Search

There are only 13 trading days left in the calendar year. This means we are entering what is basically a reality distortion field … in which the closer we get to year’s end, the more that calendar-driven technical motivations, rather than valuations and fundamentals, drive share prices. These motivations create artificial selling pressure that can drive already-weak shares down even further.

It is a late-summer/early-fall rite of passage on Wall Street: After Labor Day, the institutional investors and hedge fund types return from their summer vacation homes in the Hamptons and immediately start selling. They sell out of their weakest positions that have been neglected and left to rot during the summer months, in the hopes of beefing up their quarterly returns before October brings a new quarter. The result is that September is, far and away, the worst month for stocks, with an average decline of -1.17% in the S&P 500 dating all the way back to 1928. The next-worst month is February, with a mere -0.14% decline.

That’s the bad news as we enter September. Here’s the good news.

Stocks finally took on some water last week, though the damage was minimal. Under the surface, there are a few more cracks, with the number of stocks hitting 52-week lows on the rise. Still, there’s no cause for concern yet. Just in case there is a more extended pullback in the offing, however, today we add a “boring” insurance play, but one that pays a high dividend and whose share price has been on steady uptick for the last couple months. It’s a recommendation from Tom Hutchinson to his Cabot Dividend Investor readers.

Details inside.

Fourth-quarter earnings season is underway, and while expectations are high at an estimated 11.9% average year-over-year growth among S&P 500 companies, according to data collected by Factset, the actual numbers probably won’t matter much to the market’s short- and intermediate-term direction.

Ignore inflation numbers too. CPI and PPI – this week’s dual reports of the December results – were encouragingly cooler than expected. But in the end, what really matters is how they impact the Fed’s decision-making, which we probably won’t know until at least the end of the month.

What a difference a week makes!

Early last week, things were looking pretty gloomy for the market, with stocks on a six-week losing streak dating back to early December and interest rates, as measured by the 10-year Treasury yield, stretching to 14-month highs. More than 300 stocks on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq were trading at 52-week lows.

There are a lot of things the stock market can handle.

In 2024 alone, stocks advanced more than 20% despite two major overseas wars raging, high interest rates, stubborn inflation, escalating unemployment, a toss-up presidential election in which one of the candidates changed midsummer, tepid consumer confidence, etc. That’s because, aside from Kamala Harris replacing Joe Biden as the Democratic candidate less than four months before the election, most of these potential headwinds were known. What Wall Street fears most is the unknown. And that’s why DeepSeek rattled markets on Monday.

Stocks are finally showing signs of life. After a miserable six-week stretch, stocks – with an assist from cooler inflation numbers – appear to be getting in gear. How long the new rally will last may depend on things like Q4 earnings, the early days of Donald Trump’s second term, and what Jerome Powell says next week. But for now, let’s strike while the iron is hot, or at least warm, and add a growth stock whose name you might recognize since so many people use their platform these days. It’s a new recommendation from Cabot Early Opportunities Chief Analyst Tyler Laundon.

Details inside.

Loading your portfolio with high-flying growth stocks and steady dividend payers can help you generate market-beating returns, but there are also unique, company-specific events that can quickly turn stocks into big winners. This month, we’ll be taking a closer look at stock spin-offs, special dividends, IPOs, mergers, buyouts and more “special situations” that can give you an investing edge.

The market’s main trend remains up, but the crosscurrents are getting fierce! So today I’m selling four stocks (two for good profits and two for small losses), all in an effort to keep the portfolio full of stocks whose potential upside justifies their potential downside.
As to this week’s recommendation, I’m happy to say that it’s a company headquartered in India, which is relatively free of the political turmoil that’s gripped the U.S. recently. Furthermore, given that foreign stocks have underperformed dramatically this year, I’m optimistic about getting on board somewhere near the beginning of a renewed uptrend.

Some weak economic numbers and political uncertainty about Hong Kong roiled markets a bit but emerging and international stocks rebounded a bit today. China stocks are getting some scrutiny in Washington amidst U.S.-China rivalry. Nevertheless, our new recommendation today is from the Middle Kingdom and is centered on a high growth theme that has a lot of momentum behind it.

The market remains in good health, so I continue to recommend that you be heavily invested in a diversified portfolio of the best stocks, both strong momentum stocks (we have several) and lower-risk dividend-paying slower growers. In the portfolio this week, the only change is an upgrade of Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) to buy.

