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The market continues to grind higher and the small cap index, which we haven’t talked about in forever, is finally opening up some white space above its pre-pandemic high. In fact, the S&P 600 Small Cap Index is, at this very moment, trading at an all-time high.

For the most part, global stock markets performed strongly in 2019. But if you dig a bit deeper, you will see sizable and interesting gaps between countries.

Technology and Consumer Discretionary stocks will likely outperform other stocks during the early stages of the U.S. economic expansion.

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%.

Amidst a bearish stock market, we’re adding one big-dividend stock to our portfolios today. Lacking much stock market excitement and lower-risk near-term capital gain opportunities, I decided to post some corporate news and price action on a couple stocks—not featured in our portfolios, but still of interest to many investors.

Investors weren’t surprised by the Federal Reserve’s decision to hold rates steady, but they also didn’t react by ramping up their stock purchases—too much uncertainty what with the election rhetoric heating up and the turmoil in Congress, after Kevin McCarthy was unceremoniously ousted as Speaker. And now, we have the war in Israel.

The market is a bit of a mess, but the selloff has created opportunities to pick up shares in high-growth small- cap names at what seems like extremely attractive prices.





Today’s recommendation is one of those names. It’s a marketplace company that is revolutionizing the outdated industrial manufacturing industry.





While the stock hasn’t been immune to bouts of market volatility it has been far more stable lately than most other high-growth names. It’s up over the last three weeks! And it offers investors exposure to an industry that is seen rebounding in 2022 and 2023.





Enjoy!

Trends remain good for investors in the marijuana industry.

It was more of the same for the markets this past month—some momentum, but ultimately, we ended up in just about the same place.

Investors are a little gun-shy as most were expecting Fed rate cuts to begin in the latter half of the year. But as the inflation beast is proving harder to tame than expected, Fed Chair Jerome Powell has indicated it may take longer before we see a rate cut. Naturally, the markets had an issue with that.

However, they seem to have absorbed that information and gone back to business.

All in all, we are still bullish here at Cabot, but also maintaining our judicious stock-picking stance.


This month, I have an undervalued company that’s also in growth mode for you, recommended by an analyst new to these pages. I’m really excited for you to hear about both!

Three of our portfolio stocks report earnings.

The long-term trend of the market remains up, while the intermediate trend remains down, though the current rally is working to change that—and may well succeed. In any case, we’re seeing growing numbers of strong stocks, and today’s recommendation is one of them.

It’s a little-known technology stock providing a valuable public service, with a high rate of recurring income. I think you’ll like it.

The auto insurance market has been in a deep freeze since the middle of 2021. But now it’s thawing ... maybe even shifting into growth mode. That means huge potential for companies with direct access to the market.

That’s where today’s idea comes in. It’s a micro-cap internet company that offers unfiltered exposure to the auto, home and renters’ insurance markets.

All the details are inside the February Issue of Cabot Small-Cap Confidential.

Today’s addition is one of the world’s best engineering and construction firms in the highly specialized natural gas-fired power plant industry.

It’s a highly leveraged play on increasing U.S. energy loads and the expected, multi-year gas power plant buildout. If you want exposure to a picks and shovels play on AI, EVs and other electrification trends, this one is for you.

Enjoy!

The market remains in good health and trending higher, though the rotation from previously hot growth stocks continues, to some degree.

This week’s recommendation is a well-known consumer name whose stock is truly cheap, in part because the company recently discontinued dividend payments (they had been 6%) in response to the pandemic shutdown.



As for the current portfolio, I will now drop Nvidia (which has been very successful but is now sky-high), and downgrade GFL Environmental (GFL) to hold.



Full details in the issue.

The overall market continues to look healthy—though we haven’t yet received an “all-clear” signal from our long-term trend indicator—and our stocks are certainly behaving well, with several hitting new highs and none behaving badly.
So the only sell recommendation I have today is a bit of short-term profit-taking in one of my recent recommendations—a stock that is due for a bit of a rest.


As for today’s recommendation, it’s a very well-known U.S. telecommunications company with a solid yield that has not only held up well in recent months but that has good growth prospects as the communications revolution continues.


Full details in the issue.

Inflation cooled last month to its slowest pace in more than two years, buoying markets even though the Fed may raise interest rates later this month.

While the Nasdaq composite is a basket of more than 3,000 stocks listed on the Nasdaq exchange, the Nasdaq 100 is the basis for the QQQ – the second-most heavily traded ETF in America, after the SPY ETF which tracks the S&P 500.

The broad markets have improved nicely in the past month, albeit with a recent pullback. Leading sectors were Communication Services, Consumer Staples, Healthcare, Technology, and Utilities. Style-wise, large-cap growth stocks beat their value peers, gaining 3.64% for the month.

The employment picture remains healthy, with 236,000 jobs added in March, taking the unemployment rate down to 3.5%. This was the slowest job growth in two years, so economists are hoping that will slow inflation—and the Fed’s rate hikes!

A major challenge in 2024 for investors and analysts alike will be separating the artificial intelligence (AI) “pretenders” from the “contenders.” Super Micro Computer (SMCI), a recent Explorer recommendation, was up 23% this week, and Exscientia (EXAI) shares were up 13% yesterday.

I’ve been receiving questions recently that essentially ask, “Why did this stock go up when the company reported bad news?” and “Why did this other stock go down when the company reported good news?”

Oil prices are volatile now that about half of Saudi Arabia’s oil production is temporarily curtailed. Rising oil prices can help oil and chemical stocks, and hurt airline stocks.