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The long-awaited pullback appears to have arrived, with fears and uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus and its impact on economic growth bringing out the sellers; our Cabot Tides, in fact, are now on the fence. In the near-term, the odds favor some more pain being dished out, not necessarily because of the virus, but as the market consolidates its strong four-month advance. Big picture, though, this is still a bull market, so while we’ve trimmed a bit, we’re aiming to hold our strong, profitable stocks, thinking higher highs are likely once this pullback does its work.

In the Model Portfolio, we took partial profits on DocuSign and ProShares S&P 500 Fund earlier this week, which lifted our cash position to around 20%. And from here, we’ll just take it as it comes, as we explain in tonight’s issue.

The market rose nicely last week as the bond market worries eased. By week’s end the S&P 500 and Nasdaq had rallied 2.9%, and the Dow had gained 3.8%.

The market rose nicely last week as the bond market worries eased. By week’s end the S&P 500 and Nasdaq had rallied 2.9%, and the Dow had gained 3.8%.

The story of last week was under-the-surface weakness in growth stocks, while money rotated into “everything else.” And by week’s end the S&P 500 had lost 0.3%, the Dow fell 0.1%, and the Nasdaq declined by 0.7%.

The story of last week was under-the-surface weakness in growth stocks, while money rotated into “everything else.” And by week’s end the S&P 500 had lost 0.3%, the Dow fell 0.1%, and the Nasdaq declined by 0.7%.

Despite a frantic week of heavy sector rotation, the indexes managed to hang in there. Essentially, lofty tech valuations in the AI and growth spaces are now in question, and that hot money poured into defensive sectors. In the end, the S&P 500 eked out a +0.08% gain, the Dow rose +0.34%, and the Nasdaq Composite lost -0.45% last week.

*Please note, S&P 500 futures are indicated lower by 1.5% this morning on renewed tariff fears.

Coming off record highs early last week, U.S. equities drifted lower as the week progressed as the first week of the corporate earnings season unfolded. And despite upbeat earnings from select tech and semiconductor names, profit-taking set in across large caps late in the week and kept the major averages slightly underwater by Friday’s close. Small caps bucked the broader trend, continuing their early-year leadership as the Russell 2000 extended gains on optimism around economic resilience and rotation out of mega caps. For the week, the S&P 500 lost 0.4%, the Dow fell 0.3%, and the Nasdaq Composite declined by 0.7%.

*Please note, S&P 500 futures are indicated lower by 1.5% this morning on renewed tariff fears.

Coming off record highs early last week, U.S. equities drifted lower as the week progressed as the first week of the corporate earnings season unfolded. And despite upbeat earnings from select tech and semiconductor names, profit-taking set in across large caps late in the week and kept the major averages slightly underwater by Friday’s close. Small caps bucked the broader trend, continuing their early-year leadership as the Russell 2000 extended gains on optimism around economic resilience and rotation out of mega caps. For the week, the S&P 500 lost 0.4%, the Dow fell 0.3%, and the Nasdaq Composite declined by 0.7%.

In this issue, I identify the bluest of blue chip energy infrastructure stocks at a dirt cheap price with a 6% yield. Business is booming and it is only a matter of time until the market starts rewarding the stock.

There are two major reasons that we saw a 3.6%+ drop in U.S. stock markets last week.

This week’s Friday Update includes comments on earnings from Duluth Holdings (DLTH). Two stocks are at or near our price targets and we summarize the podcast.

Last week, our issue was titled “Decision Time,” and after the Federal Reserve’s disappointing report, the market made the decision to go down with force—not only have the major indexes broken their intermediate-term trend lines, but tons of stocks have been nailed as the selling pressures intensify. Yes, there are still many decent-looking names out there, but the market is the elephant in the room at this point; it’s best to hold plenty of cash and do little new buying until stocks find their footing.

The good news from a stock picker’s standpoint is that it’s easiest to spot strength in a weak market; if a stock is holding up well in this environment, it deserves some extra attention. This week’s list has many stocks that fill that bill; our favorite is Infoblox (BLOX), a young, rapidly-growing networking firm. Just be sure to keep any positions small if you decide to buy.

Stock Name	Price	Buy Range	Loss Limit
Yelp (YELP)	41.30	28-30	26-27
The ExOne Company (XONE)	0.00	48-50	42-43
Tesla, Inc. (TSLA)	818.87	93-103	85-88
SodaStream (SODA)	142.91	65-69	60-61
Charles Schwab (SCHW)	0.00	19.5-20.5	18-18.5
RH Inc. (RH)	252.93	67-71	60-62
Colfax (CFX)	0.00	48-50	46-47
Infoblox Inc. (BLOX)	0.00	27-28	23-24
ANGI Homeservices Inc. (ANGI)	14.81	25-26	23-24
ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (ACAD)	47.84	16-17.5	13.5-14

The bulls made another, more impressive stand last week, and we do believe last week’s lows have a good shot at holding up for a few weeks. Best case scenario is that a bottom-building process is now underway, which will allow new leaders to build launching pads that will eventually result in much higher prices. But (you knew that was coming, right?) for now, the trend remains down, and while some groups and stocks are catching our eye, it’s best to give the bears real respect until proven otherwise. This week’s list is a mishmash of stocks, but one group that showed exceptional power off last week’s bottom was coal stocks. Consol Energy (CNX) is our favorite of the week – its stock is under tremendous accumulation, as coal prices spike due to tight supply and still-strong demand. Take a small position on any weakness.

Stock Name	Price	Buy Range	Loss Limit
CNX (CNX)	0.00	68-75	-
CPHD (CPHD)	0.00	27-30	-
ILMN (ILMN)	0.00	62-66	-
NLY (NLY)	0.00	18-20	-
RATE (RATE)	0.00	42-46	-
SID (SID)	0.00	78-86	-
URBN (URBN)	0.00	25 1/2 - 27 1/2	-
WLT (WLT)	0.00	38-42	-
AEM (AEM)	0.00	56-62	-
AUXL (AUXL)	0.00	30-33	-

I have two rating changes in the portfolios today: Intuit (INTU) in the Buy Low Opportunities Portfolio moves from Hold to Buy, due to the capital gain opportunity presented by the price pullback, and Priceline (PCLN) in the Growth Portfolio moves from Hold to Buy, due to the capital gain opportunity presented by the price pullback.

Facebook stock plummeted after the company vowed to scale back the number of advertisements on its site next year. Will it stay down long?

Given recent market volatility, it’s time to refocus on managing portfolios and reducing stock investing risk. These tips will help.

Studies show that most investors get caught up in panic selling when positions move against them. You can prevent that by having a plan in place to manage the risk in your portfolio, and these four tips can help.