The futures were lower after yet another down day Thursday to end the second quarter. All the major indexes closed down, with the Nasdaq leading the trainwreck almost 1.4% lower. The S&P 500 posted the worst quarter since the height of the pandemic fears in 2020, and the worst first half of the year since 1970.
The song remains the same across Wall Street, as fears are increasing that hawkish Federal Reserve policy (which looks to include another 75-basis-point rate increase this month) will have pushed the economy into recession already.
The only buyers that did show up on Thursday were looking for Treasury securities, as interest rates were lower across the yield curve. The benchmark 30-year bond closed at a 3.12% yield, which is down from 3.47% in the middle of June, while the 10-year note closed below the psychologically important 3% level at 2.97%.
Beleaguered consumers also got some relief Thursday as both Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude closed lower, while natural gas was down a stunning 14% as the recent shutdown of Freeport LNG’s liquefied natural gas export plant in Texas allowed utilities to stockpile more fuel than expected, even as hotter weather has kept generators using more gas to keep air conditioners working. Gold was modestly lower, while Bitcoin continued to crash, retreating almost 6%.
24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week with a goal of finding new 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, July 1, 2022.
Ameren Corp. (NYSE: AEE): Though UBS downgraded the shares to Neutral from Buy, it lifted the $94 target price to $96. The consensus target is $98.08. The stock closed on Thursday at $90.36 per share.
Amkor Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: AMKR): D.A. Davidson initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $30 price objective. The consensus target is $21.50. The stock closed on Thursday at $16.95.
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