Great businesses at fair prices — here's why each makes the list.
…and 350 more buy candidates in the full briefing.
41 name(s) sliding toward Avoid:
Value $107,032 ▲ +7.0% since 2026-07-16 · ▼ -$493 (-0.5%) since yesterday · S&P +2.4% · Cash $3,897
| Stock | Held | Price | Today | Since buy | Grade |
| CF | 83 sh | $125.71 | ▲ +0.0% | -3.0% | 89 |
| EOG | 78 sh | $144.50 | ▼ -0.2% | +7.2% | 88 |
| FHI | 156 sh | $64.86 | ▼ -0.4% | +8.2% | 91 |
| HIG | 73 sh | $137.80 | ▼ -1.5% | +0.8% | 90 |
| INTU | 33 sh | $348.00 | ▲ +0.6% | +18.1% | 87 |
| LOPE | 69 sh | $150.19 | ▲ +1.0% | +4.9% | 90 |
| LULU | 85 sh | $115.00 | ▼ -1.2% | -3.3% | 88 |
| NBIX | 58 sh | $155.92 | ▼ -0.4% | -9.1% | 89 |
| PRI | 31 sh | $291.44 | ▼ -3.2% | -6.8% | 93 |
| RMD | 49 sh | $235.76 | ▲ +0.0% | +16.3% | 84 |
Fictional money · prices update daily · a live test of whether the picks actually work.
Does the grading actually work? Two honest halves — a backtest on past data, and the real live record as it ripens. It reports the truth even when that's “not enough data yet.”
Reconstructed 319 graded moments across 150 companies (a sample of 150 names), then measured what each actually returned over the next 12 months.
Do higher grades earn better returns?
| Grade | Names | 12-mo return | vs S&P |
| A (80-100) | 43 | +13.5% | -0.5% |
| B (65-79) | 161 | +11.9% | -3.6% |
| C (50-64) | 91 | +12.9% | -1.7% |
| D-F (<50) | 24 | +41.0% | +27.2% |
→ higher grades did WORSE here (gap 27.5 pts) ⚠️
27 snapshot(s) since 2026-07-06, none ripe yet — first 6-month check ~2027-01-06.
Backtest limits: ~5 years back, surviving companies only, restated statements — a strong first read, not gospel. The live record is the hindsight-free gold standard and strengthens every month. Refreshed 2026-08-23. Educational only — not financial advice.
FDA greenlights Phase 2 Alzheimer's trial. The FDA accepted Neurocrine's IND for NBI-1117567, an oral muscarinic M1 agonist targeting Alzheimer's cognitive symptoms, developed through its Nxera partnership. This triggered a $10M milestone payment to Nxera and adds a meaningful new clinical-stage asset to the pipeline. The stock is down ~15% over the past month despite this positive catalyst — analyst fair-value estimates sit around $211-$213 vs the ~$156 last close, suggesting significant undervaluation. The core investment thesis still rests on INGREZZA (the company's flagship drug for tardive dyskinesia), but this Alzheimer's expansion broadens the long-term story in a high-need area. Real catalyst, not noise.
CFO placed on administrative leave amid stock probe. This is the most material headline in today's packet: Grand Canyon's CFO was put on administrative leave in connection with a stock-related investigation. An SEC 8-K was filed on Aug 21. I could not read the actual 8-K (SEC returned a 403 error) or the Business Journals article (Google News redirect), so the details — whether this is an internal audit, SEC inquiry, or something broader — are unclear. This is a genuine warning sign. The grade (89.6) reflects strong fundamentals as of the last data pull, but a CFO investigation is the kind of event that can change things fast. Worth watching closely; the grade cannot capture this yet.
UBS expects ~$1.25 EPS guidance cut; Dick's Sporting Goods warning hits sector. Ahead of LULU's Sept 3 earnings, UBS projects fiscal 2026 EPS guidance will be cut to $9.70-$9.90, well below the Street consensus of $10.93. Weak U.S. and China sales are the main culprits. The company itself guided for Q2 revenue to decline 2-3% with a 42-43% plunge in net income — its fifth consecutive year of decelerating sales. Adding to the pressure, Dick's Sporting Goods crashed 31% this week after warning of excess inventory and heavy promotional discounting across athletic retail. LULU fell in sympathy along with DECK, VF Corp, Under Armour, and Crocs. One mitigating factor: a new CEO (former Nike exec Heidi O'Neill) starts Sept 8, and the stock is already down ~50% from its all-time high, so much of the bad news may be priced in. Still, the near-term risk is real. News and grade disagree here — the 88.2 grade reflects historically strong profitability and margins, but the demand trajectory is weakening.
Truist cuts to Hold on weak Term Life sales; insider sale by president. Truist downgraded PRI to Hold, citing underperformance in new Term Life sales — policies issued fell 12% YoY in Q2, the licensed sales force shrank 3%, and new life licenses dropped 15%. Economic uncertainty is making middle-income households cautious about buying life insurance. Meanwhile, the president sold 1,800 shares (~$563K, about 18% of his direct holdings), which Motley Fool characterized as "routine." On the bright side, the investment business is booming (segment revenue +21%, pretax income +31%) and the company is buying back $135M/quarter in stock with a 15% dividend raise. The grade (92.9) remains very high because the financial health and valuation pillars are excellent (P/E 12, FCF yield 11.6%), but the life insurance distribution headwind is worth monitoring.
