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Ahead of the “big” Federal Reserve announcement on Wednesday, the market surged higher last week.

The three leading indexes were slightly lower last week as the S&P 500 fell 0.61%, the Dow declined by 0.5%, and the Nasdaq lost 1%.

The three leading indexes were slightly lower last week as the S&P 500 fell 0.61%, the Dow declined by 0.5%, and the Nasdaq lost 1%.

As most of you know, I use charts on a daily basis, but I hesitate to call myself a technician. But there is a tenet of technical analysis that is worth remembering: The longer the base the longer the race.

Remain cautious! The sellers continue to have the upper hand with the major indexes and most stocks. You should be holding plenty of cash (and some resilient stocks) while waiting for the bulls to retake control.

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.

The way to play earnings season depends on whether or not you own the stock whose report is coming up.

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

I don’t mind telling you that these are scary and depressing times for investors. One wave of bad news no sooner breaks over us than another one--even bigger--appears. The American banking and auto industries are circling the drain, and the Dow, which was within spitting distance of 14,000 just a year ago is now, having cracked the 8,000 level, trying to decide whether to rest there for a while or just plunge further. All in all, it’s enough to make you turn off your TV, limit your newspaper reading to the sports and funnies and abandon your computer for your game console. At least in World of Warcraft, you know the rules.

Growth stocks continue to slowly repair the damage, with the evidence rounding into form. However, the trick of actually making (and keeping) much money remains very tough — few stocks are showing persistent moves, and those that rally for two to three weeks tend to back off. Maybe that will change—today was certainly a plus for growth stocks — but the point is the environment remains tricky and challenging.

In the Model Portfolio, we’ve been riding things up and down of late, but tonight are holding what we have. There are a couple of names we’re watching that we would like to own, but again, these have ramped up in recent days so we’ll wait for a little shaking and baking. Open up for all of our latest thoughts.

On Tuesday morning I suggested traders might want to take some profits in positions accumulated the week before, because of a possible dearth of catalysts on the near-term horizon. I also suggested maintaining long-term exposure to the group.

WHAT TO DO NOW: The market’s selloff this week is accelerating today, once again led by growth stocks. The Nasdaq is fully in re-test mode at this point, and while many stocks are showing some relative strength overall, we remain cautious given the selling with our growth-heavy indicators (Growth Tides, Aggression Index) looking poor. We sold TransMedics (TMDX) in last night’s issue, and today we’re going to cut bait with ProShares Russell 2000 Fund (UWM), which will leave us with around 49% in cash.

Today, a whopping eight Profit Booster positions will expire. Most are “slam-dunk,” full-profit trades, while others will go down to the wire.

The big takeaway, before we dive in, is we are going to let the situation play itself out, and come Monday/Tuesday of next week we will revisit our profits, as well as how we will manage the remaining positions.

WHAT TO DO NOW: The market’s rally has run into trouble, and while there are more than a few growth stocks that look fine (if not great), air pockets are reappearing in many issues. Today, Nutanix (NTNX), which looked picture-perfect heading into its earnings report, is getting mauled along with most other software stocks. We’re going to sell the rest of our stake today, thinking today’s meltdown after a prolonged run isn’t likely to lead to good things in the intermediate term. We’ll have more details (and likely other changes) in tonight’s issue of Cabot Growth Investor.

Today, a whopping eight Profit Booster positions will expire. Most are “slam-dunk,” full-profit trades, while others will go down to the wire.

The big takeaway, before we dive in, is we are going to let the situation play itself out, and come Monday/Tuesday of next week we will revisit our profits, as well as how we will manage the remaining positions.

WHAT TO DO NOW: The indexes continue to look good, and the big-picture (months down the road) outlook is very favorable. But growth stocks remain hit and miss, with some newer names perking up but many potholes out there, too. Today, we’re going to sell one-third of our stake in GE Aerospace (GE), which has been a fine performer, but it’s been lagging a bit, got hit today and many in the group have topped. We’ll take a few chips off the table and hold the rest, leaving us with around 42% in cash.

WHAT TO DO NOW: The market has finally seen some selling this week, with two downside reversals and then today’s big drop on tariff and economic fears. Our Cabot Tides are now on the fence as the broad indexes have sagged, though with 30% cash already on the sideline, we’re taking things on a stock-by-stock basis. Today that means pulling the plug on Snowflake (SNOW), which is cracking support today. This will raise our cash level to 39%—some of which we might redeploy into a stronger name when the indexes find support. Details below.