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It has been a great market for most of the last two years. But the bull market chops will be severely tested over the next couple of weeks.

The S&P 500 is within a whisker of the all-time high after rallying 22% YTD and over 60% in the past two years. The recent investor perception is that the Fed has begun a rate-cutting cycle that will last for two years, and the economy is still solid. That view will be put to the test this week.

The bull market enters its fourth year, with no signs of slowing. That bodes well for all stocks; growth is likely to continue to outperform, though the gap between growth and value titles appears to be narrowing. To kick off 2026 in style, today we fuse the two by investing in a traditional growth stock (and a household name) that has been so beaten down in recent months that it is now deeply undervalued, at least compared to its historical norm. We also “Retire” a stock from our Growth & Income Portfolio after it eclipsed our price target in just four months.

Details inside.

In the May Issue of Cabot Early Opportunities we acknowledge the increasingly choppy action in the market and the unprecedented nature of the current recovery.

Similar to last month, we focus on diversifying new buys across different end markets, offering up names with exposure to everything from mobile gaming to oil services to off-road suspension, and more. In short, there’s something for everyone and, we think, enough variety to capture the upside in a wide range of spring and summer market conditions.



Enjoy!

With rapid adoption of cloud-based technologies, subscription software and online advertising, communication, commerce, etc., it’s apparent that technology companies play an increasingly important role in the global economy.

Chipotle Mexican Grill is capitalizing on the trend toward local, organic foods.

I am writing to let all of you know that the respect that you have for your loyal subscribers is as important to me as the high quality analysis that your services provide for me as an investment professional and private investor.
S. Kapnopoulos, Athens, Greece

Halfway through January and one of the big stories of the year is the continued outperformance of small-cap stocks. Along with the strength in the equal-weight S&P 500 (the Invesco S&P 500 EW ETF (RSP) is an easy option to track this), this is part of the “market is broadening out” theme that you’ve likely been hearing about.

As I stated several times in the waning months of last year, small caps benefit from (1) an early cycle backdrop, (2) stabilizing earnings revisions, (3) positive operating leverage, and (4) lower rates. These conditions are materializing right now. Analysts expect small-cap earnings to grow 15% in 2026, only slightly ahead of the 14.8% expected for large caps but a massive improvement from the small-cap earnings contractions in 2023 and 2024, and above the expected 2025 earnings growth rate of 13.4%. By the way, mid‑cap earnings are expected to grow by 19.3% in 2026. This is helping to draw more attention to the small and mid-cap (SMID) asset class, which is actually what a lot of small-cap ETFs and mutual funds really have exposure to.

Revolutionary stocks are not just fun to think about—they can be extremely profitable for early investors.

As everyone knows, the price of oil has plunged dramatically in recent months. There is a major upside and a downside to that.

Current Market Outlook


The market’s story has remained the same since the new year began—the major indexes and most leading stocks are in firm uptrends, with many longer-term indicators and studies pointing to higher prices in the months ahead. That said, most stocks are extended to the upside (and, now, earnings season is getting underway), so be sure to keep your feet on the ground and look for good entry points. Right now, we’re mostly looking for pullback entries; if the market does relax, the odds are good that there will be opportunities in stocks that have recently gotten going. All in all, we remain bullish and heavily invested.

This week’s list again contains a wide mix of stocks (big, small, growth, commodity, turnarounds, etc.), which isn’t surprising given the market’s broad advance. Our Top Pick is ASML Holding (ASML), which was one of the first chip stocks to re-emerge following a great earnings report.

Stock Name	Price	Buy Range	Loss Limit
ASML Holding (ASML)	350.01	197-203	184-187
Canada Goose Holdings (GOOS)	46.21	30.5-32.5	27.5-28.5
Continental Resources (CLR)	66.19	53-56	49-50.5
Corcept Therapeutics (CORT)	16.06	22.5-24	20-210
Global Blood Therapeutics (GBT)	0.00	51-55	44-46
Kohl’s (KSS)	70.62	60.5-64.5	55.5-57.5
Lowe’s Companies (LOW)	98.15	99-103	91.5-94
ON Semiconductor (ON)	24.07	23.5-25	21.5-22.5
Teck Resources Limited (TECK)	26.07	27.5-29.5	24.5-26.
Wynn Resorts (WYNN)	121.08	184-192	168-172

In the latest installment in my series on demographic trends, here are three technology stocks that are plays on where the industry is trending.

Growth investing is about finding those two or three stocks that can double your money in a year or less. In my portfolio, Weibo (WB) is one such stock.

You should focus on the leaders--the stocks that held up well during the market’s five-week correction and have just bolted to new peaks on big volume. But this is also earnings season, so even if you haven’t jumped on board some recent breakout stocks, there should be plenty of opportunity to get on board after some earnings gaps. To review, powerful gaps higher (10%, 15% or more) right after earnings reports usually lead to higher prices. Most investors are afraid to buy a stock that’s just risen 20%, but if that gap comes after earnings, buying at that time is usually your best move.

Carlton Lutts, Cabot’s founder, once said of reading books on investing: “All I’m looking for is one good idea.” Today, I’m going to share with you our editors’ favorite investing books so you can find one good idea of your own. Cabot is housed in an old library, so we’re reminded of great books every day. And while the shelves are mostly gone, the walls of our office are still lined with many hundreds of investing books. Enjoy!

There are many financial yardsticks by which stocks can be evaluated and most of the time, a blunt measurement has little value.

Nothing’s changed with the market from a top-down point of view: It’s bullish, with the intermediate-term trend pointed up, and now we’re seeing new highs expanding as more stocks join the parade. Individual stocks remain trickier, as we saw some rotation out of growth and into some other areas last week—if leaders decisively crack, that could be bearish, but to this point, the action has mostly served to broaden the advance, which is a good thing. We wouldn’t go wild on the buy side right here, but we continue to advise following the positive evidence—we’ll leave our Market Monitor at a level 8.

This week’s list is definitely broader than it has been in recent weeks. Our Top Pick is helping to lead what looks like a fresh group move.