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The S&P 500 crossed above its 25-day moving average line on April 6 and is back above its 50-day moving average line today. It is only 16% off its previous high. Granted, under the circumstances that doesn’t seem quite right. But nevertheless, there it is.

There isn’t any major news for any of our stocks.

The big news this week was, of course, the swearing in of President Biden and all the associated stories about the transition. Fun fact – portfolio holding Everbridge (EVBG) supplied its Mass Notification system to help keep Washington, D.C. area residents and visitors safe and tuned in during, and leading up to, the Presidential Inauguration.

Enjoy the current strength but be aware of the environment we’re in, and why. Accept that we could see a significant retreat in the prices of many of our stocks in the near term, but that the fundamental reasons behind their current strength should persist despite a retreat, and drive them higher over the coming years.

Neither the broad market nor the S&P 600 Small Cap index have done much over the last week. But both received a small boost yesterday after the Fed upgraded its 2021 growth outlook and said it didn’t expect to raise rates until 2024.

Other than price changes not much has happened with our stocks since I wrote last week. With our offices closed tomorrow and Friday we’ll all be taking a short break before gearing up for the last month of the year.

Anyway, the market doesn’t seem to be fazed by all the incredible things going on in the world these days. Stepping back, that makes some sense.

As we move closer to the end of another week, investors continue to focus on the potential timeline to open parts of the economy. New York has just said the lockdown for non-essential businesses remains in effect for at least another month, but clearly there are many areas that haven’t been so badly affected.

I don’t anticipate any major changes in our portfolio leading into earnings as I’d prefer to hear what’s new and then go from there. That said, we have a couple of minor adjustments based on stock price action.

The market is working its way through significant developments on many fronts – U.S. presidential race, raging pandemic, positive vaccine developments – and information overload is causing some intense action in individual stocks.

I’m sending this week’s update out a day early because I have a window to work now with the kids somewhat entertained with Christmas presents. And it’s always nice not to load up our team with communications the day before a holiday (Cabot is closed Friday).

It’s been another week of mixed stock performance and assorted headlines that collectively give me the sense that, while a lot of investors may be shifting money around, there’s no real consensus yet on what will work and what won’t in the near-term.

Suffice to say the last two weeks have been very tough. On the one hand, yes, of course some sort of correction or pullback has been expected given the huge progress the market – and growth stocks, small caps and IPOs in particular – have made over the last 12 months. But expecting something to come eventually and actually experiencing it are two entirely different things.

The message this week is to stay invested but don’t go crazy on the buy side and don’t get scared on the sell side. Just be measured and try not to do anything that’s uncharacteristic of what you would do in a “normal” market.

Yesterday I mentioned that I would follow up today with notes from the Thunderbird Entertainment (TBRD.CA, THBRF) earnings call. Here are a few tidbits from that call.

Sprout Social (SPT) reported Q3 results yesterday that beat expectations. Revenue was up 46% to $49.1 million versus expected growth of 42%.

The market is off to a superb start to 2020 with many growth sectors finding their groove and ripping higher. The S&P 600 Small Cap Index continues to trade above the all-important (my opinion) 1,000 level and we’re seeing participation from a wider breadth of sectors than in the past.

Porch (PRCH) reported its first quarter as a public company this week. The numbers are a little messy due to divestments and acquisitions over the last year, but the bottom line is that the quarter was good and the company is well-positioned for the year ahead. Making all the necessary adjustments, revenue in Q4 was up 34% to $19.5 million and up 28% to $73.2 million for the full year 2020.

Accolade revealed preliminary Q4 and full-year 2020 results after the bell yesterday and announced a private offering of $250 million convertible notes, with a $37.5 million option (pricing to be determined). The reasons for the offering are the usual – working capital, acquisitions, strategic investments and general corporate purposes.

Porch Group (PRCH) has been very weak recently and moves to hold today. This move hasn’t been unique to PRCH, in fact most SPAC IPOs have been soft for a while now. However, we saw a sizeable decline on Friday and follow-through softness today.