The futures traded mixed on Monday, as frazzled investors and traders got some good news when it was announced over the weekend that UBS purchased Credit Suisse for $3.3 billion. All the major indexes closed lower on Friday, with the Dow Jones industrials leading the way, down over 1.2%. The song remains the same with the banking system amid fears of the potential for a spread of the contagion despite cash infusions from the major banks to prop up First Republic Bank, which may be up for sale after the bailout. All eyes now turn to the Federal Reserve meeting this week, and markets are pricing in a 90% chance that rates are raised by 25 basis points despite the turmoil.
Treasury yields plunged on Friday, as nervous investors rushed into the safe-haven debt again. The five-year note yield dropped a stunning 28 basis points, and longer maturity yields were down double digits as well. The yield on the two-year note fell 20 basis points to close at 3.94%, while the 10-year closed at 3.40%. The inversion with the two securities tightened again on Friday but still indicates that a recession is on the way.
Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude ended a rough week Friday, as both of the benchmarks finished the day down almost 3%. With bearish sentiment firmly in place, oil closed the week down over 10%. Natural gas also closed down over 6% at $2.36%.
Gold was a big winner again on Friday, closing up almost 3% and closing back in on the $2,000 level, as worried investors kept the buying spree for the bullion in place. Bitcoin, not to be outdone, was a big winner to close the week, as the cryptocurrency giant closed up over 7% at $26, 882, a massive move after trading below $20,000 just over a week ago.
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.
These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Monday, March 20, 2023.
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL): Exane BNP Paribas upgraded the tech search giant to Outperform from Neutral and has a $123 target price. The consensus target is $124.23. The last trade on Friday was reported at $101.54.
Bill Holdings Inc. (NYSE: BILL): Baird initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and an $86 price target. The consensus is set much higher at $137.99. The stock closed almost 5% lower on Friday at $73.21.
Braze Inc. (NASDAQ: BRZE): As UBS downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy, it cut its $40 price target to $35. The consensus target is $39.36. The stock closed almost 4% lower on Friday at $31.84 on the downgrade.
Bumble Inc. (NASDAQ: BMBL): Citigroup initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $24 price target. The consensus target is $27.24. The shares ended Friday trading at $19.86.
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