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Cabot Prime Core Week Ending October 4, 2024

Latest Summary

CABOT EVENTS

Cabot Weekly Review (Video)

In this week’s video, Mike Cintolo talks about the busy week of news, though finds it interesting the market really didn’t move much despite all the headlines and uncertainty. All told, Mike is sticking with his overall view that the market’s next big move is up and many stocks are taking pole position for the race--but the market as a whole is still battling with resistance and big investors are being selective. Thus, Mike’s honing in on the true leaders, many of which he highlights today.

Stocks Discussed: IOT, FLUT, GEV, BOOT, CART, SHOP, HOOD, TW, COHR, FXI, EME, STRL

Cabot Street Check (Podcast)

This week on Street Check, Chris and Brad discuss the latest jobs report and its impact on the market, the brief dockworker strike, and what’s happening with Nike (NKE) to push shares down by more than 7% in just a week. Then, they welcome Larry Cheung to discuss the latest stimulus measures in China, how across-the-board economic support has raised the floor for Chinese stocks, and the companies he believes will benefit most. You can find more from Larry on Substack, YouTube, and X (Twitter).

Cabot Webinar

Coming soon!

Quarterly Cabot Analyst Meeting

The recording of the Cabot Prime Members Meeting with the Analysts is now available for you to listen to at your convenience—click here for access. This private call with our analysts is one of your exclusive Cabot Prime Core member benefits.

RECENT BUY AND SELL ACTIVITY

This table lists stocks bought or sold in the most recent Issues or Updates.

PORTFOLIO UPDATES THIS WEEK

Cabot Growth Investor

Bi-weekly Issue October 3: The market remains positive, but not powerful, with a lot of growth stocks and especially growth indexes and funds still batting with months-old resistance. Big picture, we think the next major move is up and a lot of the leadership of any coming run has already declared itself; indeed, we think we own some of the best names out there. But we’re not pushing the envelope here, as the market continues to deal with uncertainties (including this week’s Middle East tensions and dockworkers strike). We have no changes again tonight, though we’re staying flexible and are looking to add exposure as opportunities arise.

Bi-weekly Update September 26: WHAT TO DO NOW: Remain optimistic, but pick your spots. The evidence remains more good than bad, and many growth stocks are acting well—that said, the flies in the ointment we’ve repeatedly mentioned are still hanging around and, near term, many stocks are extended to the upside. We’re still leaning bullish, but tonight we’re going to stand pat, holding what we have and seeing how the market and stocks behave in the days ahead. Our cash position remains in the neighborhood of 30%.

Cabot Top Ten Trader

Weekly Issue September 30: Just looking at the headline evidence, it remains in good shape—the intermediate-term (and longer-term) trend of the indexes is up, and the same can be said for most growth measures. The only “problem” is that the action, while positive, isn’t very powerful: Some indexes that are technically trending up are still battling with resistance and haven’t made much progress for many weeks or months, and the same can be said for a lot of individual stocks, including some formerly leading areas (like chip stocks) that continue to lag. Thus, we’re sticking with our current stance—leaning bullish for sure, but picking our spots and stocks carefully and not rushing into things. We’ll again leave our Market Monitor at a level 7 tonight.

This week’s list is well-rounded, though for our Top Pick, we’ll go with a super-strong name that looks like one of the leaders of a potential group move.

Movers & Shakers October 4: It’s been a very news-filled week, with a dockworkers strike (and short-term settlement) along with the Middle East attacks (and fears of an upcoming reprisal) and the usual spate of economic reports—but, interestingly, there hasn’t been that much movement. Taking into account pre-market action (before the jobs report), most big-cap indexes are flat-ish on the week, though smaller-cap names are down more than 1%.

Cabot Value Investor

Monthly Issue October 3: Between the expansion of the war in the Middle East, a U.S. dockworker strike that could slow the supply chain again, and the uncertainty of a too-close-to-call presidential election next month, there are a lot of headwinds out there serving to counterbalance the good vibes created by last month’s Fed rate cut. Add in the fact that we’re in the traditional “spooky season” of October – the month in which the market has bottomed in each of the last four years – and it’s a good time to add some security to your portfolio.

So today we do just that … by adding a well-known home security company to our Buy Low Opportunities Portfolio. It’s been in business for a century and a half but has only been a public company for the past seven years. And with profits accelerating, the stock has become cheap.

Details inside.

Weekly Update September 26: Value stocks are starting to play catch-up.

The Vanguard Value Index Fund ETF (VTV), a good proxy for value stocks, is up 9% since the first week of August, more than half its year-to-date gain of 16.6%. While value stocks still trail the S&P 500 (+20.9% YTD) and growth stocks (the Nasdaq is +22.4% YTD), the gap is narrowing. Now that the Fed is finally cutting interest rates from multi-decade highs, perhaps this “in name only” bull market will spread to more corners of the market beyond just the Magnificent Seven, artificial intelligence stocks, and the other mostly tech-related plays that have carried this 23-month rally.

