Overnight Summary: The S&P 500 closed Tuesday higher by 0.46% at 4643.70 from Monday higher by 0.39% at 4622.44. The overnight high was hit at 4705.50 at 4:05 a.m. EST while the low was hit at 4696.50 at 4:05 p.m. EST. The range overnight was 9 points as of 7:25 a.m. EST. The 10-day average of the overnight range is at 14.60 from 15.70. The average for May-November average was 21.43 from 22.06. Currently, the S&P 500 is higher by 6.50 at 7:25 a.m. EST.
Executive Summary: Will he or won’t he? That is the $64,000 question about Chairman Powell at 2:30 p.m. EST. The answer is he will probably not lose the Hawkish tone in his delivery but remain more cautious still about inflation even though many think Powell could pivot and indicate rate cuts by as early as March. Yesterday, our friend Brian Wesbury of First Trust weighed in on the latest CPI and made it perfectly clear Powell cannot be too dovish. A definite must read.
- Pfizer (PFE) reaffirms FY23 guidance but sees FY24 EPS and revenue below consensus.
- November PPI is due out at 8:30 a.m. EST and is expected to rise to 0.1% from -0.5%.
- Latest FOMC Announcement 2:00 p.m. EST
- Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell Press Conference at 2:30 p.m. EST
Earnings Out After The Close:
- Beats: None of note.
- Flat: None of note.
- Misses: None of note.
- IPOs Priced or News: None of note.
- New SPACs launched/News:Secondaries Priced: None of note.
- Notes Priced of note: None of note.
- BFH: Pricing and Upsize of Private Offering of $600 Million of Senior Notes.
- IEP: Announces Pricing of Senior Notes.
- Common Stock filings/Notes:
- AULT: Reiterates Its Intention to Commence an Exchange Offer of Common Stock for Series D Preferred Shares at an Effective Price of $0.25 per Share of Common Stock Exchanged
CANF: Filed Form F-3.. 1,219,418,700 Ordinary Shares represented by 4,064,729 American Depositary Shares.
- ORI: Files for 600,000 shares of common stock that may be offered in connection with its Shareholder Purchase & Reinvestment Plan.
- SOS: Files an ADS and Class A share offering; relates to warrants.
- Direct Offering: None of note.
- Selling Shareholders of note: None of note.
- Private Placement of Public Entity (PIPE): None of note.
- Mixed Shelf Offerings:
- HHH: Filed Form POSAR — Mixed Shelf.
- Debt/Credit Filing and Notes:
- REKR: Announces sale of $15 million of revenue sharing notes due December 15, 2026 priced at 13.25%.
- Tender Offer:
- CTG: Successfully completes the tender offer for Computer Task Group; CTG shares of common stock will no longer be listed on NASDAQ.
- 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 :
- After Hours Movers:
- RSLS: +37% Receives FDA PMA Supplement Approval for its Next-Generation Lap-Band® 2.0 FLEX
- IOAC: +29% Filed Form DEFA14A
- CCCC: +7% Positive Data from CFT7455 Phase 1 Trial in Relapsed/Refractory Multiple Myeloma
- COMP: -5% Greg Hart, Chief Operating Officer of Compass, will depart the Company, effective December 31, 2023
- FEIM: -4% Earnings
- News Items After the Close:
- President Zelensky Plea for Ukraine Aid Draws Sympathy but Doesn’t Break Impasse. (WSJ)
- XPO to buy 28 service centers from bankrupt Yellow. (MarketWatch)
- Cal-Maine Foods (CALM) reports that one of its facilities in Kansas tested positive for Avian influenza, affecting approximately 684,000 laying hens. (MarketWatch)
- BAE Systems (BAESY) awarded $8.8 billion U.S. Army fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment contract.
- Lockheed Martin’s (LMT) Sikorsky awarded $443 million U.S. Army contract.
- BigBear.ai (BBAI) awarded $17.9 million extension on Phase 2 of U.S. Army GFIM OTA, enhancing the data layer and critical functionality.
- Assets Under Management Month over Month:
- Exchange/Listing/Company Reorg and Personnel News:
- TTWO will be added to the Nasdaq-100 Index® and Seagen, Inc. will be removed as part of the annual reconstitution, which will become effective prior to market open on Monday, December 18, 2023.
- Autohome (ATHM) CEO Quan Long steps down, will remain as chairman; names Tao Wu as its new CEO.
