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On last Friday’s Cabot Street Check episode, the weekly podcast I co-host with my colleague Brad Simmerman, we welcomed on four different Cabot analysts to help us take the market’s temperature in the midst of an eventful and rather volatile start to 2025. All four of them – Mike Cintolo, Cabot’s Chief Investment Strategist; Jacob Mintz, our options trading expert; Tyler Laundon, our small-cap and early-stage stock expert; and Clif Droke, my fellow value investor who runs the Cabot Turnaround Letter – described themselves as varying degrees of “cautiously bullish.” Given all the headlines of late, that qualifies as a victory.

The U.S. stock market is doing just fine. More than fine, in fact. On Tuesday, the S&P 500 closed at a new all-time high, and the index is up roughly 4% year to date through the first seven weeks of 2025. That comes on the heels of back-to-back years of gains in excess of 20%. And while the current bull market has been mostly spearheaded by a handful of artificial intelligence and Magnificent Seven stocks, the rally is finally starting to spread, with the Equal Weight index also up 4% this year, the Dow Jones Industrial up nearly 5%, and the Russell 2000 up nearly 3%.

I don’t know about you, but these market swings are definitely making me dizzy! Tariffs, inflation, the reemergence of recession fears—are all serving to rattle investors.

This morning’s inflation report, however, did push us into somewhat positive territory, with February’s CPI rising 0.2% (2.8%, annually), a bit less than the 0.3% forecast and considerably better than the 0.5% rise in January.

Also, on the good news front, mortgage rates have finally begun to decline, with the average 30-year interest rate now at 6.72%.

After a huge run and a choppy two-month stretch, the sellers have taken control and are crushing most stocks, especially growth titles, many of which broken down and--for the big winners of last year--are flashing abnormal action. With our Cabot Tides, Two-Second Indicator and Aggression Index firmly negative, we’re mostly on the sideline and are content to wait things out until the next uptrend gets underway.

Encouragingly, though, there are still a good number of fresher growth stocks (got going in the last two or three months) that are taking the selling in stride; upside will be limited for now, of course, but tonight we have an expanded watch list of names that could be new leaders down the road. Eventually, the sun will shine again, but for now it’s best to focus mostly on capital preservation, which will allow us to make that much more money when the bulls are back.

After weeks of withstanding a geyser of negative headlines – higher inflation, tariffs, slower interest rate cuts, the DeepSeek impact on AI, etc. – the market finally took on water last Thursday and Friday. Whether that’s the start of a deeper correction, we’ll likely know in the next few days. Even if it is, it’s nothing abnormal. After all, the S&P just touched new all-time highs three trading days ago. A pullback was probably inevitable.

Out of respect for the about-face in U.S. stocks in recent days, however, today we’ll turn our attention to Europe, where stocks have been outperforming their U.S. counterparts by more than 2-to-1 so far this year. Our new addition comes from Spain and is a company that’s been in Carl Delfeld’s Cabot Explorer portfolio for several months.

Details inside.

It’s been nearly four weeks since the market’s correction and consolidation began, and overall, the damage hasn’t been that great—interest rate-sensitive names have been hammered, but many growth stocks remain in good shape. Now the question is whether buying power will return; holding up is all well and good, but we want to see evidence that institutional investors are adding shares of resilient stocks, even buying them as they reach new high ground. If we see that, we’ll switch the Market Monitor back into the green. But right now, we advise holding some cash and keeping new positions small.

Once again, we’re pleased to see many enticing names in this week’s list. Our favorite is one of the first stocks to hit new-high ground—Oasis Petroleum (OAS) is emerging from a gigantic base, and if the market gets going on the upside, it looks like a new leader.

Stock Name	Price	Buy Range	Loss Limit
Tenneco (TEN)	0.00	44-47	38-40
Shutterfly (SFLY)	94.71	50-52	44-46
Oasis Petroleum (OAS)	12.57	39-42	36-37
Northrop Grumman (NOC)	0.00	81-83	77-78
Morgan Stanley (MS)	0.00	25-26	22.5-23.5
3D Systems (DDD)	0.00	45-46	41-42
Delta Air Lines (DAL)	54.28	18-19	16.5-17
Carter’s (CRI)	0.00	70-72	66-67
Celldex Therapeutics (CLDX)	0.00	14.5-15.5	12-13
CBOE Holdings (CBOE)	0.00	41-42	37-38

The market has followed through on last week’s rebound rally and we’re seeing an increasing number of strong growth stocks with good setups. The big news is that the rally has lifted many of the indexes we follow above their 25- and 50-day moving averages, giving us a green light for new buying. We don’t advise jumping in with both feet—new buy signals do not guarantee a continued advance—but you should be taking a serious inventory of your watch list (and the stocks in this week’s issue) to select a few favorites for buying.
This week’s list includes several bigger names and a few recent IPOs, which indicates good breadth for the rally. Our favorite is SunPower (SPWR), which is making the turnaround in the solar industry look like a sound growth proposition.

