Overnight Summary: The S&P 500 closed Wednesday lower by -0.70% at 4467.71 from Tuesday lower by -0.42% at 4499.48. Overnight ranges saw the high hit at 4516 at 3:30 a.m. EDT while the low was hit at 4486.50 at 4:05 p.m. EDT. The range overnight was 30 points. The 10-day average of the overnight range is at 29.20 from 29.40 yesterday.  The average for May/June/July average was 18.81 from 19.94 in May/June. Currently, the S&P 500 is higher by +24 points and by 0.52% at 7:20 a.m. EDT.

Earnings Out After The Close: 

• IPOs Priced or News:
  • LQR House Inc. (LQR) Announces Pricing of Initial Public Offering.
• New SPACs launched/News: None of note.
• Secondaries Priced:
  • ARMK: Prices secondary offering of 21,262,245 shares of its common stock by a selling stockholder at $39.75 per share.
  • FLYW: Prices offering of 8.0 million shares of common stock at $32.00 per share.
  • INVZ: Prices offering of 26.0 million ordinary shares at $2.50 per ordinary share.
  • MRUS: Prices $150 million Offering. 6.81 million Shares at $22 per Share.
• Notes Priced of note:
  • BXSL: Secured Lending Fund prices 6.5 million shares of common stock at $27.33 per share.
  • CWST: Announces Pricing of Up to $35.0 Million of New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation Solid Waste Disposal Revenue Bonds (Casella Waste Systems, Inc. Project) Series 2020R-2.
  • LNW: Announces Pricing of $550.0 Million of Senior Unsecured Notes.
• Common Stock filings/Notes:
  • ATIP: Filed Form S-3.. Up to 12,273,125 Shares of Common Stock Issuable Upon Conversion of the Notes.
  • BXSL: Announces Public Offering of Common Shares.
  • DYAI: Filed Form S-3.. $50,000,000 Common Stock.
  • INVZ: Public Offering of Ordinary Shares.
  • MRUS: Proposed Public Offering of Common Shares.
  • PSQH: Filed Form S-1.. Primary Offering 11,450,000 Shares of Class A Common Stock Issuable Upon the Exercise of Warrants Secondary Offering 10,012,500 Shares of Class A Common Stock 5,700,000 Warrants to Purchase Class A Common Stock.
  • SMR: Entered into $150 million Class A common stock sales agreement.
  • SPRC: Proposed Underwritten Public Offering of Approximately $1.3 Million. (Aegis bookmanager)
  • SSKN: Filed Form S-3.. 800,000 Shares of Common Stock Issuable upon Exercise of an Outstanding Warrant.
• Direct Offering: None of note.
• Selling Shareholders of note:
  • ARMK: Secondary Offering of Common Stock by selling shareholders.
  • LAZR: Files for 3,818,749 shares of common stock by selling shareholders.
• Private Placement of Public Entity (PIPE):
  • TNGX: Announces agreement to sell approx. 15.5 mln shares in private placement at $5.15 per share.
• Mixed Shelf Offerings:
  • EBTC: Files mixed securities shelf offering.
  • ENVX: Filed Form S-3.. $1,000,000,000 Mixed Shelf.
  • FDMT: Filed Form S-3.. $300Million Mixed Shelf.
  • FLYW: Filed Form S-3ASR.. Mixed Shelf Offering.
  • POET: Filed Form F-3.. $150,000,000 Mixed Shelf.
• Debt/Credit Filing and Notes:
  • ATSG: Announces Proposed Convertible Senior Notes Offering.
  • GNLN: Announces Pay Off of $15MM Asset Based Loan, Acquires Approximately $3MM in Cash.
  • INFN: Filed Form S-3ASR.. $100,000,000 – 3.75% Convertible Senior Notes due 2028 and any common stock issuable upon conversion.
  • SWAV: Announces Proposed Private Offering of $500.0 Million of Convertible Senior Notes.
• Tender Offer:
  • HCC: Announces Launch of Concurrent Tender Offers For its 7.875% Senior Secured Notes Due 2028.
• Convertible Offering & Notes Filed: None of note.

Capital Raise Summary From The TradeXchange, bringing traders and investors real time news and Squawk Box, and other sources.