- Compass (COMP) COO Greg Hart to depart, effective December 31; COO role to be eliminated.
- Heartland Financial (HTLF) CFO Bryan McKeag to retire.
- Newegg (NEGG) Regains Compliance with Nasdaq Minimum Bid Requirements.
- NuZee, Inc. (NUZE) Appoints Randell Weaver as President and Chief Operating Officer.
- PVH Corp. (PVH) Announces New Leadership Appointments.
- RB Global (RBA) names Eric Guerin as CFO.
- UGI Corp (UGI) CEO Roger Perreault steps down; incoming Chair of the Board of Directors, Mario Longhi, named interim CEO.
- Willdan Group (WLDN) CEO Tom Brisbin to retire, effective December 29; current President Mike Bieber will succeed Mr. Brisbin as CEO.
- Buyback Announcements or News:
- Distribution Solutions Group (DSGR) Announces New Authorization of the Share Repurchase Program of $25 million.
- Franklin Resources (BEN) authorizes repurchase of up to an additional 27.2 million shares of its common stock in either open market or private transactions, for a total of up to 40 million shares available for repurchase. (see Dividends)
- LIZI: Announces $3 Million Share Repurchase Program.
- TE Connectivity (TEL) approves additional $1.5 billion share repurchase. (see Dividends)
- Stock Splits or News:
- Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals (CYCC) Announces Reverse Stock Split.
- Dividends Announcements or News:
- Amgen (AMGN) increases quarterly cash dividend to $2.25 per share from $2.13 per share. (MarketWatch)
- Autohome (ATHM) intends to declare a cash dividend semi-annually from 2024 to 2026.
- Franklin Resources (BEN) increases quarterly cash dividend to $0.31 per share from $0.30 per share.
- Mid-America Aptmt (MAA) increases quarterly cash dividend 5% to $1.47 per share from $1.4 per share.
- Realty Income (O) increases quarterly cash dividend to $0.2565 per share from $0.256 per share.
- TE Connectivity (TEL) increases quarterly cash dividend to $0.65 per share from $0.59 per share.
- Toro (TTC) increases quarterly cash dividend to $0.36 per share from $0.34 per share.
- Vermilion Energy (VET) increases quarterly dividend by 20% to $0.12 CDN per share.
- Insider Sales Of Note: None of note.
What’s Happening This Morning: Futures value reflects the change with fair value.
S&P 500 +3, Dow Jones +31, NASDAQ +34, and Russell 2000 -2. (as of 7:58 a.m. EST). Asia is higher ex South Korea while Europe is higher this morning. VIX Futures are at 14.35 from 12.95 this morning. Gold is higher but Silver and Copper are lower this morning. WTI Crude Oil and Brent Crude Oil are higher with Natural Gas higher as well. US 10-year Treasury sees yields at 4.18% from 4.19% yesterday. The U.S. Dollar is higher versus the Euro, higher versus the Pound and higher against the Yen. Bitcoin is at $41,108 from $41,706 higher by +0.08% this morning.
Sector Action – (1/3/6/12/YTD Updated Weekly with Monday release):
- Daily Positive Sectors: Technology, Healthcare, Financial, Industrials of note.
- Daily Negative Sectors: Energy, Utilities of note.
- One Month Winners: Real Estate, Industrials, Financials of note.
- Three Month Winners: Technology, Financial, and Industrials of note.
- Six Month Winners: Technology, Communication Services Financial of note.
- Twelve Month Winners: Technology, Communication Services, and Consumer Cyclical of note.
- Year to Date Winners: Technology, Communication Services, Consumer Cyclical, and Industrials of note.
Fresh inflation data released Tuesday kept investors’ soft-landing hopes alive, propelling U.S. stocks upward. The S&P 500 rose 0.5%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 173 points, or 0.5%. The Nasdaq Composite added 0.7%. All three indexes closed at fresh 52-week highs for a third session in a row. The S&P 500 and Dow rose to their highest closing levels since January 2022, while the Nasdaq reached its highest close since March 2022. The major indexes are going on their seventh consecutive week of gains. (WSJ – edited by QPI)
Upcoming Earnings Of Note: (From Chartroom Software – sorted by market cap, highest to lowest with most visible names)
- Wednesday After the Close:
- Thursday Before the Open:
Earnings of Note This Morning:
- Beats: CGNT +0.33, REVG +0.19, ABM +0.09, PLAB +0.07 of note.
- Flat: None of note.
- Misses: None of note.
- Still to Report: None of note.
