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All of our portfolio stocks move to a Hold recommendation while U.S. stock markets react to turmoil in energy markets. I expect more downside to U.S. stocks in the coming days.

My father gave me simple advice on how to find the best stocks to buy in any market. Here are five of the best stocks to buy in today’s market.

As coronavirus matters continue to dominate the headlines and the world works toward slowly reopening, the action of marijuana stocks continues to impress—and with good reason.

It continues to be a very tough market, and with our exposure to small- and mid-cap growth stocks our portfolio continues to feel pressure. After some signs of stabilization last week the sellers are back in control this week and many names look destined to retest their March lows, or possibly dip a little lower.

Current Market Outlook


The market enjoyed a nice bounce after last Monday’s shakeout, especially in growth-oriented sectors and indexes like the Nasdaq. But we don’t think the market is quite out of the woods—by our measures, the intermediate-term trend is still on the fence (most indexes are just above or below their 50-day lines), and the fact is that far fewer stocks are hitting new highs now than the past couple of times the indexes have tested their highs. To be clear, we’re not overly negative, as the longer-term trend looks great, as do many stocks, and the major indexes are just a couple of percent from all-time highs. But we think it’s best to play things carefully (holding some cash, keeping new buys relatively small, etc.) until the market confirms that the post-election uptrend is back on track.

This week’s list is a mixed bag, with some turnarounds, some recent earnings winners and others that have soared on news. For our Top Pick, we’re going with Western Digital (WDC), which, after a brief shakeout, has come storming back to new highs on great volume.

Stock Name	Price	Buy Range	Loss Limit
Huntsman (HUN)	0.00	23-24.5	21-22
Jabil Inc. (JBL)	41.50	27.5-29	26-26.5
Jazz Pharmaceuticals (JAZZ)	0.00	138-144	129-130
Lending Tree (TREE)	411.51	120-124	112.5-115
Penn National Gaming (PENN)	45.38	17.5-18.5	15.8-16.5
PRA Health Sciences Inc. (PRAH)	96.08	63-65	58-59
RH Inc. (RH)	252.93	44-46	40-41.5
Tesla, Inc. (TSLA)	818.87	280-295	260-270
Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX)	230.36	104-109	95-100
Western Digital Corporation (WDC)	0.00	79.5-82.5	73-75

Current Market Outlook


Today saw another rotation day, with strong selling showing up among leading growth stocks while the broad market was relatively flat and some areas (financials, energy) perking up. As usual, we’ll see if today is the start of something more pronounced; the Nasdaq bumped up against its early June highs this morning, so if the selling continues, we could be looking at an intermediate-term top. However, it’s too early to conclude that—most major indexes remain in clear uptrends, as do the vast majority of leading stocks despite a few bouts of selling in recent weeks. Thus, we remain mostly bullish, holding our winners and looking to hop on new leadership that’s emerging.

This week’s list has another batch of strong growth-oriented stocks, and encouragingly, many are new names from sectors that have recently come to life. Our Top Pick is Celgene (CELG), which looks like a big-cap leader of the new uptrend in biotech stocks.

Stock Name	Price	Buy Range	Loss Limit
Autohome (ATHM)	98.65	43.5-45.5	40-41
Celgene (CELG)	0.00	130-134	122-124
Clovis Oncology (CLVS)	0.00	88-93	82-83
Paycom Software (PAYC)	0.00	69-72	63-66
Planet Fitness (PLNT)	0.00	22.7-23.7	21.2-21.8
Red Hat (RHT)	0.00	96-100	89-91
Tesla, Inc. (TSLA)	818.87	355-375	326-330
Trivago (TRVG)	0.00	19.5-21	17-18
U.S. Concrete (USCR)	0.00	74-78	67-69
XPO Logistics (XPO)	0.00	59-62	53.5-55.5

Current Market Outlook


There’s still another couple of weeks to go, but so far, earnings season has been good for the market, not only driving the major indexes to new highs last week but reinvigorating many growth stocks and launching a few fresh breakouts and new leadership. In the short-term, we expect continued volatility among the indexes and various sectors based on earnings reports and news flow (both financial and otherwise), with dips possible after last Friday’s moonshot advance. But the evidence remains bullish in the intermediate- and longer-term. Thus, we’re sticking with a bullish stance, and advise you to hold your strong performers and look to latch onto new leaders as they lift off, while getting out of any holdings that crack.

