The big news today was the September retail sales report. Retail sales jumped 0.7% in September, more than double economists’ estimates for a 0.3% rise. Excluding auto sales, sales climbed up 0.6%, tripling economists’ expectations for a 0.2% increase.

Digging a little deeper into the numbers…

• Vehicle sales surged 1% – the strongest gain in four months
• Food and beverage sales increased 0.4%
• Sales of bars and restaurants rose 0.9%
• Online sales increased 1.1%
• Gas station sales rose 0.9%

All told, nine out of the 13 retail categories posted gains in September. Electronics and appliances stores declined 0.8%; building materials and garden equipment slipped 0.2%; and clothing and clothing accessories stores dipped 0.8%. Furniture and home furniture stores were flat.

Clearly, consumers were out and about spending money last month.

Now, while the September retail sales report was top of mind for Wall Street today, I anticipate investors’ attention will start to shift to the third-quarter earnings announcement season. Several big-name banks – JPMorgan Chase & Company (JPM), Citigroup (C), Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) – released their quarterly results on Friday, with sizable increases in earnings thanks to higher rates.

Bank of America (BAC) also announced strong quarterly results this morning. (I’ll have more details on the big banks’ earnings reports in Saturday’s Market 360, so stay tuned for that!)

I should also add that the analyst community is growing more optimistic this earnings season. According to FactSet, analysts expect the S&P 500 will achieve earnings growth of 0.4% in the third quarter. That’s up from previous expectations for a 0.3% drop in earnings.

More earnings results will be released this week, though I expect Wall Street will be paying very close attention to Netflix, Inc.’s (NFLX) and Tesla, Inc.’s (TSLA) earnings results tomorrow. Tesla, in particular, holds a heavy weighting in the S&P 500, so a negative earnings report could hurt the broader market.

But the bottom line is Wall Street is going to grow more fundamentally focused as we move deeper into the third-quarter earnings season, which is why your best bet for profits is in fundamentally superior stocks.

So, in today’s Market 360, I’ll share 10 stocks my Portfolio Grader found that have weak fundamentals and are not good buys right now. And then, I’ll share the exciting New Intelligence I am combining with Portfolio Grader to find fundamentally superior stocks that are expected to rise in the very short term.

This Week’s Ratings Changes

After taking a close look at the latest institutional buying pressure and each company’s financial health, I decided to revise my Portfolio Grader for 92 big blue chips. Of these 92 stocks, 22 stocks were downgraded from a B-rating (Buy) to a C-rating (Hold), and 11 stocks were downgraded from a C-rating to a D-rating (Sell).

I’ve listed the first 10 stocks to sell below, but you can find the full list – including the stocks’ Fundamental and Quantitative Grades – here.

Chances are that you have at least one of these stocks in your portfolio, so you may want to give this list a skim and act accordingly.

The New Intelligence

As you can see, Portfolio Grader is great at screening stocks and separating the best from the worst. However, I will be the first to admit that it is not the best tool to use for short-term trading. It’s why I’m combining it with the New Intelligence – an artificial intelligence (AI) system that can predict the share price of almost any stock 21 trading days into the future… with up to 82% accuracy.

This New Intelligence looks at 120 different factors, updated overnight, which amounts to a billion data points at any given moment. And when it makes a mistake, it’s programmed to learn and correct for that going forward.

Essentially, the New Intelligence “teaches itself” how to accurately predict future stock prices by seeing how close it comes to its original projections… and then adjusting day by day.

I am confident that using my Portfolio Grader system with the New Intelligence will be a game-changer for investors going forward. This will help investors better navigate (and profit!) in times of market uncertainty, especially during earnings season.

To learn more about the New Intelligence, watch a replay of my AI Breakthrough event from last Thursday. I also shared a FREE recommendation for this new investing approach.

Click here now for full details.

Sincerely,

Louis Navellier

The Editor hereby discloses that as of the date of this email, the Editor, directly or indirectly, owns the following securities that are the subject of the commentary, analysis, opinions, advice, or recommendations in, or which are otherwise mentioned in, the essay set forth below:

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (DGX) and Genmab A/S Sponsored ADR (GMAB)