Last week’s pullback in the major indexes was pretty disappointing, but when we took a look around at all the evidence this weekend nothing much had changed on an intermediate-term basis: Most leading stocks are acting fine, the trends are still pointed up for the major indexes and, while it’s been a bit more rotational of late, there are still plenty of fresher titles that are advancing. We’ll be watching everything going forward (including the still-steep uptrend in Treasury rates), but at this point, we remain optimistic. We’ll leave our Market Monitor at a level 8.

This week’s list is chock-full of growth-y names, many of them familiar ones. Our Top Pick is a big, liquid, well-sponsored e-commerce emerging blue chip that just catapulted out of a big base.

There were a few pre-election wobbles in the market, but last week’s action looks decisive, with many major indexes that had been capped below their summertime peaks bursting to new highs, while leading stocks went bananas, including many out-of-this-world moves on earnings. Now, to be fair, we’re still seeing some earnings duds, and the action is very hot and heavy, which raises the risk of some sort of near-term rug pull. Thus, it’s important to keep your feet on the ground—but overall, there’s no question the evidence is bullish and the buyers are control. We’re moving our Market Monitor back to a level 8 and could go higher if the buying pressures remain intense.

This week’s list is has something for everyone, with a couple of cyclical names sprinkled in among a batch of strong growth titles. Our Top Pick is showing great growth and just staged a solid breakout from a very tight area last week.

It’s fair to say the evidence has taken a small step back in recent days because the intermediate-term trend of the major indexes is essentially on the fence, because the broad market has also faded somewhat, and because we’re finally seeing some earnings-induced dents in strong stocks. Of course, the election has finally (almost) arrived, which could easily cause some hecticness in the days ahead—but also remove some uncertainty. Put it all together and we’re still bullish, but we did pull in our Market Monitor to a level 7 and will take it as it comes in the days ahead.

This week’s list has a pretty solid growth component to it, which we do find encouraging. For our Top Pick, we’ll go with a zinger that has a great story and a powerful chart that we think can go far.

All in all, the evidence remains unchanged: The major indexes are positive but not exactly powerful, with resistance (such as near 500 on QQQ) still capping many measures, but leadership remains intact, with strong stocks refusing to give much ground and fresh breakouts from the past month acting well. Of course, earnings season is still ongoing, and you can never rule out the market’s key leadership being dented or some abnormal action appearing. But you can always find something that could go wrong in the market—right now, the buyers are in control. We’ll keep our Market Monitor at a level 8.

This week’s list is very broad, with everything from industrials to real estate to true-blue growth stories. Our Top Pick is a pure cyclical name that just busted out of a long-term consolidation on giant volume.

It remains pretty much the same story out there as we’ve seen for at least three weeks, if not longer. First, when it comes to the top-down evidence, it’s solid, with the intermediate-term trend of most everything pointed up; second, looking at things from a bottoms-up perspective, the evidence is encouraging, as many fresher breakouts have emerged in the past month or so; and third is more of a heads up, as near-term sentiment is very elevated and earnings season for most leading titles is ramping up, so some tricky trading (volatility, especially among extended stocks) is possible. Thus, we’re staying flexible, but given the overall positive vibes, are leaving our Market Monitor at a level 8.

This week’s list actually has many big-cap titles but there’s plenty for everyone. Our Top Pick appears to have finally left behind a multi-year consolidation after its Q3 report. Ideally you can get in on modest weakness if the market dips.

It hasn’t been any dramatic one- or two-day event, but the evidence has moved steadily toward the bullish case during the past couple of weeks. We will say that there are more than a few secondary factors that aren’t ideal, including the fact that interest rates are going up nearly every day, so we don’t think now’s the time to cannonball into the pool, per se, but we’re mostly holding our winners (booking the occasional partial profit on the way up) and gradually extending our line as new opportunities emerge. We’re lifting our Market Monitor to a level 8.

This week’s list is definitely growth-ier than the past couple of weeks, which is no surprise given the strength seen in that area. Our Top Pick has re-emerged after a brutal summer correction and has big leverage to a strong equity and crypto market. It’s not for the faint of heart, so use a loose stop if you go in.

