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Despite a frantic week of heavy sector rotation, the indexes managed to hang in there. Essentially, lofty tech valuations in the AI and growth spaces are now in question, and that hot money poured into defensive sectors. In the end, the S&P 500 eked out a +0.08% gain, the Dow rose +0.34%, and the Nasdaq Composite lost -0.45% last week.

The market continues to be on edge but having lightened up over the last two and a half months we’re in a decent position to add some exposure today.

This month’s issue offers fresh opportunities in the red-hot pharma space, as well as two little-known mid-cap industrial stories, one in radiation protection and the other in the oil and gas market. Wrapping things up is an introduction to what’s arguably the best play on utility-scale solar.

Enjoy!

Fast food used to be a low-cost go-to for American diners, but with consumers struggling and prices still rising, should you be an investor in fast food stocks?

The evidence has continued to worsen for the market this week, with just about all the major indexes (and most growth measures) down another 3% to 4% as of this morning. As you’d expect, most individual stocks went along for the ride, too.

The market rally is sputtering. The near-term direction of stocks is highly uncertain. But we might have a much better idea of where things are going by the end of this week.

WHAT TO DO NOW: The market tried to rebound today after Nvidia’s earnings last night—but big investors stepped up to sell, driving the market and many growth stocks into the red. Our Cabot Tides have now joined the Two-Second Indicator in negative territory, which has us remaining cautious and holding plenty of cash. In the Model Portfolio, we’re going to book partial profits in the ProShares S&P 500 Fund (SSO), selling one-third of our stake and holding the rest. That will leave us with a cash position of 62%. Details below.

Today, a whopping eight Profit Booster positions will expire. Most are “slam-dunk,” full-profit trades, while others will go down to the wire.

The big takeaway, before we dive in, is we are going to let the situation play itself out, and come Monday/Tuesday of next week we will revisit our profits, as well as how we will manage the remaining positions.

Natural Grocers (NGVC) delivered a Q4 FY25 report and guidance for next year that “should” be good enough to stabilize the stock and get it moving higher again. That said, we have a half-sized position, and if shares don’t stabilize here (KR and SFM have recently done so), then we’re more likely to exit the position than fill the other half. Next week will be important for NGVC.

Sell Warrior Met Coal (HCC). Buy Second Half of Life360 (LIF)

WHAT TO DO NOW: Despite the indexes holding up today, lots of growth stocks are again coming under pressure, continuing a wave of late-week distribution. We’re already holding a lot of cash, but today we’re selling one more position—Vertiv (VRT), which had been trying to hold up but the late-week selling pressure has been too much, cracking the stock. We’ll sell our half-sized position and hold the cash, leaving us with around two-thirds on the sideline in the Model Portfolio.

A recent NBA cheating scandal got me thinking about how sometimes even those with everything will always want more. More importantly, it got me thinking about how we use that to our advantage.

Chemical stocks are facing declining share prices and global headwinds, but their recent performance has made them worth considering as turnaround opportunities.

Markets continue to climb despite inflation, rate cuts, and global uncertainty. Discover what 2025’s key economic trends mean for investors, plus smart strategies to rebalance, reduce risk, and stay positioned for long-term growth.

Nvidia (NVDA) has been the leader in the AI clubhouse for years, but new products and a slate of new investments have one of its competitors gunning for the title.

It was another rocky week for the market as the tone was set by a rotation out of richly valued tech names, worries over whether the Federal Reserve would stay on hold rather than cut interest rates, and the big story was ongoing concerns about the sustainability of the AI-driven rally. By week’s end the S&P 500 and Dow had lost 2%, while the Nasdaq fell 3.2%.

If simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, these two global ETFs can add a dash of both to your portfolio.

Qualcomm (QCOM) has been an also-ran in the AI game due to the company’s focus on mobile chips, but its new class of semiconductors could make it a big winner if the AI rally holds up.