Cabot Dividend Investor

Monthly Issue September 11: We are in the early stages of a new cycle in the market.

The environment is changing from one of high inflation and high interest rates to one of falling inflation and interest rates in a weakening economy. And it is unlikely to be a mere short-term gyration but rather the beginning of a new environment that should last for some time.

Interest rates may fall quickly or more slowly depending on whether the economy remains buoyant or slips towards recession. But rates will fall much more significantly than they have in years.

The cycle reversal will create new winners and losers. Certain interest rate-sensitive stocks have been laggards for a long time and have a lot of catching up to do. They are still cheap, high yielding, and now have momentum.

In this issue, I highlight a great monthly income stock. The yield is massive, and it provides a high income in an uncertain market. The stock also can provide great price performance when the interest rate cycle goes its way. This point in the cycle provides a great opportunity to get a high income and total return on the right side of a pronounced market shift ahead.

Weekly Update October 2:The third quarter ended with the market looking good. The S&P 500 was up 2% in September after a rough start, 4.3% for the third quarter and over 20% YTD. Can the good times last?

Cabot Early Opportunities

Monthly Issue September 18: Welcome to fall! The September Issue of Cabot Early Opportunities is heavy on software and industrial names, two areas of the market where I continue to see plenty of emerging opportunities and potential for share prices to benefit from lower rates.

Cabot Income Advisor

Monthly Issue September 24: A new era has begun.

Most of the last two years have been an environment of rising and high interest rates and technology sector dominance. Now, we are entering a period of falling interest rates and a slowing economy. The new stage will bring different winners and losers.

The previously beleaguered interest rate-sensitive stocks and defensive stocks ignited and began to lead the overall market higher as technology pulled back. Since the summer, this new trend has been confirmed. And it is unlikely to be a mere short-term gyration but rather the beginning of a new environment that should last for some time.

In this issue, I highlight a great monthly income stock. The yield is massive, and it provides a high income in an uncertain market. The stock also can provide great price performance when the interest rate cycle goes its way. This point in the cycle provides a great opportunity to get a high income and total return on the right side of a pronounced market shift ahead.

Weekly Update October 1: The market is wrapping up another good month and quarter. The S&P posted strong gains in September, after three straight winning weeks in a row, following a rough first week. The index is also up nicely for the third quarter and near the all-time high with a better than 20% gain year-to-date.

The latest upward leg is being driven by cooling inflation, falling interest rates, and a still-resilient economy. We’re getting the rate cuts without the economic pain and an expected soft landing. What’s not to like?

Cabot Turnaround Letter

Monthly Issue September 25: For much of the last two years, the white-hot semiconductor space was the industry group least likely to yield any meaningful turnaround candidates. But that dynamic changed following this summer’s tech sector sell-off, which brought many of the previously high-flying chip stocks back to earth (or at least further away from the firmament).

Weekly Update October 4: In today’s note, we discuss the recent developments concerning Barrick Gold (GOLD) and V.F. Corp. (VFC), while taking a nice profit in the latter stock.

Cabot Money Club

Monthly Magazine September: Despite emphasis on closing the gender wealth gap, women in (and approaching) retirement still face significant challenges. Not only do women live longer than men and thus need to stretch their retirement dollars further, they also have, on average, half the retirement savings and can expect to receive a smaller amount from Social Security. This month, we’ll tackle strategies that everyone can use to build a bigger nest egg, cut down on expenses, and achieve their retirement goals.

Stock of the Month September 12: What a month! Markets have had some pretty wild moves since last month, gyrating with significant volatility, and that looks like it may continue for a while. But that’s okay as the volatility is now serving up some pretty exciting discounted opportunities for investing.

Economically speaking, inflation abated somewhat, with core inflation falling to 3.2% for August, its lowest point in three years. And that sets the stage for an estimated 25 basis point reduction in interest rates when the Federal Reserve meets next week, according to the latest economist polls. The rate gurus now think that we may see a total of three rate cuts before the end of the year.

ASK THE EXPERTS

Prime Question for Chris: Capital One Financial (COF): Why the weakness? Thoughts?

Chris: I don’t think there’s any particular reason for the weakness other than that COF had a big run from 132 to 153 in August/September, and it seems like the sellers are coming for stocks with “meat on the bone” right now as the customary October pullback develops. I wouldn’t worry too much about it. COF shares are still well above their August lows and their September lows, and a pattern of higher highs and higher lows is a good trend. The real test will come later this month (October 24), when the company reports earnings. And even if those disappoint … it still has the trump card of the Discover Financial merger out there, and that could be finalized in the next 3-6 months.