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Would you lend a friend $100 if he promised to pay you back $99 within a year?

The U.S. energy boom is in full swing, and that makes high income energy stocks a wise long-term investment. And these three are the strongest in years.

Given the recent run-up in oil prices, it’s natural to wonder how high they can go. Investors would be well-served to remember the power of trends.

A look at the charts shows the stock market has been extremely volatile since March 2009.

With Redbox, Coinstar (CSTR) is participating in the DVD rental revolution.

Last week’s G-20 summit was a bigger success than anyone imagined. Among other items, the group agreed to increase the loans available to struggling countries to $1.1 trillion. That boost in funding is a prime example of why I think investors should be looking toward gold--and gold miners, in particular. We’re seeing unprecedented global spending, and I think a wave of inflation may be just off the horizon. Central banks around the world have been stirring together all the right ingredients for a big batch of inflation--and last week’s G-20 summit was just icing on the cake.

From top to bottom, the Marijuana Index fell 88% from early 2018 to last month’s market low, and now the recovery has begun.

It’s been another week of choppy trading action as more earnings reports pour in. We received a solid earnings report from Silvergate Capital (SI), and that stock has perked up.

It’s been an interesting week for quarterly earnings reports. Today I’ll bring you up-to-date on seven companies. Three reported earnings way above estimates, three below estimates, and one exactly on target.

We don’t have much to complain about after a week when our average gain per position was 5.8%, three positions were up double digits, and our worst performing stock was down a mere 2%. That said, today I’m moving two stocks that have just rallied back to Hold, since the near-term upside appears limited in those names. Five of our positions remain Buys.

The Emerging Markets Timer is right on the fence, as the MSCI Emerging Markets Fund (EEM) is just a hair below its 50-day moving average, but still well within its recent trading range. Earnings season has claimed its first victim among our holdings, but the portfolio remains in good health. Tonight we’re selling Line Corp. (LN) and moving Tata Motors (TTM) to a Hold.

The major indexes fell again during the holiday-shortened week, with most losing between 1.1% and 1.5% and closed below their 50-day moving averages. Given the evidence right now, it appears the intermediate-term trend is turning down, which is a sign to ratchet back your exposure another couple of notches.

It’s been a very encouraging past week, as the leading Nasdaq and growth stocks have stormed back, with many punching out to new highs in recent days. We wouldn’t call this is major blastoff, but there’s no question the evidence has improved and the odds are increasing that the market’s overall uptrend is resuming after a sloppy consolidation in June and early July.

The iShares EM Fund has been trading effectively sideways since the middle of May, and that has kept the Emerging Markets Timer above its moving averages. We have one portfolio move tonight.

Remain mostly bullish, but hold a little cash to respect the market’s growing divergences. Our market timing indicators are still mixed, though the long-term trend and growth stocks remain in good shape.

We still see more positive than negative evidence, though the gap has shrunk a lot during the past week. At this point, we still think the onus is on the bulls to step up after this three-and-a-half-week retreat. Until they do that in a decisive fashion, you should limit new buying to small positions and, of course, honor your stops for any stocks that are weakening.

The iShares EM Fund (EEM) has been trending up, keeping the Cabot Emerging Markets Timer a bright green. Our stocks are generally doing well, and we have no changes to the portfolio tonight.

The title of our issue on Monday was “Tricky but Bullish,” and since then, things have gotten even trickier. While the Dow Industrials have grabbed the headlines by hitting 22,000 level for the first time, most growth-oriented stocks—the leaders of the rally this year—have been struggling. Indeed, the Nasdaq has seen a fair amount of high-volume selling while the Dow has been heading higher.

What a week! I’ve been asked a few times by friends and family members (but no subscribers, c’mon guys!) why small caps have suddenly sprung to life. Check out the one-year chart below of the S&P 600 Small Cap Index.

Three portfolio stocks report earnings.