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Managing your own retirement portfolio is easier than ever, but is it a good idea? Here are the facts you need to make the right choices.

With the stock market near all-time highs, there aren’t many good undiscovered stocks out there. Here are three small caps that look promising.

Tesla gets a ton of criticism these days, and TSLA stock has had a rough go. But there are plenty of things Tesla gets right - and reasons to buy TSLA.

It’s been a relatively quiet week in the major indexes, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq hovering around breakeven on the week coming into today. But below the surface, there’s been plenty of volatility and some developing trends.

The market has finally declared itself, with the major indexes moving out to new highs during the week. It looks like a real breakout from the choppy, range-bound action of the past weeks, and it’s a good reason to put more money to work.

“The index effect” was a reliable performance bump in stocks being added to major indexes, but it seems to have disappeared in the last few decades. Is it really gone, and if so, why?

Today, I’m adding the world’s largest publicly traded uranium company Cameco (CCJ), which has held up spectacularly throughout this market meltdown. Though of note, this stock is volatile and we are going to play it super defensively, with an in-the-money call.

The sellers really took control last week, punishing many resilient stocks and pulling down the major indexes. And the distribution continued this week, with the major indexes (especially the Nasdaq) sliding persistently.

We remain (a) in a very strong bull trend, which (b) portends higher prices in the months ahead, but (c) has left most indexes, sectors and stocks very extended to the upside.

We remain bullish and heavily invested, though we’re being selective with new purchases and waiting to see how the market and leading stocks react to earnings in the weeks ahead.

Despite some optimism early last week, the sellers obliterated that hope Wednesday through Friday, as the indexes fell sharply, pushing the S&P 500 into an official bear market (down 20% from its highs).

In November, we highlighted a potential Bitcoin arbitrage trade based on the pending approval of Bitcoin ETFs. Revisiting that trade can offer insights into arbitrage trades in the future.

The good times are here again. The S&P 500 is up over 19% YTD and is now within just 4% of the all-time high. Stocks are in a strong uptrend that began in the beginning of May and appear likely to move still higher.

Inflation is crashing. The Fed is about out of bullets. And there is no recession in sight. Things could always discombobulate down the road. But there doesn’t appear at this point to be anything ahead in the next month or so that will change the current positive narrative.

The market was already struggling after the Fed’s “higher for longer” comment about interest rates. Now it’s getting hit with ugly headlines regarding the situation in Israel.

Geopolitical risks are always out there, and they act up occasionally. Hopefully, this new Middle East situation won’t expand into a wider conflict. There is also the Ukraine conflict. These are risks that could develop into a much bigger problem. Even if they don’t, there is still the interest rate and inflation situation.

Last week was shaping up to be another chop-fest but the market took off on Thursday and Friday ... and for the first time, we saw some leading stocks rally and, importantly, build on those gains. (In recent weeks stocks were quickly sold after any strength.) It’s a good ray of light, though we haven’t seen enough power from the market and from potential leaders to switch our Market Monitor out of its neutral stance; we’re a bit more optimistic than last week but still need to see more bullish evidence before we put on our bullish hats. For now, then, stick with the strategy of buying on weakness, keeping some cash on the sidelines and watching your stops.

The good news is that last week’s action brought more stocks to the fore; we’re seeing many more good-looking launching pads, and we saw more breakouts on earnings, many of which are showcased in this week’s list. Our favorite of the group is IAC Corp. (IACI), a conglomerate of Internet businesses that has been in a steady uptrend for years and just blasted off on earnings last week.

Stock Name	Price	Buy Range	Loss Limit
3D Systems (DDD)	0.00	36-38	-
Align Technology (ALGN)	316.20	33-35	-
Equinix, Inc. (EQIX)	547.73	175-181	-
IACI (IACI)	0.00	51-53	-
NetSuite, Inc. (N)	0.00	54.5-56.5	-
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN)	512.96	132-136	-
SolarWinds (SWI)	0.00	48-52	-
Under Armour (UA)	0.00	52-54	-
WPI (WPI)	0.00	77-79	-
Western Digital Corporation (WDC)	0.00	37-40	-

Cabot Small-Cap Confidential, a limited subscription newsletter, is one of our newest publications, launched just one year ago. Its focus is on finding undervalued and little-known small-cap companies that are poised to break out in a big way. The number one request Cabot has had over the years has been to find great stocks sooner and with Cabot Small-Cap Confidential, we’re able to do that.

Cabot China & Emerging Markets Editor Paul Goodwin picked Baidu (BIDU) as a great way to play the hottest emerging market right now.