Stock Name	Price	Buy Range	Loss Limit
SunPower (SPWR)	12.26	19.5-22	17-18
Splunk (SPLK)	207.67	45-47	41-42
Proto Labs (PRLB)	0.00	63-65	55-56
The Priceline Group Inc. (PCLN)	0.00	810-840	779-780
Illumina Inc. (ILMN)	289.74	72-74	67-68
Ciena (CIEN)	44.25	19-20	17.5-18
Bloomin’ Brands (BLMN)	0.00	24-25	22.5-23
Boeing (BA)	432.22	99-102	94-95
American Axle (AXL)	0.00	17.5-18.5	16-16.5
Actavis (ACT)	0.00	123-127	108-110

During the past couple of weeks, we’ve seen the major indexes push higher (including new all-time highs from the S&P 500), we’ve seen some growth stocks get off their duffs and we’ve seen a gradual improvement in stocks and sectors hitting new highs. In other words, the evidence has improved, and while we would prefer to see some real buying power (volume has been whisper-quiet for the most part), we’re tilting our Market Monitor a bit toward the bullish side. Bottom line: It’s OK to put some more money to work here, and then see if stocks can build on their recent gains.

This week’s list has a broad array of solid stories from a variety of industries. Our favorite is BitAuto (BITA), a great (and easy to understand) Chinese growth story that is quickly rounding out its launching pad.

Stock Name	Price	Buy Range	Loss Limit
Stillwater Mining (SWC)	0.00	16-17	14.5-15
Skechers (SKX)	0.00	41-43	38-39
Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. (LYV)	0.00	23-24	21.5-22
Kate Spade & Company (KATE)	0.00	35-36.5	32-33
ICICI Bank (IBN)	0.00	48-50	44-45
Electronic Arts (EA)	0.00	33-35	30-30.5
Dillard’s (DDS)	0.00	106-112	99-100
Ctrip.com International Ltd. (CTRP)	34.94	53-55	48-49
Bitauto Holdings (BITA)	0.00	42-44	37-38
American Airlines Group Inc. (AAL)	0.00	38-40.5	36-36.5

Current Market Outlook


Not much happened last week, with the major indexes up a fraction of a percent and most leading stocks in a similar boat. But to us, that was a good thing—the fact that stocks held up following the prior week’s romp higher and a bunch of bad news (Iran tensions) and upcoming uncertainties (Fed meeting and G20 powwow) at least shows sellers didn’t pounce on the opportunity to bail. As we wrote last week, there’s more positive evidence than negative evidence, which is why we’re leaning bullish—but the intermediate-term trend of the major indexes and many stocks and sectors has yet to turn positive, so we’re also not pounding the bullish drums. Holding your strong stocks and nibbling on some good-looking charts is fine by us, but we also advise sitting with a chunk of cash and patiently waiting to see if the market can follow through on its recent strength.
This week’s list is a bit broader than those we’ve seen recently, with a lot of good charts and growth stories. Our Top Pick is Blackstone (BX), which has shown great power of late.

Stock Name	Price	Buy Range	Loss Limit
AngloGold Ashanti (AU)	20.45	14.6-15.4	13-13.5
Blackstone Group (BX)	49.12	42-44.5	38-40
Boot Barn (BOOT)	43.24	31.5-33.5	27.5-29
Casey’s General Store (CASY)	165.73	148-153	136-138
Haemonetics (HAE)	136.59	107-111	98-100
Innovative Industrial Properties (IIPR)	214.38	104-110	91-94
Mirati Therapeutics (MRTX)	104.98	94-98	81-83
Penumbra Inc. (PEN)	173.25	161-166	147-150
Trade Desk (TTD)	468.02	237-244	212-215
Universal Display (OLED)	187.54	169-175	153-156

Current Market Outlook


As the year winds to a close, nothing has changed with the market’s overall stance—big picture, it’s a bull market, and numerous factors tell us that the uptrend has farther to go; the odds favor higher prices when looking months down the road. Shorter-term, though, there are also many signs that tell us risk is elevated—that doesn’t necessarily mean a huge correction is on tap, but we think it’s safe to say that the next few weeks are likely to be more challenging than the past few weeks, with potholes, rotation and news-driven moves possible. As we’ve been writing, that’s no reason to bail out, but being discerning on the buy side (good entry points, starting small, etc.) and booking some partial profits makes sense.

