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Remain cautious. The market is doing more chopping than declining in recent weeks, and because of that, a couple of good days on the upside could actually turn the intermediate-term trend up.

Tonight, we’ll continue to stand pat in the Model Portfolio (though we are placing one stock on Hold) with eight stocks and a cash position near 20%.

Three earning updates - Two Holds and a Sell.

Small caps bounced off their 50-day line last week and are nearing all-time highs. It’s anybody’s guess what will happen in the days ahead as many people will have stepped away from the market, so don’t be surprised if there is some odd trading in some of our stocks. There’s usually some inefficient trading, especially with the microcap stocks, during these periods.

Stocks are rallying after Trump’s win, but small cap stocks are outpacing them all. Here are three small cap sectors that are faring particularly well.

This week brought news that some of the U.S. government’s stimulus package funding has been delegated to some very unique places in Massachusetts: $1.5 million to fix a lighthouse on an uninhabited island, $123,000 to terrorist-attack-proof a party cruise ship and $95,000 to study pollen samples from the Viking Era.

This week we review earnings from one of our recommended companies and provide updates on three other recommended companies. We share some thoughts on why what produced the remarkable bull market over the past decade and longer may not lead to investing success over the next 5-8 years.

People often overlook silver as a safe haven in volatile markets. But the best-performing silver stocks tend to rise faster than gold stocks.

Cabot Publisher Timothy Lutts’ views on investing in Apple are discussed.

The volatility continues but we’ve seen most of our stocks hold above previous lows (so far). The S&P 600 Small Cap Index is also holding above its lows from last week.

Investing isn’t something they teach you in school (usually). If you want to learn to be a good investor, you’re going to have to educate yourself.

The market found its mojo after the Fed vaguely insinuated that it could conceivably consider cutting rates before the end of the year. But it looks like the momentum is gone.

The best investment advice I can give to young investors is to start early. The second best advice I can give is to read a lot.

One of the trends that’s making headlines this earnings season is the success of companies that are adopting cloud-based technologies. While reading The Wall Street Journal on Monday, I noticed that Oracle (ORCL) CEO Mark Hurd spoke at the Oracle OpenWorld conference in San Francisco. Among his headline-worthy comments was the statement that Oracle now has virtually 100% of its portfolio rewritten, rebuilt and modernized for the cloud. That’s a big endorsement from a company with a $162 billion market cap. And Oracle isn’t exactly an outlier.

Don’t let loyalty or affection cloud your judgment when investing in stocks.

We have one portfolio change today: I’m selling half of Nordic American Tankers (NAT) from the High Yield tier based on the stock’s lousy technical action. But there are still plenty of strong performers in our portfolio, including our newest buys, Mattel (MAT) and CVS Health (CVS). Read on for details on recent earnings reports and more.

The story remains mostly the same in the market as it has for the past few weeks: The intermediate-term trend for nearly all major indexes and the vast majority of individual stocks is pointed down. That said, there also are a decent number of stocks holding up fairly well—and with earnings season starting in a major way this week, the potential is there for some leadership to develop if we see some strong upside gaps following reports. We’re all for it happening, but overall it’s best to remain cautious as the market attempts to turn the corner. Once again, we’ll leave our Market Monitor at a level 5.

This week’s list has a wide array of good-looking names, though for our Top Pick we’re going with a liquid leader that, while not in the first inning of its run, acts like it wants to go higher.

With weeks of churning action and complacent sentiment, the market was flirting with trouble for a while, and now it’s hit the intermediate-term tripwire. Thus, we mostly advise defense here—after a big run-up and the aforementioned churning, the odds favor more short-term downside testing and/or pain ahead. That said, the odds also favor a resumption of the longer-term uptrend down the road, so it’s best not to get too holed up in your bunker, either. Tonight, we’ll leave our Market Monitor at a level 6, and the main message is to hold a good chunk of cash, honor stops and be very selective on the buy side.

This week’s list is another broad mix of stocks, with something for everyone in terms of stories, sectors and setups. Our Top Pick is a reliable grower in the infrastructure area that’s pulling back toward support. Given the market, keep new buys on the small side.

We may hate to talk (or even think) about it, but we all understand the importance of proper estate planning. And if you’ve spent a lifetime accumulating assets to pass down to those you love, the next best thing you can do is to make sure you’ve taken the right steps to avoid leaving your heirs with a headache on top of their inheritance. This month, let’s explore the steps you can take right now to help make sure your wishes are honored and that your family doesn’t spend months or even years duking it out in court.