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Cannabis stocks remain unloved by investors. This makes the group buyable because catalysts are on the horizon.

The tricky part now is that it is more difficult to predict that we may see a catalyst near term, or even when the next one will occur. Patience is required.

Here is a look at the four main potential catalysts.

It’s March and that means it’s time for the NCAA tournament, the gauntlet of games that will eventually crown a school the king of college basketball. I filled out my bracket before the games began, but I didn’t have high hopes, especially since I’m no basketball expert. However, after a few days of play I ranked at the top of my friends’ bracket pool and decently high on the nationwide ESPN.com competition as well. But I don’t apply my basketball team selection methods to the stock market because investing is a whole different ball game.

The market stalled out a bit last week, which is normal considering its recent advance. Overall, our Market Monitor remains bullish, as the trends of most stocks and the major indexes are solidly up. That said, you shouldn’t be surprised if there’s a bit of turbulence coming up; we’re not predicting that, but we did notice some slippage in a few key growth stocks last week, and earnings season, which technically began a few days ago, really heats up during the next three weeks, and that almost always adds to volatility. That’s not a reason to turn cautious—it’s likely some new leadership will emerge on their earnings reports, after all—but just a heads up to make sure you have a battle plan going ahead, namely, stick with what keeps working and rotate out of stuff that breaks down.
This week’s list is a good reflection of the current environment—a few growth stocks but mostly cyclical and turnaround-type names are where the money is flowing. Our favorite of the week is BlackRock (BLK), a huge “Bull Market stock” that reported a great quarter last week. It’s not going to triple, but after a long rest period the stock is under very strong accumulation.

Stock Name	Price	Buy Range	Loss Limit
Valero Energy (VLO)	97.40	34-36	-
United Rentals, Inc. (URI)	0.00	46-48	-
Morgan Stanley (MS)	0.00	20.5-21.5	-
Melco Crown (MPEL)	0.00	18-19.5	-
HCA Healthcare (HCA)	137.60	35-36	-
Keurig Green Mountain (GMCR)	0.00	36-39	-
Ford Motor Co. (F)	0.00	13.5-14	-
Equinix, Inc. (EQIX)	547.73	213-220	-
Copa Holdings (CPA)	0.00	104-108	-
BlackRock (BLK)	0.00	220-230	-

After a multi-week bottoming process, the buyers showed up last week in a big way, producing a rare show of strength that, historically, has always preceded great gains when looking out six to 12 months. That said, the next few weeks are more of a toss-up, as the intermediate-term trends of most indexes and stocks are still iffy and news-driven action (like today’s commodity move) is still the norm. We’re bumping up our Market Monitor a notch and think it’s OK to extend your line a bit, but we still think it’s best to start small, aim for pullbacks and to go slow.

During the past couple of weeks, the market has put together a handful of solid baby steps; in fact, the rally has been enough to put the intermediate trend on watch—a bit more strength from here could produce a green light. That’s all to the good, but (a) we still have to see the signal actually occur, and (b) even if it comes, there’s still plenty of overhead to chew through given the damage seen over the past few months. That’s not to throw cold water on the rally attempt—we’re nudging up our Market Monitor to a level 3 tonight, but right now, it’s best to remain defensive and to go slow on the buy side.



This week’s list is again heavy on commodity-related stocks and special situations, along with some recent earnings winners sprinkled in. Our Top Pick is a medical firm that lifted above long-time resistance following a clean FDA approval.

It’s the heart of earnings season. More than a third of all S&P 500 companies report this week. Can the earnings barrage save this market?

The market could sure use some help. It just got hit with more bad news when it was already teetering. The market was see-sawing between generally positive earnings in a still strong economy and the specter of an aggressive Fed seriously slowing the economy over the rest of the year. Then it got hit with news of Covid spreading in China and likely slower growth in that country and globally.

While the market mourns the misfortunes of poor Mark Zuckerberg, we actually have a little ray of light in emerging markets, as the Cabot Emerging Markets Timer is showing a very new green light. New buy signals are pretty delicate, but we’re taking this one seriously, doing a little new buying and shifting another stock from a Hold to a Buy rating. As the artillery of the trade war rumbles, it’s nice to have something to celebrate. Read on for details.

Things are looking up for emerging market equities. They’re not fully healthy, yet, but there has been definite improvement since the August 16 low. In today’s issue, I have some thoughts about whether or not this is a bottom in emerging markets, and how we will know one when it appears. I also have an intriguing new IPO for you to consider.

On the one hand, emerging market stocks are extending their bottom-building structure. On the other hand, there aren’t many stocks making huge, “buy me!” runs. But on balance, the news is hopeful, as the October low for EM stocks is proving durable despite continuing trade-war talks and Brexit suspense. There are plenty of hopeful signs, but they haven’t revealed a change of heart on investors part. Read on for some good news and the return of an old friend to the portfolio.

Our emerging market signal stays in positive territory. With our new global mandate in place, we move beyond emerging markets to a European quality play on technology. We also explore what the new Fortune Global 500 rankings can tell us about the changing landscape of investment opportunities.