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Explorer stocks were all up this past week with the exception of Ford (F) as inflation numbers out this morning are expected to show consumer-price inflation picked up again in January, to an annual pace of 7.2%.

The MSCI Emerging Market index (EEM) is up 9% so far in 2019 but has basically hit the pause button in March.

As Warren Buffett said, “Long ago, Ben Graham taught me that ‘Price is what you pay; value is what you get.’ Whether we’re talking about socks or stocks, I like buying quality merchandise when it is marked down.” Two stocks that I think Mr. Buffett should own are Johnson Controls and Whirlpool.

Small caps made a heck of a move over the past week to close just below 700 on the S&P 600. That 4.3% move was led by growth (up 4.6%). Sector wise, tech led the charge with a 6.2% rally.

The Cabot Emerging Markets Timer continues to give a Buy signal, so we’re maintaining our strategy of slowly increasing our exposure. Today, we have no changes to our portfolio.

The fact that P/E is popular does’t mean that it is always useful. Having more data is not always better.

While mega-cap tech stocks have seized all the headlines, these five stocks have quietly established themselves as the best-performing stocks so far this year.

You may have seen that a relatively new Explorer idea, Fisker (FSR), was up 38% yesterday. It turns out that my analogy of comparing the company to Apple’s relationship to Foxconn was truer than even I could imagine. The news yesterday was that Foxconn will be making a future Fisker model electric vehicle, and even better, it may be doing so in my home state of Wisconsin.

While long-term prospects for the cannabis industry remain excellent, the sector as a whole remains in correction mode today, with the big Canadian stocks under the greatest pressure—and no one knows where the bottom is, though history tells us it will come when the last holdout capitulates.

Given that today’s date is 4/20, I feel compelled to acknowledge that that’s the code for “time to smoke pot.” But I don’t have any jokes. This is serious business. And it’s doubly serious because we’ve been dealing with a weak sector for over a year!

The only bright spot in that trend is that valuations have become more attractive; if this goes on long enough, I expect Cabot’s value analyst Bruce Kaser will recommend one of these stocks!

Warren Buffett has said, “Only buy something that you’d be perfectly happy to hold if the market shut down for 10 years.” What about us ordinary investors who can’t wait 10 years? I have an easy solution-- I buy when a stock is undervalued and sell when it becomes overvalued. The time frame is usually about two years. The basic principal is simple: the stock market and the individual stocks that make up the stock market have always bounced back and forth from overvalued to undervalued to overvalued, over and over again.

When making decisions in the stock market, procrastination can be your enemy. One delayed decision will only lead to another delay, and before you know it, a mini-disaster is at hand. I know, because I’ve been there. Most often, my initial thoughts about whether to buy or sell a particular stock turn out best. That is, of course, after the proper amount of research has been completed.

It’s hard not to feel good about growing American economy. However, this is the kind of thinking that comes near market tops!

This week’s Friday Update includes our price target increase for one of our energy companies, as well as updates on several recommended companies. We’re not macro-driven, but we are macro-aware, and are thinking about the reserve status of the U.S. dollar. Also, we bid farewell to Ned Johnson, legendary former CEO of Fidelity.

There are a lot of negatives out there these days. The AAII Sentiment Survey shows optimism is in the tank while pessimism is through the roof.

The performance of Rolls Royce (RYCEY) stock has been phenomenal this year, but an ongoing development in their New Markets segment could offer more room to run.

China appears on the brink of launching its own digital currency. To keep pace, should the U.S. consider creating a digital dollar?

Trading volume is notoriously low in July and August, and stocks rarely budge much as a result. Here’s how to navigate the summer months.

There are right ways to trade options and wrong ways to trade options, and doubling down on losing bets is definitely the latter, as a recent trading-group blowup showed.