around at all the evidence this weekend nothing much had changed on an intermediate-term basis: Most leading stocks are acting fine, the trends are still pointed up for the major indexes and, while it’s been a bit more rotational of late, there are still plenty of fresher titles that are advancing. We’ll be watching everything going forward (including the still-steep uptrend in Treasury rates), but at this point, we remain optimistic. We’ll leave our Market Monitor at a level 8.

This week’s list is chock-full of growth-y names, many of them familiar ones. Our Top Pick is a big, liquid, well-sponsored e-commerce emerging blue chip that just catapulted out of a big base.

The Fed’s latest hawkish stance prompted an upside breakout in Treasury rates and a big late-week selloff in the stock market, with just about everything getting whacked. That action puts to bed the rally attempt from late August, of course, and reinforces our overall stance—the intermediate-term trend remains down, and with the broadening of selling pressure, we’re pulling our Market Monitor down to a level 5. To be fair, though, we’re not sticking our head in the sand: Yes, there are many worries, but the longer-term trend is still up and there’s plenty of evidence suggesting a resumption of the post-bear rally is coming at some point. Even so, it’s best to wait to see the bulls arrive first than to catch falling knives—right now, we advise holding plenty of cash.

While there aren’t many super-strong stocks out there, this week’s list has many that have taken the selling in stride thus far. Our Top Pick is helping to lead a group move that got underway a few weeks ago and could be starting its first pullback—further weakness would be tempting.

As we plow into March, the overall story remains mostly the same for the market—the primary evidence remains strong, with the trends of the major indexes up, most leading stocks in good shape and with hundreds of stocks hitting new highs. That’s the main focus, of course, but not to be ignored is the near-term froth seen in many names and the fact that few leaders are at high-odds entry points, extended above moving averages and having been on the run for months. Thus, our advice is unchanged: We’re riding winners higher, but are picking our spots on the buy side, aiming to find earlier-stage stocks. We’ll again leave our Market Monitor at a level 7.

This week’s list has many stocks that have emerged in recent weeks that seem worth a shot, especially if we see a normal retreat in the market. Our Top Pick has a great story and has transformed into a well-sponsored name (nearly 1,500 funds own shares!) as it’s the clear leader in a unique sector.

This week’s update includes commentary on earnings from Adient (ADNT), Berkshire Hathaway (BRK/B), Brookfield Reinsurance (BAMR), Elanco Animal Health (ELAN), TreeHouse Foods (THS), Viatris (VTRS) and ZimVie (ZIMV).

We all prefer rising markets to declining markets, but there is a silver lining to a weak tape – when most stocks are heading south, it becomes easy to spot abnormal strength. That’s what OptiMo, our proprietary stock screening system, has been doing in recent weeks; if big investors aren’t selling shares in this market, they’re likely to buy with abandon during the next bull move. Of course, with the bears in control of most stocks, you should stick with a defensive stance for now – no use investing a ton of money when the odds are against you. But nibbling on a couple of leaders and readying your watch list should pay off when the bulls return. This week’s Top Ten contains another batch of commodity, solar and emerging market stocks. Our favorite of the week is ICICI Bank (IBN), an Indian bank that’s directly leveraged to that country’s tremendous growth. The stock broke out last week, and Indian stocks are acting well.

Stock Name	Price	Buy Range	Loss Limit
ABX (ABX)	0.00	48-53	-
ASTI (ASTI)	0.00	17-23	-
CF (CF)	0.00	100-110	-
CHU (CHU)	0.00	20-23	-
HOLX (HOLX)	0.00	66 - 68 1/2	-
IBN (IBN)	0.00	66-72	-
ILMN (ILMN)	0.00	64-72	-
JASO (JASO)	0.00	65-70	-
KGC (KGC)	0.00	21-24	-
SWN (SWN)	0.00	56-58	-

This month we’re jumping into a software company that’s developed an innovative product for the emerging gig economy. But it’s not another Airbnb, Lyft or Uber. No apartments for rent or cars for hire here.
Rather, just like eBay and Etsy have created online marketplaces for buyers and sellers of physical goods, this company has created a marketplace that matches buyers and sellers of digital services—things like graphic design, writing and web development.


As the gig economy explodes this company is poised to enjoy rapid growth. And while no company is inoculated from the coronavirus, this one has some protection since it’s part of the digital, not physical, economy.

The market’s main trends remain up, and thus I remain bullish, while continuing to remind you that a balanced portfolio with attention to risk management is always smart.