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The market’s on-again, off-again style remains in place, as after a couple of constructive bounce-back weeks led mostly by growth stocks, we saw a reversal of that in recent days, with the major indexes slipping, financial stocks becoming ragged again and many potential leaders getting hit hard.

As a shareholder, you’re the partial owner of a company. Vote your proxies and take advantage of the rights that ownership brings.

The holiday-shortened week was mostly a non-event as the S&P 500, Dow and Nasdaq were mostly mixed. And while the week was quiet, under the surface there was selling pressure in growth stocks and materials that raised some yellow flags.

The holiday-shortened week was mostly a non-event as the S&P 500, Dow and Nasdaq were mostly mixed. And while the week was quiet, under the surface there was selling pressure in growth stocks and materials that raised some yellow flags.

This holiday-shortened week was relatively light on news, as investors digested signs of a weakening economy in front of what likely will be a fascinating earnings season.

Next Friday, Wells Fargo (WFC) kicks off our earnings season, likely providing at least some insights, along with those provided by several other major banks that report that day, into the banking industry’s current stresses. Our other banks report later, with First Horizon (FHN) on April 18 and Capital One Financial (COF) on April 27.

The market took a deep breath last week on the cusp of an eventful upcoming stretch. This week alone we get the latest CPI and PPI numbers before a very pivotal earnings season kicks off on Friday. Potential catalysts – and potholes – abound, so chances are the coming weeks won’t be as calm as the first week of April was. With that in mind, in today’s issue, we’re adding a stock fit to weather any further storms. It’s a century-old company that pays a dividend, trades at a mere 12 times forward earnings, and yet is up 14% year to date – and has been a mainstay in the portfolio of Bruce Kaser’s Cabot Undervalued Stocks Advisor.

This week’s action has been a disappointment, with growth stocks suffering selling while defensive names have picked up steam. Still, nothing much has changed--the top-down evidence is mixed, and growth stocks, while taking on water, haven’t suffered anything abnormal to this point. Thus, given that we’re about half in cash, we’re mostly standing pat in the Model Portfolio tonight.

The holiday-shortened week was mostly a non-event as the S&P 500, Dow and Nasdaq were mixed. And while the week was quiet, under the surface there was selling pressure in growth stocks and materials that raised some yellow flags.

WHAT TO DO NOW: Continue to play things in the middle, as the on-again, off-again environment remains in place. We are seeing some improvement from our Cabot Tides and Two-Second Indicator, which is a plus, but most of the evidence is stuck in the middle, so we think having a good chunk of cash as well as a few resilient growth names makes sense. We have no changes in the Model Portfolio tonight; our cash position remains just under 50%.

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.

Small-cap stocks have underperformed of late. That’s likely to change – soon. When it does, you’ll want to own this ETF and these two stocks.

The cannabis sector remains under pressure. But the stock price weakness makes the group a good buy for contrarians because there are plausible catalysts on the horizon.

Let’s be clear. It won’t be easy to buy. It never is, when sentiment is so dark.

Buying right never feels good, as the saying goes. When the right time to buy comes along, you won’t want to, is how technical analyst Walter Deemer puts it.

In the interest of helping simplify options trading for beginners, here are a few strategies (and Cabot services) to consider starting with.

It’s a big week. The March Consumer Price Index (CPI) report comes out on Wednesday. The number may determine the short-term course of the market.

Stocks have trended higher over the past month as the banking situation has so far tempered the Fed without any offsetting crisis. There now seems to be a greater likelihood of a recession later this year, but investors are also pricing in Fed rate cuts in the second half. That’s the dicey part.

On the whole it’s been a mixed week thus far—the resilient big-cap indexes are down 1% or less in general, though some of the broader indexes are up 1% or more.


All in all, though, nothing has happened (in either direction) to change our opinion that we’re still in a washing machine-type environment—there’s still plenty of mixed action, with some indexes looking good (but not really in strong uptrends) and some looking iffy; many stocks are holding support but most are still getting tossed around, and there’s lots of rotation and selling on strength (we’re even seeing that this week, with “weak” indexes up and “strong” indexes down), which is a sign big investors aren’t playing heavily.