The futures were trading lower Wednesday, after another big risk-off day rally Tuesday that followed up Monday\u2019s big gains. All the major indexes closed higher once again, with the Nasdaq leading the way with a 3.37% gain, as investors scooped up battered mega-cap technology shares. Some cited the Royal Bank of Australia only raising interest rates by 25-basis-points and the ongoing hope by many that the Federal Reserve is ready to pivot from the big interest rate increases. With the September nonfarm payrolls on Friday and the consumer price index ready to be released next week, the Federal Reserve will have plenty of data prior to its November meeting, where many anticipate another 75-basis-point hike.<\/p>\n
Interest rates were modestly lower across the Treasury curve, as buyers returned like Monday, but not nearly as aggressively with rates having plummeted. The 10-year bond, which was recently flirting with a 4% handle, closed at 3.62%, keeping the inversion with the two-year note in place after it ended trading Tuesday at 4.10%. The inversion is considered a recession indicator.<\/p>\n
Both Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude followed up Monday\u2019s gains in a big way, with both benchmarks up well over 3%. The announcement by OPEC that it is considering a massive 1 million barrel per day production cut (and some on Wall Street said Tuesday the number could be as high as 2 billion barrels) was all the oil complex needed to move higher. Natural gas also closed up, by almost 6%, after trading down over the past two weeks. Both gold and Bitcoin closed up big as well, with the cryptocurrency giant pushing back across the $20,370 level.<\/p>\n
24\/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week with a goal of finding fresh ideas for investors and traders alike. Some of these daily analyst calls cover stocks to buy. Other calls cover stocks to sell or avoid. Remember that no single analyst call should ever be used as a basis to buy or sell a stock. Consensus analyst target data is from Refinitiv.<\/p>\n
These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Wednesday, October 5, 2022.<\/p>\n
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD): Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating while lowering its $112 target price on the chip leader to $88. The consensus target is up at $121.72. The last trade for Tuesday hit the tape at $67.90, which was up close to 3% for the day.<\/p>\n
AES Corp. (NYSE: AES): Goldman Sachs kept a Buy rating and lifted the $27 target price to $30. The consensus target is $29. The stock closed over 7% higher on Tuesday at $25.27.<\/p>\n
Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating on the technology giant and has a $165 target price. The consensus target is $170.84. Tuesday’s close at $121.09 was a gain of over 4% on the day.<\/p>\n