Zacks upgrades to Strong Buy; capital return strategy looks sustainable. Consensus EPS estimates rose 7.8% over three months, pushing FHI into the top 5% of Zacks-ranked stocks (fiscal 2026 EPS expected at $5.50). The company also raised its quarterly dividend 11.8% to $0.38/share (9% annualized growth over 5 years, only 28% payout ratio) and has 2.3M shares still authorized for buyback. Cash of $481M vs $349M long-term debt gives plenty of flexibility. They also acquired an 80% stake in FCP Fund Manager, adding $3.2B in U.S. multifamily real estate assets. An EVP/CLO did sell 5 shares (trivial), but the fundamental picture here is solidly positive — earnings rising, capital return growing, balance sheet strong. No red flags.
Fastest Q2 revenue growth among multi-line peers; Zacks upgrade. Hartford posted $7.26B in Q2 revenue (+8.1% YoY), the best growth rate in its peer group (vs Chubb, AIG, Kemper). It beat net premiums estimates but missed on book value per share. Zacks also upgraded the stock. Large institutional purchases (Caisse de depot, OMERS, Legal & General) suggest broad professional interest. The stock dipped 2.2% post-earnings despite the strong top line — the market wanted more on the book value side. Grade of 90.3 with a P/E of just 10 and FCF yield near 15% — the valuation pillar is maxed at 100 for good reason. Solid quarter, nothing alarming.
Breaks ground on world's largest low-carbon ammonia plant. CF Industries, JERA, and Mitsui began construction on Blue Point One in Louisiana — a $3.7B facility expected to produce 1.4M metric tons of low-carbon ammonia annually by 2029 (capturing ~98% of CO2). CF owns 40%. This is a real long-term strategic move into the clean energy ammonia market beyond traditional agricultural fertilizers. Separately, Freedom Broker downgraded the stock on near-term nitrogen pricing weakness. The grade captures today's strong profitability and valuation, and the ammonia plant adds a growth catalyst for the late 2020s, though it also means significant capex ahead.
Declares $0.54/share quarterly dividend; no company-specific material news. Most of RJF's news this week is about analyst calls they issued on other companies (AMD, NVIDIA) rather than about Raymond James itself. The dividend declaration is routine (payable Oct 15). No red flags, but no meaningful catalyst either. Quiet is fine for a well-run financial.
Cheap on earnings multiples; questions about sustainability. EOG trades at 11.7x P/E vs the oil/gas industry average of 13x, and has returned 178% over five years. Analysts see it as undervalued on traditional metrics. The CEO is scheduled to speak at SUPER DUG (industry conference). No negative catalysts, but the key risk for any oil producer is commodity price volatility — the grade can't predict where oil goes. Institutional flow is mixed (some buying, some selling).
Down 3.8% in sympathy with Dick's Sporting Goods warning. There's no DECK-specific bad news — the selloff was driven by Dick's Sporting Goods' weak guidance warning of excess inventory and heavy promotional discounting across athletic retail. That dragged down the entire apparel/footwear sector (VF Corp, Levi's, Under Armour, Crocs all fell 3-4%). DECK's brands (Hoka, UGG) have been outperformers, but the sector-wide promotional environment could pressure margins. Worth watching the next DECK earnings for any signs of the same.
Debt strain worsening; core appliance business declining. Whirlpool issued $2B in high-coupon secured notes in June 2026, and the net-debt-to-EBITDA ratio is elevated. Annual product sales and EPS are both falling. The 115-year branding campaign is nice but doesn't fix the underlying financial deterioration. The low grade (45.4) is well-deserved — this is a company with declining revenue, shrinking profitability, and a growing debt load. No turnaround catalyst in sight.
Interesting AI/geothermal pivot, but the grade reflects real weaknesses. Ormat is positioning its geothermal assets to power AI data centers via Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS). Revenue was up 43% YoY in H1 2026, and the company has partnerships with Google and Switch. The strategic story is compelling — baseload clean energy for hyperscalers is a genuine growth market. But the grade (45.5) flags valuation and financial health concerns that the exciting narrative doesn't erase. The stock is up ~20% over 12 months already. News and grade disagree: the business trajectory looks positive, but the numbers say the stock may already reflect that optimism.
No material company-specific news — just institutional fund flow reports (various firms buying and selling shares). The low grade reflects fundamental concerns, and nothing in the news changes that picture.
No material company-specific news — only institutional position reports. Nothing to change the view.
No material company-specific news beyond institutional flow. One article noted REITs whose dividends get hit by taxes outside a Roth IRA, but that's structural rather than news.
Sources that couldn't be read: Google News redirect links (for the LOPE CFO article from Business Journals and the PRI Truist downgrade from Seeking Alpha) returned only the SPA shell with no article text — a known limitation of the free Google News RSS. The SEC 8-K filing for LOPE returned a 403 error. Headlines from those sources are referenced above but the full articles could not be verified.
Reminder: News is shown alongside the grade, never overrides it. This is research context, not financial advice.
MarketMind is a personal, educational stock-research tool. Every morning it screens roughly 900 large- and mid-cap U.S. companies, grades each one from 0–100 on five research-backed pillars — financial health, profitability, growth, valuation, and moat — and surfaces the businesses that look strong and reasonably priced.
The idea it rests on: over the long run, a stock's price follows the company's profits. So rather than chasing hype, MarketMind looks for great businesses at fair prices and lets time do the work.
It also runs a Paper Fund — a fictional $100,000 that automatically follows the tool's own Buy ratings — so you can watch, over time, whether the picks actually work. It's pretend money: nothing here is ever bought or sold for real.
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