News After The Close and Over the Holiday:

• After Hours: 
  • Trading Up: APP +23%, YELL +12%, SONO +10%, ALRM +10%, DWAC +9%, CPRX +5%, AOSL +5%, KGS +4%, SABR +4%, ADMA +4%, BLBD +4% of note.
  • Trading Down: ORGN -51%, ORGO -39%, STKL -21%, INVZ -15%, MGNI -15%, PRPL -12%, BRP -6%, ILMN -6.1%, G -6%, PLUG -6%, TASK -6%, DNA -5%, INFN -5%, PAR -5%, BXSL -4%, ENVX -4%, TTD -4%, QNST -4% of note.
• News Items After the Close:
  • Stocks making the biggest moves after hours: DIS, WYNN, APP, ILMN, TTD, SONO (CNBC)
  • President Biden signs executive order on addressing United States investments in certain national security technologies and products in countries of concern, mainly China. (Release)
  • Disney (DIS) to Significantly Raise Prices of Disney+, Hulu Streaming Services. (WSJ)
  • Yellow (YELL) Gets Competing Bankruptcy Loan Offers From MFN, Estes (Bloomberg)
  • Illumina (ILMN) stock falls, as ‘cautious consumer backdrop’ tempers outlook. (MarketWatch)
  • Sonos (SONO) stock rallies 10% after quarterly beat, but audio maker says market conditions have not returned to ‘normal’ (MarketWatch)
  • Applovin (APP) stock skyrockets 25% after company posts surprise profit, higher revenue. (MarketWatch)
  • Wynn (WYNN) stock rises after results beat estimates, helped by Macau, North America (MarketWatch)
  • Spire Global (SPIR) Awarded $6.5 Million NASA Contract Renewal for Earth Observation Data.
  • Dave Portnoy Paid Just $1 to Buy Barstool Sports Back (PENN/DIS). (Bloomberg)
  • Monthly Assets Under Management Reporting:
    • BEN $1.45 trillion vs. $1.43
    • VCTR $165.9 billion VS. 163.2
    • IVZ $1,570.7 billion – 2.1% increase.
    • LAZ $244.4 billion vs. $239.3 billion

• Exchange/Listing/Company Reorg and Personnel News:
  • Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN) announces Christopher Huskilson as interim CEO.
  • Amtech Systems (ASYS) Announces CEO Transition
  • Aptorum Group (APM) Receives Nasdaq Approval to Transfer Listing to Nasdaq Capital Markets.
  • Bird Global (BRDS) Appoints Michael Washinushi as Interim CEO.
  • Blink Charging (BLNK) in 10-Q: Last month, received subpoena from the SEC requesting documentation relating executive departures, number of EV charging stations, and other discrete disclosure matters.
  • DigitalOcean (DOCN) files to delay its 10-Q.
  • First Foundation (FFWM) plans to transfer listing to NYSE from Nasdaq Stock Market on August 22, 2023.
  • FREYR Battery (FREY) appoints Birger Steen as CEO.
  • Kenvue (KVUE) set to join S&P 500.
  • Occidental Petro (OXY) appointed Sunil Mathew Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.
  • Tenet Healthcare (THC) appoints Saum Sutaria as Chairman.
  • TuSimple Holdings (TSP) to delay 10-Q filing.
  • Ultra Clean Holdings (UCTT) to delay 10-Q filing.
  • West Fraser (WFG) Senior Leadership Transition Plan.
  • Wolverine (WWW) appoints Christopher Hufnagel as CEO.
• Buyback Announcements or News:
  • Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY) Enters Into $4 Billion Aggregate Accelerated Share Repurchase Agreements.
  • CNH Industrial (CNHI): Periodic Report on $300 Million Buyback Program.
• Stock Splits or News: None of note.
• Dividends Announcements or News:
  • CI Financial Corp (CIXX) Increases quarterly dividend 11% to $0.20 per share.
  • Cogent’s (CCOI) Board approved a regular quarterly dividend of $0.945 per share.
  • Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST) Announces Quarterly Cash Dividend.
  • Enersys (ENS) increases quarterly cash dividend increase to $0.225 per share.
  • PennantPark Investment Corporation (PNNT) Announces 5.0% Increase of Its Quarterly Distribution to $0.21 per Share.
• Insider Sales Of Note:
  • Chord Energy (CHRD): CFO sold 7632 shares at $161.26 worth ~$1.23 million.

What’s Happening This Morning: Futures value reflects the change with fair value.

Sector Action – (1/3/6/12/YTD Updated Weekly with Monday release):  

• Daily Positive Sectors: Energy of note.
• Daily Negative Sectors: Technology, Communication Services, Consumer Cyclical, Financial of note.
• One Month Winners: Energy, Basic Materials, Financials of note.
• Three Month Winners: , Consumer Cyclical, Technology, Communication Services of note.
• Six Month Winners: Technology, Communication Services, Consumer Cyclical of note.
• Twelve Month Winners: Energy, Technology, Basic Materials of note.
• Year to Date Winners:  Technology, Communication Services, Consumer Cyclical of note.

