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Partially aided by declines in mega-cap technology stocks Apple (AAPL) and Nvidia (NVDA), both of which lost 6% last week, the holiday-shortened week was not particularly kind to the bulls as the S&P 500 fell 1.3%, the Dow lost 0.75%, and the Nasdaq declined by 2% last week.

Rescheduling news at the end of August prompted a major rally in the shares of cannabis companies. Insiders expect it to take effect faster than you might think.

Ahead of the long holiday weekend the market had yet another good week. The S&P 500 gained 1.75%, the Dow rallied 1.5%, and the Nasdaq rose another 1.9%.

This week in an attempt to diversify the portfolio we are adding an energy play.

Partially aided by declines in mega-cap technology stocks Apple (AAPL) and Nvidia (NVDA), both of which lost 6% last week, the holiday-shortened week was not particularly kind to the bulls as the S&P 500 fell 1.3%, the Dow lost 0.75%, and the Nasdaq declined by 2% last week.

This week there were no earnings reports or ratings changes.

Stocks took a predictable early-September hit last week, but the damage was minimal, and it appears the indexes want to go up – pending the results of this Wednesday’s inflation data, of course. Chinese stocks, meanwhile, haven’t gone anywhere but down for a while, but today we take a contrarian view by adding a big-brand Chinese company that Carl Delfeld just added to his Cabot Explorer portfolio. Sure, China’s economy has underwhelmed, but that’s not likely to be the case for long. And today’s addition is poised to lead China’s recovery.



Details inside.

Some of the positives that we saw in the latter half of August are still hanging around, not the least of which is a good amount of resilience from growth stocks that popped higher on earnings or otherwise saw good-volume buying. That said, the market as a whole doesn’t look ready, with last week bringing another round of selling in the broad market and the major indexes—the intermediate-term trend never could turn up, and few stocks are really moving up at this point. Long story short, there are some encouraging pieces of evidence, but more patience is likely needed. We’ll leave our Market Monitor at a level 6.

This week’s list is pretty well-rounded, with stocks from a variety of groups and of different sizes and profiles. Our Top Pick is a clear winner in the drug space with two big sellers; we’re OK grabbing a few shares here or (preferably) on dips.

Reliable dividend payments can be crucial for income investors, and monthly payors, while rare, offer an added bonus. Here are two monthly-paying REITs I like right now.

Rescheduling of cannabis completely rewrites the tax rules for cannabis companies. These five companies have some of the most to gain (if they can turn a profit).

Improved farming techniques and technologies and a strong dollar are decreasing global demand for U.S. agricultural output. These two companies can help the U.S. remain the world’s breadbasket.

Megatrends can make good stocks great and great stocks phenomenal, and the aging population is the granddaddy of all megatrends.

The S&P 500 index, of course, is the most widely used benchmark for stock market returns. Individual investors, financial media and those overseeing complicated institutional portfolios use this metric as their core measure of absolute and relative performance.

Professional investment consultants may take umbrage with this statement. These highly trained analysts are well-versed in the intricacies of quantitative analysis and can parse portfolio returns, relative to potentially hundreds of alternative benchmarks, into dozens of marginally relevant categories down to the 8^th decimal place.

Long known for its luxury autos, Rolls-Royce now derives most of its revenue from its hours-flown aircraft engine model. What comes next could be even bigger.

A challenging market can still be a highly profitable market … with the right strategies. And this conservative options strategy has delivered some phenomenal returns for investors over the last 16 months.

A recent Goldman Sachs analysis highlighted the features that lead to outperformance by IPOs, so we applied those criteria to 2021’s IPO slate and found only one company that ticked the boxes.

COVID-19 and technology have triggered some major changes in how we shop, these three supermarket stocks look best suited to handle a changing and dynamic industry.

Even when the headlines are bad, there are always opportunities in the market, and these three stocks offer resiliency and compelling stories.

We didn’t know the Splunk takeover by Cisco was coming, but the stock showed strong signs of accumulation and big buying that led us to take a position and realize some phenomenal returns.

The market is in a tough place right now, closing last week at new post-summer lows. At some point – perhaps sooner than we expect – the next rally will arrive. And there are a lot of indicators (overly bearish investor sentiment, a history of October bottoms, etc.) that suggest the next big move is up. But we have to see it to believe it. So, for now, we’ll maintain a relatively cautious stance, trimming an underperforming position today and downgrading another to Hold.

And yet, there are enough glimmers of hope out there (remember: it’s still technically a new bull market!) that today we’re adding a mid-cap software company with tons of growth potential, recently recommended by Tyler Laundon in Cabot Early Opportunities.

Details inside.