Company Earnings Guidance:
- Positive Guidance: LGND, CGNT of note.
- Negative Guidance: PFE, TH of note.
Erlanger Research Advance/Decline Chart:
Gap Ups & Down In Early Pre-Market:
- Gap Up: CCCC +7%, BBAI +6%, LFMD +6%, SLM +4% of note.
- Gap Down: None of note.
Insider Action: IMMX sees Insider buying with dumb short selling. RMBL, PLSE sees Insider buying with smart short sellers.
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 before the bell: TSLA, PFE, RXST, COHR, XPOF, CHD, ABM, CGNT, RBLX, HTZ (CNBC)
- What You Need To Know To Start Your Day. (Bloomberg)
- 5 Things To Know Before the Stock Market Opens on Wednesday. (CNBC)
- Bloomberg Lead Story: COP28 Ends With a Transition Away From Fossil Fuels (Bloomberg)
- Bloomberg Most Shared Story: Argentina devalues Peso by 54%. (Bloomberg)
- European Central Bank (ECB) to focus on shrinking its balance sheet. (CNBC)
- OPEC leaves Global Oil Demand unchanged and raised its global growth forecast. (WSJ)
- The Fed isn’t ready to speculate on rate cuts – yet. (Bloomberg)
- Tesla (TSLA) recalls 2 million cars to fix autopilot safety flaws. (Bloomberg)
- Mortgage refinance demand jumps 19% after rates hit lowest levels since July. (CNBC)
- President Biden fires up price wars as inflation cools, clearly a battle he will not win. (CNBC)
- Southwest (LUV) raises revenue guidance on holiday travel strength. (Bloomberg)
- Bloomberg The Big Take: Who’s ready for a Trump-Biden rematch? Anyone? (Podcast)
- NPR Marketplace: Bug bounty hunters attempt at patching zero-day vulnerabilities. (Podcast)
- NY Times Daily: Antisemitism and Free Speech collide on Campuses. (Podcast)
- BBC Global News Daily Podcast: Argentina needs “shock therapy” to fix its economy. (Podcast)
- Wealthion: How AI can shape market trends. (Podcast)
Moving Average Update:
- 100%. Day 3. The beat goes on.
Geopolitical:
- President’s Public Schedule:
- The President receives the Presidential Daily Briefing, 10:00 a.m. EST
- The President delivers remarks at a meeting of the National Infrastructure Advisory Council, 12:15 p.m. EST
- Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and NSC Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby, 1:00 p.m. EST
Economic:
- MBA Mortgage Applications 7:00 a.m. EST
- MBA Mortgage Applications: Composite: +7.4%,Purchase Index: +3.5%, ReFi: +19.4%
- U.S MBA 30-Year Mortgage Rate Actual: 7.07% VS 7.17% Previous
- U.S MBA Mortgage Applications (WOW) Actual: 7.4% VS 2.8% Previous
- November PPI is due out at 8:30 a.m. EST and expected to rise to 0.1% from -0.5%.
- PPI-Final Demand 8:30 a.m. EST
- EIA Petroleum Report 10:30 a.m. EST
Federal Reserve / Treasury Speakers:
- FOMC Announcement 2:00 p.m. EST
- Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell Conference 2:30 p.m. EST
M&A Activity and News:
- Grainger (GWW) announces agreement to sell E&R Industrial Sales.
- Orrstown Financial Services (ORRF) and Codorus Valley Bancorp (CVLY) enter into agreement to which CVLY will merge with ORRF in an all-stock transaction valued at $207 mln, or $21.31/share of CVLY.
Meeting & Conferences of Note:
- Sellside Conferences:
- Bank of America STARS Summit
- Canaccord Genuity DC Fast Charging
- New Street Research BCG Future Series Conference
- RBC Capital Markets Healthcare Private Company Conf
- ROTH MKM Deer Valley Conference
- Previously posted and ongoing conferences:
- DA Davidson Eastern Bank Summit
- Top Shareholder Meetings: FLXS, NNDM, ODC, SANW, TSP, VYNE
- Fireside Chat: None of note.
- Investor/Analyst Day/Calls: AJG, ALNY, BASE, BCAB, JNPR, LUCD, PFE, PLD, RILY, SLCA, STTK, VRNT
- Update: None of note.
- R&D Day: None of note.
- Company Event: None of note.
- Industry Meetings:
- IASLC Conference
- Previously posted and ongoing conferences: None of note.
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:
