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Remain bullish, but keep your eyes open. The overall market looks fine, but remains extended to the upside, which makes finding lower-risk entry points more difficult. We continue to advise holding your uptrending stocks to give them a chance to turn into bigger winners.

The healthcare column I wrote on Monday resulted in my heaviest email volume ever and I thank everyone who responded. In total, 69% of respondents were supportive, 6% were critical, and the remainder addressed other items in the column, mainly American International Group (AIG), which I used as an object lesson of stocks to avoid. But as several readers pointed out, I forgot one big thing, the need for tort reform! That alone is worth a whole column, and maybe I’ll do it someday. But today the words come from you. Here’s a sampling of the best.

The S&P 500 (SPX) stock index rose to new all-time highs in July, commenced a pullback during the final week of that month, then traded between 2840-2940 in a very orderly pattern during August. For that, I am grateful.

The S&P 500 index traded up near all-time highs in early June, then had an orderly pullback, partly encouraged by investor worries over the Brexit vote. The index seems to have completed its correction, and could easily retrace recent highs. Many of our portfolio stocks mirrored that pullback and are also rebounding.

As we approach the final trading day of 2021, we see a market in a period of relative calm after what felt like a very volatile November and December, especially for those invested in individual stocks.

Lululemon is the fastest growing sports apparel company. Is it a better buy than Nike? Let’s break down Nike stock vs. Lululemon stock.

Bitcoin is back in the news after doubling in value in 2023, but is it finally a worthwhile investment?

One of our stocks reported a third-quarter earnings beat, and steel stocks are up.

While we have yet to get a buy signal from the Cabot Emerging Markets Timer, our stocks are generally performing very well and we have only a couple of quarterly reports yet to come. In today’s issue, I talk about the trouble with too much news and write up a Chinese financial company that has a powerful head of steam up, with only a Q1 report to worry about.

Current Market Outlook


The day-to-day (and sometimes hour-by-hour) action remains very volatile, with headlines (both company-specific and economic) coming at investors quickly. But taking a step back, not much has changed—the intermediate-term trend is pointed down and the vast majority of leading stocks are in the same boat, with a good amount of damage on their charts that will likely take time to repair. That doesn’t mean you should stick your head in the sand; odds favor earnings season allowing some names to grab pole position for the next market uptrend. But right now, it’s best to remain defensive as we wait for the market to find some strong support and more stocks to build launching pads. Our Market Monitor remains at a level 4 today.

This week’s list includes a broad mix of stocks and sectors, including one very new IPO and a couple of special situations. Our Top Pick, though, is Ciena (CIEN), the mid-sized networking outfit that looks ready for a sustained upturn once the pressure comes off the market.

Stock Name	Price	Buy Range	Loss Limit
Ciena (CIEN)	44.25	29.5-31	27-28
Dine Brands (DIN)	93.05	80-83	74-76
Eli Lilly (LLY)	117.78	107-110	100-102
GasLog (GLOG)	21.39	20-20.7	18-18.5
Guardant Health (GH)	88.34	35-38	29-31
Intelsat (I)	25.46	32.5-35	28-29
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet (OLLI)	103.94	87-90	81-82.5
Spirit Airlines (SAVE)	57.03	49-51	43-45
Tabula Rasa Healthcare (TRHC)	76.14	75-78	67-70
United Continental Holdings (UAL)	96.76	86-89	79-81

This is one of those periods when there’s not much going on in the market. Earnings season is essentially over, the summer is winding down, kids are about to go back to school and it feels like fall is right around the corner.

The so-called “Sell in May” period is underway, but that doesn’t mean you should stop buying stocks. Here are three Sell in May Stocks you can buy now.

It can pay to pay attention to what investment legends are doing to cope in these turbulent times.

Warren Buffett still has a knack for seeking value and a history of going to Japan to find it in times of volatility. Overall, Japan’s Topix index trades at 13.3 times expected earnings, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. That compares with 18.9 times for the S&P 500.

America’s infrastructure is badly in need of costly repairs. And these four infrastructure stocks and ETFs stand to benefit.

Option liquidity is a major issue in a stock like INVN versus GE. On average, GE trades close to 100,000 options per day. INVN on the other hand, only trades a couple thousand contracts a day. The time until expiration is another key component to the option width.

Nike stock got roughed up on Monday after the company unveiled a controversial new Colin Kaepernick ad campaign. It may have created an idea entry point.

Market timing is a big part of investing. But you don’t have to wait for the perfect time to buy stocks if you’re in it for the long haul.

Baidu stock used to be one of my favorite investments in China. But right now, it’s a falling knife. Don’t try and catch it!