As for the market, it stinks.  Still.  Every expectation I’ve had in recent months that the downtrend would end has been wrong.  Happily, we don’t provide advice based on my expectations, instead using proven investing systems that allow subscribers to earn great money in the long run.

Our value-based systems simply ride through it, knowing that what’s undervalued (and you know there are plenty of stocks in this category today) will eventually be fairly valued again.

And our growth-based systems have been recommending cash, pure and simple, because the major trends are still down.

But there’s a part of me that’s hooked on momentum investing.  It’s the art/science that my father Carlton loved and mastered, and to me, it’s the system that often provides the best indication of which stocks might lead the market in the next upturn.

Consider, for example, Strayer Education (STRA), a stock that earned a spot in Cabot Top Ten Report back on November 3 when it was trading at 226.  I know that looks like a high price, but you shouldn’t let it stop you.  Price is irrelevant.  It has nothing to do with value or growth or momentum.  All it means is that if you buy the stock, you buy fewer shares than you normally would.  So here’s what we wrote about Strayer.

“If you’re looking for companies that benefit in a difficult economic environment, consider Strayer Education. The company offers undergraduate and graduate degrees at 62 campuses in Alabama, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and Washington, D.C. Its 44,564 students are mainly working adults pursuing their first college degree, and the stock is strong now because last week’s third quarter report was excellent. The company continues to demonstrate accelerating revenue growth, the result of both expansion and increased demand. And management announced the company has received initial approval to operate in Ohio, West Virginia and Utah. The company has a very long trend of earnings growth going back to the early 1990s and we see no reason for it to end.”

Moving on, the Report gave a Suggested Buy Range of 205-220, a range determined by careful chart analysis.  And what’s happened since then?  Well, just last week, at the market’s low, the stock dipped to undercut both its 25-day and 50-day moving averages to touch 202 … and then quickly rebounded.  Today it hit 225.  Clearly, there are committed buyers supporting this stock, and if the rotten economy sends more adults back to school, Strayer could be a big winner.