The futures were higher Thursday, after a solid Wednesday in which all the major indexes closed higher. The song remains the same, as investors and Wall Street wait for Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell’s speech at the Jackson Hole economic symposium. Recent chatter among top strategists is that Powell will stay with the hawkish stance, pushing back on a Fed policy pivot any time soon. Others feel Powell could discuss slowing the tightening pace, amid concern that too much will push the economy into a deep recession.

Sellers were back in the Treasury market Wednesday. Yields were up across the curve, and the benchmark 10-year note was solidly over the 3% level, closing at a 3.11% yield. The inversion with the two-year note stayed in place, as it closed at 3.40%. Again, many bond market pros see the inversion as a harbinger of inflation.

Both Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude were higher by 1% Wednesday, with Brent reclaiming the $100 level. Natural gas closed higher, with a surge into the close at $9.33, after trading lower most of the day. The commodity has had a massive run that briefly pushed the price over the $10 mark this week, something that has not happened since 2008. Both gold and Bitcoin closed higher on the day.

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 Thursday, August 25, 2022.

Advance Auto Parts Inc. (NYSE: AAP): Goldman Sachs maintained a Buy rating with a $219 target price after the company posted a second-quarter earnings miss and guided estimates lower. The consensus target is $222.06. The stock closed Wednesday at $179.91, down almost 10% for the day on the poor results.

Arista Networks Inc. (NYSE: ANET): Deutsche Bank started coverage with a Hold rating and a $135 target. The consensus target is $149. Wednesday’s close was at $125.63.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE: BNS): BMO Capital Markets downgraded the shares from Outperform to Market Perform with a $95 target. The consensus target is lower at $68.36. The stock closed on Wednesday at $57.86.

Benchmark Electronics Inc. (NYSE: BHE): Fox Advisors started coverage with an Overweight rating and a $35 target price. The $35.33 consensus is in line, and Wednesday’s close was at $27.94.