The futures were lower on Thursday, after shell-shocked investors tried to halt the risk-off crowd from causing any more damage after the worst day for the markets on Tuesday since June of 2020, when the pandemic was raging. Despite a reasonable effort, by the end of Wednesday’s session, the major indexes closed only modestly higher. While the bounce attempt was nice, the reality is the producer price index numbers, (while not as grim as the consumer numbers) were still awful. With the Federal Reserve meeting next week, the futures market is now pricing in a 100% chance of a 75-basis-point increase and a 34% chance of a 100-basis-point move.

Interest rates were modestly lower or flat Wednesday, after exploding higher after the very surprising consumer price index report. The two-year note again traded higher to 3.80%, widening the inversion with the 10-year note, which closed at a 3.41% yield. The bond market surely did not miss that 30-year mortgage rates jumped over the 6% level for the first time since 2008.

Both Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude closed up nicely after struggling somewhat over recent sessions. Analysts attributed the move higher to a smaller than expected crude oil inventory build. Natural gas had a stellar session closing up almost 10% at $9.07. 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 Thursday, September 15, 2022.

Akero Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: AKRO): Evercore ISI upgraded the stock to Outperform from In line and hiked its $10 target price all the way to $50. The consensus target is $44.50. The shares closed almost 5% lower on Wednesday at $27.70.

Brandywine Realty Trust (NYSE: BDN): Truist Financial raised its Hold rating to Buy with an $11 target. The consensus target is $10.17. The stock closed on Wednesday at $8.25.

Brookfield Asset Management Inc. (NYSE: BAM): Goldman Sachs reiterated its Buy rating and has a $66 target price. The consensus target is $63.38. The shares ended Wednesday trading at $49.73 apiece.

Cheniere Energy Inc. (NYSE: LNG): Goldman Sachs reiterated its Buy rating on the stock, which is on the firm’s Conviction List of top stocks ideas. Its $182 price target compares with the $184.74 consensus target. The stock closed over 5% higher on Wednesday at $174.17.