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In our final issue of 2022, we have another Sell and three downgrades as the market ends its worst year in more than a decade with a fitting whimper. But better times are almost assuredly ahead in 2023, and with that in mind, we’re adding a mega-cap with mega-ambitions – tackling the world’s ever-expanding obesity epidemic. It’s a potentially $1.2 trillion market by 2025. And the stock has been one of the market’s few bright spots this year, up 19%. It’s a recent recommendation from Cabot Explorer Chief Analyst Carl Delfeld.

The much-anticipated Santa Claus rally has yet to materialize on Wall Street, though at least the recent losses mostly stopped for the indexes last week. The S&P 500 was virtually unchanged, the Dow gained 0.88%, and the Nasdaq fell 2.5%.

The much-anticipated Santa Claus rally has yet to materialize on Wall Street, though at least the recent losses mostly stopped for the indexes last week. The S&P 500 was virtually unchanged, the Dow gained 0.88%, and the Nasdaq fell 2.5%.

2022 was a year that left a lot of investors sitting on the sidelines, but that doesn’t mean we can’t take away some growth investing lessons and set the table for a better 2023.

Small-cap stocks continue to trade in the same 5% range that they’ve been in for the last month. On the S&P 600 Small Cap Index that translates to a range of 1,184 – 1,252. At the low end of that range we have the upward sloping 50-day line.

In this week’s video, Mike Cintolo talks about the market’s under-the-surface improvement that he’s seeing; no indicators have changed, which will need to happen for him to extend his line in a big way, but there’s no question most stuff has seen improvement and more stocks are beginning to act properly. Mike did a little buying this week and is hoping to add more should the market be able to build on the recent action.

Stocks trend higher over time. And history clearly illustrates that bear markets are ideal times to invest ahead of the next bull market. The average bear market is about 15 months long. And this one is already almost a year old. There is a high-percentage chance that a rally ignites in 2023 that will lead us out of this bear market and into the next bull market.

Given the ongoing fallout from FTX and the collapse of cryptocurrency prices, it warrants revisiting our guide to becoming a “crypto billionaire” (on paper at least).

Patience remains a virtue in this market, as the major indexes and individual stocks have been unable to get going, though for the most part, sellers have failed to take control, too. We’ll see if today changes that; today’s post-Fed selling was ugly, though it hasn’t cracked our Tides buy signal or most stocks that were setting up. Either way, we’re remaining defensive, with nearly three quarters of the portfolio in cash.

Tonight’s issue is very stock heavy, with a big watch list and write-ups on on a variety of names (including some recent IPOs) that are acting well and have great stories. We continue to think a few good days could make all the difference, but until we see it happen, less remains more as we keep our eyes open for signs the buyers are showing up and the sellers have left the building.

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 reasonable to expect a significant market turnaround sometime next year. The market trends higher over time. And bear markets always give way to bull markets. Things should get a lot better in 2023. But there is a strong chance they get worse first given the current uncertainties regarding inflation, the Fed, and a recession.

Of course, a recovery and new bull market should reward the short-term pain handsomely over time. As a longer-term investor, which dividend investors should be, it should just be short-term noise on the way to long-term profits. But we can do better than just riding out the storm. We can exploit another possible market downturn to our advantage.

It’s a fact that many stocks that get hurt the worst in a bear market are the first to recover when the market turns. In this issue, I highlight a phenomenal cyclical stock that had been a market superstar but has been clobbered in this bear market. The stock is targeted at a low, low price that may be reached if the market falls to a new low. It could provide incredible upside leverage ahead of a market recovery.

The Fed raised benchmark interest rates a half a point and signaled more to come. Elsewhere, scientists studying fusion energy at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have crossed a huge milestone in reproducing the power of the sun in a laboratory. Explorer positions showed relative strength, led again by Kraken (KRNKF). Today we go to Britain for a historic and strategically important company, brand, and stock selling for a bit over $1 a share.

Last week saw cannabis stocks spike higher on news out of Washington before selling off on more of the same. Here are 3 reasons they still look like a buy.

Once again, the sellers stepped in last week and at least in the short term dented the bulls’ optimism. By week’s end the S&P 500 had fallen 3.35%, the Dow had lost 2.71%, and the Nasdaq had declined by 3.57%.

Cannabis stocks are getting sold down as if the industry has no future.

This makes no sense, but there is a good explanation. Traders and investors bought the group heavily on expectations that cannabis sector banking reform would be passed in Congress by year’s end. The AdvisorShares Pure U.S. Cannabis (MSOS) exchange-traded fund (ETF) saw five to ten times normal volume on four days in early December, following two months of accumulation.

Portfolio Changes: Infineon Technologies (IFNNY): FROM BUY A HALF TO HOLD


Centrus Energy (LEU) shares were up a point this week but the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings has been revised 21% downward over the last 60 days. This is still a buy for aggressive investors as interest in expanding nuclear power gains momentum.

With the right options strategy you can not only buy AAPL stock for a big discount but you can get paid for it while you wait too!

Small-cap stocks continue to trade in the same 5% range that they’ve been in for the last month. On the S&P 600 Small Cap Index that translates to a range of 1,184 – 1,252. At the low end of that range we have the upward sloping 50-day line.