The futures were trading mixed Friday morning, as we get ready to end what has been an incredibly volatile week. The market’s rollercoaster Thursday started after the consumer price index (CPI) report came in hotter than expected, with a year-over-year print of 8.2%, the highest since 1982. After a massive initial sell-off in stocks and bonds, the markets reversed in a big way, with all three big indexes closing higher. The Dow Jones industrials led the way with a 2.83% gain.
Needless to say, with both the consumer and producer indexes still at the highest levels in four decades, a 75- basis-point increase in the federal funds rate early next month is a given.
The Treasury bond market saw massive selling after the CPI print, but buyers returned by late morning. While yields closed higher across the curve, they backed up in a big way from the early trading. The benchmark 10-year bond posted an intraday high yield of 4.08% before closing at 3.95%. That kept the inversion with the two-year note in place, as it closed at 4.43%. Bond mavens see the inversion as a recession warning.
Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude were equally as volatile Thursday. After falling big in early trading, both benchmarks rallied to close higher. Natural gas posted a solid 3% gain Thursday, closing at $6.63. Gold and Bitcoin both ended the day lower.
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 Friday, October 14, 2022.
Albemarle Corp. (NYSE: ALB): Though Berenberg downgraded the stock to Hold from Buy, it raised its $260 target price to $270. The consensus target is $304.35. The stock ended Thursday trading at $255.99.
Altice USA Inc. (NYSE: ATUS): Citigroup’s upgrade to Buy from Neutral included a target price cut to $8 from $12. The consensus target is $13.86. The stock closed on Thursday at $5.44.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL): Credit Suisse reiterated an Outperform rating on the tech behemoth. The firm also trimmed its $201 target price to $190, still higher than the $183.16 consensus target. Apple’s closing trade for Thursday came in at $142.99 a share, which was up over 3% for the day.
Avery Dennison Inc. (NYSE: AVY): BofA Securities cut its Buy rating to Neutral and lowered the $206 price target to $172. The consensus target is $208.58. Thursday’s final trade came in at $166.37 a share.
Black Hills Corp. (NYSE: BKH): BofA Securities downgraded the utility to Neutral from Buy, and it cut its $87 target price to $66. The consensus target is $83.00. The shares closed on Thursday at $62.48.
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