In the market, it’s not the news that counts, but the market’s reaction to the news—and that makes last week’s trading noteworthy: Middle East attacks along with a dockworkers strike (that was quickly put off for a few months) could easily have sent risk-on assets reeling, but instead, most indexes took the news in stride and, somewhat surprisingly, we’ve seen defensive stocks hit the skids. Now, to be clear, there are still flies in the ointment out there, including the possibility of a counterstrike overseas (rumblings of that today), rising Treasury rates, and a lot of indexes, sectors and stocks are still rangebound. There’s no question there remain many stocks that act well (including tons of Top Ten names), but we’re staying in the same stance as we wait for upside confirmation from more of the market—we’re encouraged, but we’re leaving our Market Monitor at a level 7 as we wait for the buyers to truly flex their muscles.

This week’s list is another one with something for everyone in terms of stories and setups. Our Top Pick is a firm that has its hands in many nuclear power cookie jars; the stock just emerged from a multi-month rest on big volume.

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.

Between the late-July/early-August market plunge and the relatively sharp post-Labor Day selloff, more than a few weak hands were likely kicked out of their positions. That paved the way for the past two weeks, which have been very encouraging, with the major indexes certainly improving and with many of those same leaders acting well, including a bunch that moved to new high ground. It’s all to the good, though a lot of the same flies in the ointment that we’ve written about are still out there, too. There’s definitely more good than bad out there, but we continue to pick our spots. We’ll leave our Market Monitor at a level 7 today.

This week’s list has something for everyone, from high-tech to infrastructure to stocks leveraged to asset prices. Our Top Pick is a potential liquid leader that, after a few months of choppy action, looks to have finally broken out on the upside.

The post-Labor Day selling was worrisome, suggesting the correction that began in mid-July (for the big-cap indexes) or March (for the broad market) was still ongoing. And, frankly, we continue to think that—from a top-down perspective, the market is still mostly working through a consolidation, and safer measures are outperforming (a sign big investors are hesitant). That said, there’s no doubt the action among individual stocks remains mostly encouraging: Last week saw tons of beefy action, with many roaring right back to (or out to) new high ground as soon as the pressure came off the indexes. We’re going to nudge our Market Monitor up a level 7, though our general advice (small new positions, hold some cash) still holds.

This week’s list again has many familiar names from a range of sectors, a sign that the underlying resilience is persisting and broadening a bit. Our Top Pick has a great-looking launching pad—as with many names, it hasn’t broken out yet, so either start small here and use a loose leash and/or aim to buy on a decisive breakout.

The overriding question coming into last week was whether, after the V-bottom and strong rally for much of August, the market could keep going or would it fall back into a longer bottom-building process. After last week, it’s looking like stocks need more time to set up, as big investors returned from the long weekend and sold stocks basically every day. Of course, today saw a bounce, and a strong-volume rally with fresh breakouts among potential leaders would be very bullish -- but until we see that, we have to assume the market correction that began in mid July is still ongoing. Long story short, we continue to play things relatively cautiously, sticking with small positions and a chunk of cash on the sideline as we wait for more stocks to emerge on the upside. We’ll leave our Market Monitor at a level 6.

This week’s list has a lot of familiar names that are (or are close to) offering decent entry points. Our Top Pick is a consistent grower with a big story that’s trying to emerge from a three-plus-month rest.

Last week had a few potential potholes for the market’s nascent rally, including some influential big-cap earnings releases and an inflation report before the long weekend—but despite some selling that popped up here and there, the market and fresh leaders handled themselves well. Stepping back, we’re definitely encouraged by the market’s snapback and the numerous upside moves in individual, growth-oriented stocks during the past month; we think the odds favor the next major, sustained move is up. That said, a lot of stocks have set up (but not broken out), old leaders (chip names in particular) look suspect and it’s a fact that defensive areas continue to ramp higher, which is a sign that big investors are hunting for some safety. Again, we’re encouraged overall, but continue to think going slow makes sense, especially now that some selling pressures are beginning to emerge, stickign with mostly small positions and keeping some cash on the sideline. We’ll keep our Market Monitor at a level 6 today.