Our last list of 2019 is a broad mix of strong stocks, including turnarounds, recent breakouts and fresh setups. Our Top Pick is Crocs (CROX), which is benefiting from some rotation into retail titles and a string of solid quarterly reports.

Stock Name	Price	Buy Range	Loss Limit
Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY)	0.00	16-17	14.3-14.9
Cardlytics (CDLX)	0.00	58-61	51-52.5
Carvana (CVNA)	82.90	91-94	83-85
Crocs (CROX)	0.00	39-41	35.5-36.5
Floor & Décor (FND)	68.03	49-51	45.5-46.5
GSX Techedu (GSX)	97.59	19.5-20.5	17-18
Luckin Coffee (LK)	0.00	34-36.5	30-31.5
Paycom Software (PAYC)	0.00	257-267	237-241
Sea Limited (SE)	132.86	38-39.5	34-35
United Rentals, Inc. (URI)	0.00	163-167	150-152

Rumors of the global economy’s imminent demise have been greatly exaggerated – at least so far. Indeed, the IMF estimates that worldwide GDP will expand by more than 3% both this year and next, which is in line with the normal GDP growth rate since the Great Recession. And yet, certain stocks are being treated like it’s 2009 out there. That includes this month’s addition to our Growth & Income Portfolio. It’s a big-cap, big-name company whose shares are nearly 30% off their highs, but the firm is on track for its best year in terms of sales and earnings outside of a Covid-era anomaly. It’s a company that flourishes when the global economy is healthy. And the stock is on sale, having not fully recovered from the spring tariff worries.

Details inside.

The bull market is alive and well, but the growth stock environment remains tricky at best, with more names either testing or cracking intermediate-term support during the past couple of weeks. Eventually, there will be another run in growth, possibly soon given the many stocks that have built launching pads during the past two-plus months; we do have an expanding watch list of solid setups. But for now, we’re playing things cautiously, trying to give our positions a chance but also holding a good chunk of cash until the meat-grinder environment shifts.

How to Make Money in the Age of U.S.-China Rivalry + 3 Global Stocks to Buy Now from Carl Delfeld, Chief Analyst of Cabot Global Stocks Explorer, Carl talked about global stocks in this political climate. PLUS Carl shares 3 of his global picks!

The intermediate-term trend has turned up for all of the major indexes, the number of stocks hitting new lows is drying up nicely, individual leading stocks are acting well and, while it’s not a torrent, we are seeing some more breakouts and setups as the days go by. It’s not 1999 out there, with wide swaths of the market still repairing the damage from recent months, so we continue to favor a step-by-step approach when it comes to extending your line. We’ll move our Market Monitor up to a level 6 and will continue to raise it should the rally continue to gain steam.

This week’s list has another crop of super-strong charts, and from a variety of industries, too. Our Top Pick isn’t a lightning-fast mover, but it looks like the leader in a group that’s shown exceptional strength off the lows and has a history of trending nicely when conditions are favorable.

We booked a few profits after the big post-election runup in stocks. And with most of our positions holding firm right now, were sitting pat.

The weather has finally turned nice here in New England, with a consistent string of 60-degree days and a couple of scorchers thrown in (we set records on Tuesday, with temperatures north of 90 degrees!). That means it’s nearly vacation time! And with vacation comes reading; I’m always on the lookout for good books, investment or otherwise, to help me unwind while I watch waves lap against the sand. Since this is a wealth advisory, of course, I’ll offer up some of my favorite investment-related book recommendations. Heck, I might even re-read one or two of these this summer. Here are some favorites …

You may think you can file for bankruptcy and student loans will no longer be a problem, but there are more hurdles to get rid of that debt.

We are combining our regular Friday afternoon Members-Only Podcast with any earnings updates. By combining these, you will receive the same research, perspective and analysis as always yet in one easy-to-read email.

The stock which just joined the Buy Low Opportunities Portfolio on January 8, reported fourth quarter results after yesterday’s market close (November year-end). Revenue and earnings per share (EPS) came in higher than analysts had expected, and higher than the company had recently projected in December.

Two stocks have rating changes today.