As for the newest recommendation, it’s unusual in that it’s not one stock; it’s actually an ETF of a market sector that I think holds spectacular promise in the long term.

Markets were closed yesterday in honor of the late President Jimmy Carter.

No matter your politics, the service was well done and inspirational.

It was a solid opening this first week of 2025: new recommendation American Superconductor (AMSC) shares were up 10%, Centrus Energy (LEU) shares were up about 8%, Cloudflare (NET) shares were up 7.5%, and Dutch Bros (BROS) shares were up 7.3%.

The broad market began to show strength in late December, and last week we saw further progress, with new lows continuing to shrink to very bullish levels while a granddaddy blastoff measure (the 2-to-1 Blastoff Indicator) turned green. It’s all very encouraging, but now we need to see more “primary” evidence turn positive, including the trends of the major indexes and many more “real” breakouts from high relative strength stocks. We’re optimistic, but are in a trust-but-verify mode; for now we’ll move our Market Monitor to a level 5.

This week’s list is heavy on many themes that are working, including solar, metals, infrastructure, China and travel. Our Top Pick is from the latter area and has turned the corner in a decisive manner.

Artificial intelligence is the biggest thing in the market these days. But AI doesn’t work without energy.

The world doesn’t run on technology. It runs on energy. Energy is the respiratory system of the modern world that can’t function without it. Technology doesn’t work without electricity powering its systems.

Sure, clean energy is the future, but not yet. In fact, the U.S. and the rest of the world still rely on fossil fuels (oil, natural gas, coal) for more than 80% of energy needs and will likely continue to do so for decades to come. But fossil fuel consumption is changing. A new king is emerging – natural gas.

Natural gas is by far the fastest-growing fossil fuel. It is the number one fuel source by far to generate electricity in the U.S. and much of the rest of the world. There are also powerful trends adding to the already growing demand.

U.S. electricity demand is growing at breakneck speed because of data centers, electric vehicles, and increased onshoring of manufacturing. U.S. natural gas exports, in the form of natural gas liquids (NGLs), are soaring. This country is already the largest exporter, and the growth is staggering. U.S. NGL liquid exports over this past year have grown a whopping 67% over the prior year.

Natural gas was already the fastest-growing fossil fuel. The addition of soaring electricity demand and exploding U.S. exports accelerates that growth. The fuel is shaping up to be a dominant theme in 2026. In this issue, I highlight the country’s largest producer of natural gas.

It’s time to think about investing on the other side of the pandemic.

When the environment normalizes, investors will find the best opportunities in the same place they did before – technology. Growth in technology exponentially eclipses all other industries. And the pace of growth will accelerate as new and game-changing technologies are on the cusp of transforming the world as 5G continues to roll out.



Sure, the cyclical sectors are coming back. There will also be solid growth in other industries. But nothing will compare to the immense growth in technology. The sector will rule the market for many years to come.



Recent stumbles in the sector create an opportunity for the great normalization ahead. In this issue I highlight two portfolio positions perfectly positioned to benefit in both the long and short term.

Remember fintech? It was one of the biggest buzzwords on Wall Street a couple years ago until AI came in and gobbled up all investors’ attention. But the nascent sector never stopped growing, and now share prices are well below their apex as investors have largely ignored the sector the last couple years. In fact, this month’s new fintech addition to the Cabot Value Investor portfolio has almost never been cheaper since coming public in 2020. And yet, the company is still expanding both sales and earnings by more than 25% annually.

It’s a classic growth-at-value-prices story. And we think it has 45% upside in the short-to-intermediate term. Details inside.

Fourteen months ago today, my column here was about the similarities between riding out a hurricane and investing in choppy markets. That time, the storm was named Irene, and New York City (where I live) escaped most of the damage. Today, a new storm named Sandy is just beginning to...

As retired investors are quickly learning in today’s super-low-interest-rate environment, there are lots of ways to create a fixed income portfolio without using the traditional bonds. I’ve already discussed REITs, utilities, MLPs and a variety of other investments here, and today I add one more vehicle to the list: preferred...

Proper money management is crucial when using an options buying strategy.

Today I want to share with you the story of my greatest trade. And it was pure luck!