Rising oil prices lifted energy stocks Wednesday during an otherwise downbeat session.   The S&P 500’s energy sector gained 1.2% as Texas crude contracts, the U.S. oil-price benchmark, pushed to a new 2023 high, settling at $84.40 a barrel. Solid American fuel demand and international supply cuts have supported oil prices over the summer despite lagging consumption in China.   More broadly, equities edged lower. The S&P 500 lost 0.7%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gave up 191.13 points, or 0.5%, to end at 35123.36. The tech-focused Nasdaq Composite shed 1.2%, weighed down by sizable drops for major components such as Nvidia (NVDA), Tesla (TSLA) and Facebook parent Meta Platforms (META).  (WSJ – edited by QPI)

Upcoming Earnings Of Note: (From Chartroom Software – sorted by market cap, highest to lowest with most visible names)

• Gap Up: APP +24%, ALRM +14%, SONO +10%, YELL +9%, DWAC +7%, FLNC +7%, ARAY +7%, CARG +6%, RAMP +5%, BLBD +5%, AOSL +5%, SABR +5%, AVPT +4%, ADMA +4%, KGS +4%, CPRX +4% of note.
• Gap Down: ORGN -53%, ORGO -33%, STKL -21%, INVZ -17%, TASK -13%, PAR -12%, MGNI -11%, PLUG -10%, FLYW -6%, ILMN -6%, CERT -5%, DNA -5%, WEST -5%, BXSL -5%, PLBY -5%, PRPL -5%, SIX -5%, INFN -4%, QNST -4% of note.

Insider Action: No stock sees Insider buying with dumb short selling.  No stocks sees Insider buying with smart short sellers.

ASAN, CVBF, ECL, EVC, LESL, LOCO, LSXMA, MACK, MBIN, PCB, RBOT, SABR, SAFE, VTGN (No graphic as we received new short interest overnight and still processing data)

Rags & Mags: Repeated stories from prior days never listed, i.e. “rehashed news”. Sorted by Global, U.S. and stock specific.

• Stocks making the biggest moves premarket: CPRI, APP, DIS, TTD, SIX, WYNN, SONO, BABA, TTD, ILMN (CNBC)
• 5 Things to Know to Start Your Day. (Bloomberg)
• Bloomberg Lead Story: US Consumer Prices set to show a “wave of disinflation”. (Bloomberg)
• Bloomberg Most Shared Story: First American city, Minneapolis/St, Paul to tame inflation owes success to affordable housing. (Bloomberg) 
• Stocks rally as China eases travel restrictions: Market Wrap. (Bloomberg)
• Oil holds 9-month high as investors await inflation data. (Bloomberg)
• A week of 1% moves on the S&P 500 could trigger forced selling. (Bloomberg)
• Alibaba (BABA) reports strong earnings and revenue increase, the most since September 2021. (CNBC)
• NPR Marketplace: China’s economic miracle isn’t going so well. Exports fell in July, and there are now fears of deflation. Could China’s political economy and the implementation of its zero-COVID policies be to blame for its current woes? We’ll also look at what WeWork’s continuing downward spiral means for co-working companies, and what it might take to convert office spaces to affordable housing. (Podcast)
• BBC Global News:  Fatalities in Hawaii as wildfires engulfs Maui. (Podcast) 
• NY Times The Daily: The high cost of heat year round. (Podcast)
• Bloomberg Podcasts of Note:  The Bank of England arrives at a crunch point. (Podcast)

Moving Average Update:

• Score drops to 34% from 48%.

Geopolitical: 

M&A Activity and News:

• Avid Technology (AVID) Enters into Definitive Agreement to Be Acquired by an Affiliate of STG for $1.4 Billion.
• Tapestry (TPR) which owns Coach confirms a definitive agreement to acquire Capri Holdings (CPRI) which owns Michael Kors, Jimmy Choo for $57.00 per share in cash for a total enterprise value of approximately $8.5 billion.

Top Tier Sell-side Upgrades & Downgrades:

The recommendations listed below in this “Upgrade/Downgrade” section are compiled from what we believe are Tier I, II and III firms. Recommendations posted are taken from a variety of sources each day and we only post upgrades or significant initiations as well as downgrades to underweight or sell. The purpose of this posting is to make the reader aware of market-moving recommendations. None of these recommendations should be interpreted as actual recommendations from CAPIS or its employees.

Today’s Upgrades and Downgrades:

Previous Day’s Upgrades and Downgrades: