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This week was generally one of stabilization, with the major indexes down 1% or less as of this morning, as volume and volatility tapered off. This continues a trend seen since last Thursday (and, for many stocks, last Monday) of stocks, sectors and indexes finding some support after a horrific three-week decline.

Today’s Weekly Update will be short and sweet. I am traveling back to the U.S. after a March break vacation with my wife, kids, parents and brother and sister’s families in the Bahamas.

The main market event of the week was yesterday’s FOMC meeting, which concluded with the Fed opting to hold rates steady. During his press conference Fed Chair Jerome Powell used the word “uncertainty” about a thousand times.

Just a quick reminder that, as per last week’s Special Bulletin, the March Issue of Cabot Early Opportunities will be published next Wednesday, March 26. Among the reasons for pushing the Issue back a week is that it will allow time for new portfolio additions to reflect today’s Fed decision to hold rates steady and the updated Summary of Economic projections (SEP), which implies a total of two 25-basis-point cuts this year.

There is no sugarcoating it: last week was ugly for the market as the S&P 500 fell 2.3%, the Dow lost 3.1%, and the Nasdaq declined by another 2.4%. And while the market looks terrible, on a positive note, stocks had their best day of the year on Friday.

Last week the S&P 500 index plunged into correction territory. The Nasdaq was already there. Has the market bottomed out or is there more downside to go?

It’s been a while since selling has gotten this ugly. The last market correction was in October of 2023. This is the second of this bull market, which began in October of 2022. That’s not unusual. Corrections are normal in a bull market. The S&P had run up about 75% in a little over two years and was due for a consolidation, especially the technology sector. But is that all this is or is it something more?

Despite some more worrisome price action throughout the week, the three leading indexes were able to eke out gains. For the week the S&P 500 gained 0.5%, the Dow rallied 1.2% and the Nasdaq advanced by 0.2%.

The recent sell-off was the fifth-fastest correction for U.S. markets in the last 75 years. Let’s see how it stacks up against the others and what came next.

Despite some more worrisome price action throughout the week, the three leading indexes were able to eke out gains. For the week the S&P 500 gained 0.5%, the Dow rallied 1.2% and the Nasdaq advanced by 0.2%.

International markets, especially developed markets, have been outperforming the U.S. lately. It may be time to invest more abroad, and these six ETFs can help.

There’s no getting around it: Growth stocks have crashed, so what do we do now? We can start by looking at these areas of the market that are still strong.

Sell Reddit (RDDT) and Second Half of FTAI Aviation (FTAI)

The market’s sharp downmove has continued this week, with all of the major indexes sporting sharp losses in the 3% to 4.5% range and growth-heavy measures down another 6%. We are seeing a small bounce this morning following the jobs report (mostly in line) and some positive quarterly reports, but nothing that changes the overall picture.

The last two weeks have been challenging for investors, and there’s a case for more selling ahead, but some bullish signals are starting to emerge.

In today’s note, we discuss pertinent developments for some of the stocks in the portfolio, including Alcoa (AA), Janus Henderson Group (JHG), Paramount Global (PARA) and Starbucks (SBUX).

This week’s watch list includes a focus on the suddenly interesting toy market outlook, with two major industry members poised to benefit from it.

What we’ve seen since the February 19 top in growth stocks has basically been a rolling crash, with most every leading stock from 2024 breaking its intermediate-term uptrend. Now, short-term, we do think things are finally getting hairy—recession fears and tariff headlines are making the rounds even as we are seeing a few near-term rays of light (the number of stocks hitting new lows is actually drying up a bit). That might be a reason to hold a some smaller positions at a profit, but overall, we remain clearly defensive. Our Market Monitor is now at a level 3, though we’re most interested in seeing how strong and persistent any bounce is once it begins.

This week’s list has names from all over the map, though medical and foreign stocks certainly dominate the list. Our Top Pick is a mid-cap biotech that has booming sales and earnings, and the stock is strong.

WHAT TO DO NOW: The growth stock meltdown continues, with the major indexes and individual names under heavy pressure again today. Already with nearly 80% in cash, we’re not eager to sell wholesale in the Model Portfolio, but we also won’t just hold and hope. Today, we’re going to sell half our position in Flutter (FLUT), which has fallen sharply this week. We’ll hold the rest of our names as well as our 84% cash hoard.