This week’s list has many earnings winners from last week in a variety of industries, as well as a few names set up well ahead of their reports. Our Top Pick is First Solar (FSLR), which looks like a powerful turnaround after blasting ahead following a blowout earnings report. Try to grab shares on dips.

Stock Name	Price	Buy Range	Loss Limit
Avis Budget Group (CAR)	0.00	40-42	36.5-38
Dana Holding (DAN)	0.00	28.5-30	26-27
First Solar (FSLR)	83.74	57-60	51-53
Flir Systems (FLIR)	0.00	44.5-46.5	40.5-41.5
GrubHub (GRUB)	140.03	57.5-60	53-54.5
Polaris Industries (PII)	0.00	113-119	104-107
PulteGroup (PHM)	45.93	28.5-30	26.5-27.5
STMicroelectronics (STM)	30.09	22-23.5	19.5-20.5
SVB Financial Group (SIVB)	0.00	212-220	197-203
Terex (TEX)	0.00	45-47	41.5-42.5

The market’s evidence continues to slowly, steadily improve--it’s not 1999 out there, but there also aren’t any obvious yellow or red flags, either. Given the trickiness of individual stocks, we’re still thinking going slow makes sense, but we’re aiming to extend our line as stocks present opportunities, while punting on names that are breaking down. In the Model Portfolio tonight, we have some changes, but on balance we’re pushing more toward the bullish position.



We also talk about playing so-called off-the-bottom stocks (and have one old friend we’re keeping an eye on from that group), as well as reviewing some names we’re watching and presenting one sign that says most investors are still worried about the market (usually a good sign).

Current Market Outlook


The rapid spread of China’s coronavirus provided the impetus for a selloff that began last Friday and exploded onto the scene today. Where does that leave us? First, the intermediate-term trend of the indexes is still positive but close to the fence; the big-cap indexes look OK, but the broader measures (small and mid caps) are right around their key 50-day lines. Beyond the charts, it’s likely that more time is needed for investors to trim/hedge after four months of straight-up action. As for leading stocks, we’re taking it on a case-by-case basis—some are looking ragged and ripe for a deeper correction, but most are pulling back normally. If you’re heavily invested, our advice is to follow the usual plan: Hold most of your shares in your strong, profitable stocks, while selling or keeping tight leashes on losers and laggards. We’re moving our Market Monitor down to a level 6.

On the buy side, newer names that are holding up well should be near the top of your shopping list. This week features plenty of those, with our Top Pick being Kansas City Southern (KSU), a reliable grower that just reacted well to earnings.

Stock Name	Price	Buy Range	Loss Limit
Agios Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (AGIO)	52.43	50.5-52.5	45.5-47
Bristol-Myers (BMY)	66.24	62-64	59-60.5
Datadog (DDOG)	81.52	39.5-41.5	36.5-38
Kansas City Southern (KSU)	176.54	162-165	150-152
Sea Limited (SE)	132.86	42.5-44.5	38-39
Snap Inc. (SNAP)	16.68	18-19	16-16.5
STMicroelectronics (STM)	30.09	27.5-28.5	25-25.5
Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM)	78.41	57-58.5	53-54
Wix.com (WIX)	302.53	137.5-141	127.5-129
Zillow (Z)	76.64	46-48	42.5-44

Current Market Outlook


After what was basically a straight-up move for the major indexes and many leading stocks during the past three weeks (including a few names that got out of trend on the upside), big investors came back from the beach today and took some profits. And short-term, further retrenchment is possible, so don’t be surprised to see a few potholes or rotation show up. But bigger picture, the trends of the indexes are pointed up, leading stocks are acting well and we’re pleased to see buying pressures broadening (more new highs) and selling pressure fading (relatively few new lows). It’s still a good idea to pick your spots and take a partial profit or two on the way up, but we remain bullish and see the odds favoring higher prices in the weeks ahead.