This week’s list is a bit of a hodgepodge, with some recent earnings winners, some fresh names and a few stodgier types. Our Top Pick is Rocket Cos. (RKT), which is basically a cyclical (mortgage lending) company that should be lean and mean after the multi-year dry period—meaning its earnings power should be big as rates head lower.

For the major indexes, the post-election ups and downs continued this week, with the moonshot two weeks ago leading to a relatively uncomfortable dip last week, but that led to a nice rebound coming into today, with most indexes up in the 1.5% to 2% range.

After a moonshot among most major indexes following the election and a second Fed rate cut, the market retrenched a bit this week, as the Fed hinted more rate cuts are a coin flip, as Treasury rates picked up again, and as some profit taking set in. The big-cap indexes are off a bit more than 1%, though the broad market and certain growth measures have pulled in more.

Last week, we saw the market begin to hesitate and leading stocks begin to take on some water on some earnings reports—combined with good-not-great action from the major indexes in the weeks before, that put the overall intermediate-term trend on the fence.

We’ve been writing about some of the market’s short-term uncertainties (election mainly) and secondary headwinds, including rising Treasury rates and relatively elevated sentiment (there really hasn’t been much selling since early September)—and this week finally brought an air pocket, mainly via yesterday’s across-the-board selling.

It’s been a bit of a wobbly week, with most major indexes in the red and more than a few leading stocks easing lower after solid runs. Coming into today, the big-cap indexes are off less than 1%, growth measures are generally off 1% to 2% and some broader indexes (small caps, etc.) are off a bit more.

It’s been another flat-to-up week, this time with the big-cap indexes and many growth measures either flat or up a smidge, while some of the broader indexes are up in the 1% to 2% range.

The market saw a ton of volatility in July, August and then with a good-sized early pullback in September, but this was the third straight week of quieter action, with most indexes up less than 1% on the week—though, encouragingly, we did see better action among some growth funds and individual stocks.

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%.

It’s been a quieter but mostly positive week, with most major indexes up in the 0.5% to 1.5% range, though much of the broad market was relatively flat.

The big news of the week was the Fed’s decision to cut interest rates by a full half point, and that was certainly part of the reason stocks had another solid week—coming into today, the big-cap indexes were up 1.5% to 2%, while broader indexes put in an even stronger performance.

After a very tough week for most indexes and especially growth and chip stocks, this week was very impressive, with many big-cap indexes not only finding support but recouping most or all of last week’s losses. Coming into today, the Nasdaq was up more than 5% on the week while the S&P 500 was up 3.5%, and though the broad market lagged, most other indexes were up 1% to 2% as well.

In last week’s update we reviewed the market’s good and bad, and we wrote that “we think the odds strongly favor the next big move being up. But, near-term, there’s still a decent chance that growth and other Top Ten-type names could see more backsliding (or bottom building, if you prefer) before breaking out.” Our Market Monitor has crept up of late but is still at a level 6 (out of 10).

Our Cabot Top Ten Trader’s market timing system consists of two parts—one based on the action of three select, growth-oriented market indexes, and the other based on the action of the fast-moving stocks Cabot Top Ten features.

Cabot Top Ten Trader is meant to be something where we do the first four or five steps of the process for you and then let you take it from there.

By following thse guidelines, we’ve always been able to get on board relatively early in each new bull cycle.

Guidelines to improve your investment results with Cabot Top Ten Trader.

The Cabot Top Ten Trader system evaluates price and relative performance of 8,000 charts each week to select the strongest momentum stocks.

A brief guide on using the Cabot Top Ten Trader.

If you follow these rules, you’re sure to boost your portfolio’s results.

This is a collection of tips on stock chart reading, something that’s key to Mike Cintolo’s growth stock methodology, but something few individual investors (and even professional investors) understand too well.

Here some of the most common questions Mike Cintolo gets from the readers of Cabot Top Ten Trader.