The futures traded higher on Tuesday, after an incredible tug-of-war on Monday that saw all the major indexes plunge on the open only to rally in the afternoon and then ultimately close lower. The Nasdaq was the exception, as it finished the day well off the morning lows. The Federal Reserve stepped into the Silicon Valley Bank mess to backstop bank clients in an attempt to keep the banking system on an even keel in what amounted to a bailout. In the meantime, regulators seized Signature Bank, which became the third largest bank to ever to fail, behind Silicon Valley Bank and Washington Mutual bank in 2008.
Treasury yields plunged again on Monday, especially on some of the shorter maturities, as investors rushed into the safe-haven trade of U.S. government securities. The two-year short paper saw its yield freefall a stunning 57 basis points to close at 4.02%. This after trading over 5% last week. The 10-year benchmark note finished the day at 3.52%, down 18 basis points. While the inversion between the two-year and 10-year notes has tightened by a 50 basis points over the past week, it still signals that a recession could be on the way.
Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude were hit Monday, with the former closing down almost 3%. The overall volatility in the stock market was a big factor in the decline, after both benchmarks closed Friday very strongly. Natural gas finished the day up modestly at $2.62.
Gold and Bitcoin were huge winners Monday, as investors bid the bullion up 2.5% to $1,913 in another investors’ safe haven move. Not to be outdone, Bitcoin, which has dropped 20% in the past three weeks, closed up a stunning 9.1% at $24,234. Analysts cited the Silicon Valley Bank assistance as the big reason for the jump.
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 Tuesday, March 14, 2023.
Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE: ALLY): BofA Securities lowered its $28 target price on the Underperform-rated shares to $25. The consensus target is $35.65. Monday’s final trade was reported at $23.05, which was down 11% for the day on the banking turmoil.
Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN): Though Wells Fargo upgraded the legacy biotech giant to Overweight from Equal Weight, it also trimmed its $275 target price to $265. The consensus target is $258.76, and the stock closed on Monday at $233.18.
Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU): Zacks suggests its Bull of the Day is set to break into the AI market and revenue growth could accelerate by double digits. Shares last closed at $133.65, and the consensus price target of $179.48 would be a 52-week high.
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