As to the stock market, I want to start by reviewing my column from early March.

On that day, the title of my Cabot Wealth Advisory was “Six Hot Chip Stocks for the Spring Bull Market.” In the article, I told you why chip stocks were a good bet at this point in the market cycle, and I highlighted six that were attractive at the time.

They were Atheros Communications (ATHR), Cree (CREE), NetLogic Microsystems (NETL), Power Integrations (POWI), Skyworks Solutions (SKYW) and Volterra Semiconductor (VLTR).

And how have they done since?

Very well, up an average of 7.9%, while the S&P 500 is up 4.2%.

And on March 22, I mentioned CREE again, saying it “looked terrific.”

Well, I hope you listened because today CREE vaulted more than 8%, breaking out of a beautiful tight base (the kind Cabot Market Letter editor Michael Cintolo loves) at 70 and pushing close to 77.

The “news” that sparked this move was an analyst upgrade.  But the stock would never have made the move if it didn’t already have so many of the qualities we look for, including strong sales and earnings growth, huge mass markets, great institutional sponsorship and a tight chart pattern.  I touched on many of these qualities a month ago, when I wrote this:

“Cree (CREE) is a leading manufacturer of LEDs (light-emitting diodes).  These are the lights that will eventually take over from incandescent and compact fluorescent lights because they are far more efficient and last far longer.  The company has grown revenues every year of the past decade but one (2007) and it maintained profitability throughout 2008 and 2009.  In the latest quarter, revenues grew 35% to $200 million, while earnings jumped 90% to $0.38 per share.  After-tax profit margin was 20.1%.”

All that still applies.  The only difference is that CREE has just completed a textbook one-month base.  With this new breakout, the uptrend is alive and well … and there’s more upside ahead.

To get regular current advice on the stock, I recommend a subscription to Cabot Market Letter, edited by Michael Cintolo.  Mike recommended the stock to his readers back on March 10, when it was trading at 70. And if you’d like to get the full story, (including advice on when to sell and take your profit) you can get it by taking a no-risk trial subscription to Cabot Market Letter.