This week’s list has a wide mix of stocks and sectors, reflecting the broadening of the market’s advance. Our Top Pick is Semtech (SMTC), a smaller chip maker with a pretty chart and excellent growth.

Stock Name	Price	Buy Range	Loss Limit
Allison Transmission (ALSN)	51.79	48-50	44.5-45.5
Ciena (CIEN)	44.25	30-32	26.5-27.5
DSW Inc. (DSW)	31.82	31-32.5	28-29
Exact Sciences (EXAS)	116.91	71-75	62-64.5
HCA Healthcare (HCA)	137.60	125-132	115-119
iRobot (IRBT)	103.17	107-111	94-96
NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA)	242.42	273-284	252-258
Semtech (SMTC)	51.09	56.5-60	50-52
Veeva Systems (VEEV)	180.23	98-102	89-91
Wayfair (W)	167.03	133-137	117-120

Current Market Outlook


The overall market remains in good shape, with the major indexes and most leading stocks in uptrends. That said, today was a very bad day for growth stocks, as big investors hit the sell button almost from the get-go, leaving most of this year’s winners down sharply. Given the monstrous runs in many of these names and (in some cases) some recent stalling out action, we do take this as a yellow flag—however, to be fair, few have broken any key support and most non-growth issues look completely fine. Bottom line, if you have some good-sized profits and positions, we’re OK booking a couple of partial profits and honoring stops and loss limits going forward. On the buy side, we continue lean toward “fresher” titles, including many steadier growers that have come into favor.
This week’s list has a bunch of names that, until recently, have been marking time, but now look to have begun steady uptrends. Our Top Pick is Teradyne (TER), which leapt out of a huge base on earnings last week.

Stock Name	Price	Buy Range	Loss Limit
Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG)	773.32	780-805	710-720
Etsy (ETSY)	112.97	67-69.5	59-61
Kirkland Lake Gold (KL)	51.30	43-46	38.5-40
Lithia Motors Inc. (LAD)	146.30	129-132	118-120
Meritage Homes (MTH)	102.20	60.5-63.5	54.5-56.5
New Oriental Education (EDU)	113.97	102-106	91-93.5
Sherwin-Williams (SHW)	526.09	490-505	455-460
Snap Inc. (SNAP)	16.68	16.8-18	14-15
Teradyne (TER)	82.83	55-58	48.5-50.5
TransUnion (TRU)	83.09	79-82	72-73.5

Growth stocks remain dead in the water, with the sellers still focusing their efforts on the high valuation names that led the market higher during the past eight months. But now we’re beginning to see the weakness is that niche spread—broader indexes like the S&P 500 are feeling the heat, and while few cyclical-type stocks have broken down, most are starting to look ragged as big investors head toward defensive names. All told, it’s not 2008 all over again, but now is the time to hold plenty of cash, build a watch list and, if you buy, keep position sizes small and make sure you have your stops in place.

This week’s list is heavy with still-resilient cyclical stocks with great projected growth during the next couple of years. Our Top Pick is Devon Energy (DVN), a big company with a solid turnaround story and a stock that’s just getting going after a few down years.

Stock Name	Price	Buy Range	Loss Limit
Williams-Sonoma (WSM)	64.96	62-64	58-59
Ultra Petroleum (UPL)	0.00	26.5-28	25-25.5
Schlumberger (SLB)	0.00	95-97	91-92
RH Inc. (RH)	252.93	68-70	63-64
Southwest Airlines (LUV)	0.00	23-24	21.5-22
GT Advanced Technologies (GTAT)	0.00	15.5-17	14-14.5
Electronic Arts (EA)	0.00	27.5-29	25.5-26.5
Devon Energy (DVN)	0.00	66.5-68.5	62.5-63.5
CARBO Ceramics (CRR)	0.00	130-135	120-121
AerCap (AER)	0.00	38-40	34-35