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Things are certainly looking up in the market. The S&P 500 had an epic nine-day run of positive gains, the longest such streak in more than twenty years. The index rose over 10% during the streak. What’s going on?

The rally began after President Trump indicated a de-escalation of the trade war with China. There are ongoing negotiations with the other trading partners during the 90-day pause initiated on April 9^th. A perception is building that the worst of the tariff uncertainty is behind. Stocks also got a boost from earnings and economic news.

This has been a week for the history books with record-breaking volatility and uncertainty.

My advice? Stay on the conservative side, leaning to blue-chip dominating stocks not tied to U.S.-China trade. Buy more gold. Since early 2022, gold has strongly outperformed inflation-protected Treasurys, so gold is now the world’s preferred safe-haven asset by many investors.

The President Trump reversal yesterday as Treasury bond market yields jumped and the U.S. dollar fell sent markets soaring. The U.S. raised China tariffs and China responded in kind. Unfortunately, both sides remain on a collision course.

Last week was another up week for the S&P 500. The index has made up all the losses since April and is now in positive territory for the year.

After a multi-month barrage of relentlessly negative headlines, the S&P is within 3% of the all-time high. Seven of the eleven market sectors are higher YTD, and two of the negative sectors are down less than 1% for the year so far.

It’s been a wild market so far this year. The S&P 500 has gone from the cusp of a bear market to within 5% of the all-time high in just seven weeks.

Uncertainty remains. A negative development could still roil the market on any day. Negotiations will likely take more twists and turns in the weeks and months ahead. But investors appear, at this point, to believe that the tariff situation won’t blow up. The fear of Armageddon is being removed.

But there’s still the economy. It could gain steam or slow toward recession. We are in a place, at least for a while, where anything can happen. It’s tough to pick a horse amid such varying possibilities. Fortunately, there is a trend to bank on that will thrive regardless of the near-term gyrations of the market or economy.

Artificial intelligence is a massive growth catalyst that will endure and thrive in any environment. Investors temporarily forgot all about it. It’s a generational phenomenon that hasn’t gone away. It just took a break. Now, those stocks are soaring back.

In this issue, I highlight a stock that is likely to benefit in the months and years ahead. It is still well off the high with good momentum and has a huge catalyst for growth in the months and years ahead.

Just a little over a month ago, stocks were crashing. But things are changing fast.

The tariff uncertainty has vastly improved with the announcement of trade deals with the U.K. and positive negotiations with China. The S&P has soared 22% from the intraday low on April 7. The index is now in positive territory YTD and within 5% of the all-time high. The technology-laden Nasdaq index is up 28% from the April low.

But the market tends to overreact in the near term. Tariff trouble isn’t over yet. There could still be setbacks. A negative headline can roil the market on any day. There’s also the economy. Growth is slowing. It may pick up or slow further. What will be waiting beyond the tariffs?

Fortunately, there is a trend to bank on that will thrive regardless of the near-term gyrations of the market or economy.

Artificial intelligence is a massive growth catalyst that will endure and thrive in any environment. It is a generational phenomenon that will drive certain stocks to huge gains. The dominant trend has sold down and consolidated in recent months. Such a move was overdue. But technology is coming back strong. It’s the hottest sector again.

In this issue, I highlight a goliath in the technology industry that is poised for a huge growth windfall from artificial intelligence in the years ahead. The stock has fallen far from the high. But the AI trend is revving up again and will likely transcend the current unpredictable environment.

As the United States and China reached a 90-day trade conflict ceasefire, markets have responded positively though the deal is not binding and lacks much detail. The S&P 500 edged into positive territory for 2025. A number of Explorer stocks are having very good years.

The wild ride continues. After a crazy first few weeks of April, this week has continued in the same vein, with a big down day on Monday and a big up day on Tuesday. This might last a while longer.

It’s been a tough market. The S&P started this week down about 6% for the month of April, over 10% YTD, and over 14% from the high. And that was before Monday’s selloff. It is entirely possible that the market falls back to a new low and an official bear market.

It’s been a tough market. The S&P started this week down about 6% for the month of April, over 10% YTD, and over 14% from the high. And that was before Monday’s selloff. It is entirely possible that the market falls back to a new low and an official bear market.

The tariff uncertainty is continuing, and it could get worse. A bad headline could roil the market any day. We’re not out of the woods yet. The market could get worse before it gets better. But it will get better at some point.

Investing for dividends and income is a longer-term proposition. Investors typically don’t jump in and out of these stocks in a short time. You have to hold the stock long enough for the dividend to make a difference. Although the market remains troubling in the near term, there are some great opportunities for longer-term investors.

The past week or so definitely showed some very encouraging action, with one of the key “blastoff” indicators we track turning green on Thursday. So does that mean we’re off to the races? Well, we wouldn’t go there, at least not yet: The intermediate-term trend of the market and most stocks are still down, and it’s not unusual at all to see some near-term wobbles after this kind of blastoff signal. All in all, we think there’s enough good vibes to extend your line a bit—but we don’t advise buying hand over fist as we’re still looking to see added confirmation. We’ll bump up our Market Monitor two notches to a level 5.

This week’s list is full of resilient names, though many have earnings coming up, so be aware of those dates. Our Top Pick has a great story, great numbers and a resilient chart, with shares back near their highs after a bullish earnings reaction. Start small here or on dips.

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.

In his Fed semiannual testimony before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell said, “Labor market conditions have cooled from their formerly overheated state and remain solid. Inflation has moved much closer to our 2% longer-run goal, though it remains somewhat elevated.”

Yes, it has. This morning, it was reported that stubborn inflation, as denoted in the CPI index, rose to 3.0%, a bit higher than the 2.9% economists had predicted.