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.

The market’s rebound has been very impressive, though there are a couple of flies in the ointment (we’re not huge fans of defensive sectors rallying strongly) and this week looks like a good test for a couple of reasons: First, there are some key quarterly reports coming out in key technology areas, and trend-wise, many growth-oriented measures are closing in on five-week highs, which could turn the intermediate-term trend up … if all goes well. For now, nothing has officially changed: If we see more breakouts and further upside, it would obviously be bullish, but while some retrenchment from here wouldn’t necessarily be bearish, it would be a sign the market likely needs more time to set up. We’ll leave our Market Monitor at level 6 this week.

This week’s list is a bit more diversified than the past two weeks, and for our Top Pick, we’re going with a name that’s very strong following quarterly results, has triple-digit growth and a great story—if you enter, be sure to keep it small and use a loose stop.

The market isn’t totally out of the woods at this point—the intermediate-term trend of most indexes and growth measures is essentially neutral here, there’s plenty of overhead to chew through. That said, there’s no doubt the rebound has been impressive, with some indexes recouping 60% to 80% of their corrections, and individual stocks are acting much peppier of late. What happens from here will be key: Some backing off would be normal, but if any retreat is tame and individual stocks continue to flex their muscles, it would be a good sign—though obviously a huge drop would be iffy. For now, we continue to slowly rebuild exposure but are remaining flexible. We’ll nudge our Market Monitor up to a level 6 but are taking things on a day-to-day basis.

This week’s list is another that’s loaded up with powerful charts, all of which have recently surged on earnings reports. Our Top Pick has been extremely tedious for the past 16 months but is flashing some overwhelming buying power as the sector improves.

After a very sharp dip for most major indexes and especially the Nasdaq, a bounce is underway. When looking at individual stocks, we’re fairly encouraged with what we see, which is a good sign that there will be leadership to sink our teeth into once this correction finishes up. But, at this point, we can’t conclude the correction is over, with most major indexes and key measures still buried under resistance (such as 50-day lines) and with formerly strong areas (chips, etc.) still looking suspect. We’re not opposed to a nibble here or there, but we continue to think remaining patient will pay off. We’ll move our Market Monitor up to a level 5, but still think keeping plenty of cash on the sideline makes sense.

This week’s list is chock-full of names that are acting great, most of which have recently shown big-volume strength after earnings, though we prefer to aim for dips in many cases. Our Top Pick is a familiar name that staged a classic earnings-induced breakout last week.

It looked like the bulls were ready to put up a fight last Wednesday, but it’s been all down since then, lowlighted by today’s action. Stepping back, we have two thoughts: Short term, there was definitely some panic today, and the fact that we saw a solid intraday bounce (closed well off the lows) implies some sort of bounce is possible. That said, the sharp, straight-down action from the market peak less than four weeks ago tells us a good amount of repair work is needed even if we do bounce. In terms of actions, we haven’t been pushing the envelope for many weeks, so if you have a good-sized cash position, we wouldn’t necessarily sell wholesale. That said, you should honor most stops (simply holding everything and hoping isn’t advised) while remaining patient. We’ll drop our Market Monitor to a level 4 (from 6) given the damage.

This week’s list has a lot of proper charts even after the latest selling storm. For our Top Pick, we’re going with a well-situated biotech firm that popped on positive drug trial results that will dramatically expand the opportunity for the big-selling drugs already on the market.

The top-down evidence remains decent, with the broad market holding its gains and testing new recovery highs. The issue, though, is the formerly strong tech stocks that included a ton of the market’s liquid leadership—frankly, many of these names have decisively cracked intermediate-term support and look vulnerable to further selling. As we’ve written a few times now, there are still a decent number of setups out there, but for now, we think it’s better to play things a bit cautiously: We’re leaving our Market Monitor at a level 6.

This week’s list has some early earnings winners and includes some ideas outside of traditional growth. Our Top Pick is another real estate play that appears to be lifting out of a longer-term consolidation.

The past few sessions have brought an avalanche of news and rumors involving inflation, rumors of China/Taiwan tensions, a worldwide tech shutdown and, this weekend, a shakeup in the 2024 election, all of which have caused some reverberations. At this point, the top-down measures look fine, but there’s no doubt that leading stocks (especially growth stocks) have gotten very sloppy, with a pickup in breakdowns and distribution. All in all, we’ll move our Market Monitor to a level 6 and stay flexible: A strong rebound and some positive earnings gaps could still launch many new leaders, but we need to see the buyers step up in individual names to get more aggressive.

Another piece of good news is that it’s still not hard to find strong stocks with good stories, as this week’s list has names from a variety of areas. Our Top Pick is a big-cap name that reacted well to earnings last week and looks poised to help lead a fresh upturn in its sector.

We rarely draw major conclusions from a couple of days of trading, but there’s no doubt the action since last week’s inflation report is very interesting, with the broad market coming alive, though that’s happening as some extended tech leaders wobble a bit. All in all, the intermediate-term trend is turning up and we are seeing a few more names emerge, though to us, it remains a stock-by-stock environment, so we’re focused on great setups and potential breakouts in stocks showing relative strength. We’ll leave our Market Monitor at a level 7.

This week’s list is very eclectic, with everything from precious metals to bull market stocks to AI plays to biotech—a sign the broad market is kicking into gear. Our Top Pick is a mid-cap in the biotech space with very strong sales and earnings projections as their new drug grows rapidly.

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).

Reminder: Due to the Labor Day holiday, you will receive your next issue of Cabot Top Ten Trader on Tuesday, September 3.


After three positive weeks, the sellers finally put up a fight, with most major indexes down on the week. The retrenchment, though, has been limited overall, with most stuff down less than 1% while some growth measures (including the Nasdaq) are down in the 1.5% to 2% range.

After two big support and accumulation weeks, this week has seen more digestion in the major indexes—and, really, we saw the first “real” selling since early August on Thursday, with some heavier-volume selling. Even so, as of this morning, it’s still shaping up to be a positive one, with most indexes up in the 1% range given the pre-market indications, maybe a bit more on the growth side of things.

It’s been an outstanding recovery week for the market, with the major indexes all up very nicely, led by the Nasdaq (up around 5%), though most things are up in the 2.5% to 3.5% area coming into today.

To say it’s been an interesting, volatile week would be an understatement, with just about everything nosediving early Monday, finding some support Tuesday, suffering a big reversal Wednesday before Thursday’s romp that saw a ton of individual names rally big.

It’s been another mostly sour week, with continued selling in the growth area of the market early on, followed by a big show of support on Wednesday, only for that move to go up in smoke on Thursday. On the week so far, the big-cap indexes are down less than 1%, though broader indexes are down 1% to 2% and growth measures are down much more—and this morning of course looks likely to bring more losses.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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