The futures were lower after a solid start to the trading week on Monday. All the major indexes finished the day higher, and many across Wall Street are still pointing to last week’s lower inflation numbers and the potential for the economy to have a soft landing as strong catalysts. Many strategists are starting to question if the recent rally is a bit long in the tooth, given that most of the massive gains this year have been driven by the artificial intelligence wave and just a handful of mega-cap technology giants. Despite the positive inflation trends, and stock rally, the futures market is still pricing in an increase in the federal funds rate in late July.<\/p>\n
Treasury yields were mixed across the curve on Monday, after some big selling last week. The 10-year benchmark note finished the Monday session at 3.80%, while the shorter two-year paper also was flat, closing the day at 4.74%. The inversion between the two securities still indicates the potential for a recession later this year.<\/p>\n
Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude closed mixed to start the week, with Brent lower by 1.7% to finish at $78.50 and WTI flat at $74.08, after some strong gains last week. Analysts pointed to the disappointing economic data from China, as second-quarter gross domestic product came in lower than anticipated while June retail sales were disappointing as well. Natural gas closed up modestly at $2.54.<\/p>\n
Despite continued weakness in the dollar, gold closed Monday flat at $1955.50. The economic weakness in China was also cited for the weakness in the bullion, as some traders feel there could be demand concerns for precious metals. Bitcoin, which was pounded on Friday, closed Monday essentially unchanged at $30,180.90.<\/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 Tuesday, July 18, 2023.<\/p>\n
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL): Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating and raised its price objective to $140 from $132. The consensus target is $133.52. Monday’s final trade was for $124.65 a share.<\/p>\n
America\u2019s Car-Mart Inc. (NASDAQ: CRMT): As Stephens boosted its Equal Weight rating to Overweight, the $70 target price exploded to $135. The consensus target is $76 for now. The shares closed over 15% higher on Monday to close at $119.52, due to the big upgrade and price objective increase.<\/p>\n