Search

CEFs, also called closed-end investment management companies, are different from mutual funds and ETFs because they issue a limited number of shares. That actually makes them more similar to ordinary publicly-listed companies than funds: when a new investor buys into a CEF, they have to buy from someone else who...

When the economy goes downhill, consumers spend less, postponing discretionary purchases and buying cheaper off-brand products when they do shop. With the market plunging, I suspect many investors are feeling the same urge. So if you’re doing any buying at all, today’s Investment of the Week has two bargain basement...

U.S. stocks remain paralyzed by tariff fears, but not energy stocks. They’re the best-performing S&P 500 sector by far this year, more than doubling the return of any other sector. And yet, they remain the most undervalued sector by virtually every measure. So this month, we add a large-cap energy stock to the Cabot Value Investor portfolio that has a yearslong history of not only outperforming the market, but blowing it out of the water. But after a slow start to the year, it’s trading at a rare discount. We think it has immediate upside – and a high dividend yield should hold us over until it gets there.

Details inside.

What a difference two months make!

On April 8, the Nasdaq had plummeted to bear market territory after touching all-time highs just six weeks earlier, and the S&P 500 was on the cusp of joining it. Small caps were faring even worse. Volatility had spiked to multi-year highs. And everyone was certain a recession or high inflation – or both – were imminent.

The reason was tariffs. “Liberation Day,” a week earlier, on which President Donald Trump had imposed sky-high tariffs on more than 100 U.S. trading partners from all over the world, had sent stocks plummeting as economists clutched their pearls and warned of imminent collapse.

The market’s rally has run into trouble, with our Cabot Tides and Two-Second Indicator effectively back on the fence. When it comes to growth stocks, most are acting more resiliently than the broad market, but even there it’s hit and miss, with lots of air pockets though many names that are acting well, too. Because of the divergent action, we’ve had a flurry of moves since the last issue, paring back or selling three names, but putting money to work in two names (including a new addition last week). All told, we’ll still have about 27% in cash and have a few stocks that look great, but are also keeping a close eye on a couple that remain iffy.

In tonight’s issue, we go over all our thoughts on the market and our various moves, as well as write about the solar sector that may be getting going after a long slumber, as well as small caps in general, which could finally get going ... if interest rates behave themselves.

The overall market remains in an uptrend, but we’re seeing more and more unusual action among individual growth names, and thus are making moves mostly on a stock-by-stock basis.

The market has snapped back in a surprisingly strong fashion, but breadth has narrowed, so I’m still suspicious of this rebound. However, there are still plenty of great charts as well as stories to go along with them, and today’s recommendation is one of them. In fact, you may even be a user of the company’s products!

As for the current portfolio, there are no changes today.

Details in the issue.

Thomson Reuters Corp. (TRI) gets 55% of its revenue by selling news and information to professionals in the banking industry. The remaining 45% comes from the legal, accounting and scientific research fields. Thomson earned $137 million, or $0.16 a share, in 2013. That’s down sharply from $2.0 billion, or $2.39 a...

Picking the single best growth stock of the year can be a futile exercise. But my most recent recommendation checks a lot of my personal investing boxes.

The S&P 600 Small Cap Index bounced off rock-solid support at the 820 level late last week, and over the last few sessions has migrated back to its 50-day moving average line at around 837.

A revolution is afoot in the automotive industry, and this little-known, promising stock is the best way to profit from it.

The broad market remains in fine health, with all major indexes trending higher and sentiment measures telling us this market has not yet reached the stage where amateurs are sucked in to buy at the top. Thus I continue to recommend that you be heavily invested in a diversified portfolio of stocks that fit your investment needs.
Today’s recommendation is a very large company in an industry that has major ebbs and flows due to circumstances that are beyond this company’s control. But right now, conditions are excellent, and the 4.3% yield is an indication that the stock is cheap as well.
As for the other stocks in the portfolio, they look great, with six at or near their all-time highs. Details inside.

Few things are more enduring than America’s love of a good hamburger. Indeed, the iconic sandwich is so much a part of the country’s pop cultural heritage that, according to numerous opinion polls, it’s one of the first things foreigners mention when asked to name the most American symbol they can think of.

Stocks continued to retreat last week, prompting us to sell two more stocks today and downgrade another. But the pullback looks pretty normal on the heels of the 17% run-up from mid-June to mid-August and in light of Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s hawkish comments last Friday. And one sector, in particular, has been immune to the recent selling: renewable energy. So today, I’d like to introduce Brendan Coffey, Chief Analyst of our fledgling Sector Xpress Greentech Advisor newsletter and a first-time Stock of the Week contributor. Brendan will tell you about what has been his best-performing clean energy stock of late.

Details inside.

The market remains in great shape, and even better, growth stocks have (mostly) avoided any further severe rotation in recent weeks, with more and more joining the party. There are a couple of bugaboos out there (especially sentiment, which has gotten giddy), but we continue to steadily put money to work as opportunities arise. Last week, we added a new half position in Halozyme (HALO), and tonight, we’re filling out our position in Uber (UBER), which looks like a fresh, early-stage leader to us.

Open up tonight’s issue for all our latest thoughts on the market, our stocks, some new ideas and the myriad longer-term breakouts we’re seeing across sectors and themes, which should bode well.

The market’s evidence continues to improve, with our core market timing indicators returning to the bullish side of the fence. That’s obviously a good thing and has us optimistic -- though upside follow through from here will be key, as many growth measures are still lagging behind, though we are seeing more setups, especially from areas that sat around for much of the past year (see the issue for much more on that). All told, we are doign some new buying tonight, and will have more to come if the market continues to act well.

Stocks are back in business!

Yes, a little more than a month after some of the worst investor sentiment readings in years, soaring volatility, and a 19% decline in the S&P 500 – not to mention both the Nasdaq and the Russell 2000 swinging to bear market territory – stocks are suddenly on a roll, recession fears are abating, and, perhaps most importantly, tariff deals have been struck. The 90-day pause on most reciprocal tariffs initiated by President Trump on April 9 – one week after the deeply unpopular “Liberation Day” was announced – triggered one of the biggest one-day rallies in stock market history. Indexes flirted with their early-April lows two weeks later but eventually stabilized, and May has brought a wave of positive tariff news – first, a deal with the United Kingdom, in which key imports like cars were reduced to 10% and steel and aluminum tariffs were eliminated; then, last weekend came a 90-day truce with China. That sent stocks soaring more than 3% on Monday, and they haven’t looked back.

For a second straight fall, the Federal Reserve has slashed interest rates three times from September through December. The result? What was a two-decade-high federal funds rate (5.25%-5.5%) 15 months ago is now down to a far more palatable 3.50-3.75% range. That’s still higher than at any point since before the Great Recession, so from a 21st-century perspective, interest rates aren’t exactly “low.” Usually, when interest rates are this high, stocks underperform their historical norm. In fact, prior to this recent stretch, it had only occurred two other times this century. Here were the results …

In today’s note, we discuss pertinent developments for some of the stocks in the portfolio, including GE Aerospace (GE), Paramount Global (PARA), SLB Ltd. (SLB), Starbucks (SBUX) and UiPath (PATH).

This month’s catalyst report features a mixed bag of longer-term attractive turnaround candidates in industries ranging from car rentals to dental equipment to semiconductors.

Remain defensive but keep your eyes open. Our Cabot Tides are toying with a buy signal, though the past couple of days have delayed it. Because of that, we’re sticking with our three remaining stocks and a cash position around 75% tonight, but we have our shopping list ready should we get a clear green light in the days ahead.