Pre-Market Futures:
The futures are trading higher on this Halloween Friday, following a rollercoaster day on Wall Street that ultimately saw all the major indices finish in the red, with the NASDAQ taking the biggest hit, down 1.58% on Thursday. For much of the day, the Dow Jones Industrials were up big on the reports of a very positive meeting between President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, and some massive earnings beats from Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT), Verizon Inc. (NYSE: VZ), and tech giants Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL), while the S&P 500, NASDAQ, and the Russell 2000 were hit hard from the opening bell. Wall Street analysts cited a rotation to value, as healthcare and bank stocks performed solidly on the day, while technology stocks, which have led the three-year bull market, saw some significant profit-taking.
Treasury Bonds:
Yields on U.S. Government debt were higher across the curve, with the 30-year long bond seeing the biggest selling as yields rose almost five basis points to close at 4.64% while the benchmark 10-year note finished the day at 4.08%. Less than a week ago, the 10-year was trading well under the 4% level. Despite the positive news from China and strong corporate earnings, traders noted that Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell indicated on Wednesday that a rate cut in December was by no means a done deal at this point.
Oil and Gas:
Brent Crude and West Texas Intermediate were modestly lower on Thursday. Earlier this week, the market was buoyed by the potential for U.S. sanctions on Russian energy. Traders noted that the overall sector sentiment has shifted back to focusing on oversupply concerns and the potential for more oil on the market. The reality for the big oil companies is that lower pricing has prompted them to begin massive layoffs.
Gold:
After a rough 10 days, Gold investors were treated to a solid snap-back rally for the precious metal on Thursday as investors took advantage of the selling prompted by a hawkish tone from Fed Chair Powell when he addressed the media following the interest rate cut on Wednesday. This comes as global Central Banks continue to buy on an ongoing basis. Kitco, a top website covering gold and Silver, noted in a post that the World Gold Council reported central banks purchased 220 tons of gold in the July-September period, marking a 28% increase over the preceding quarter, and added 634 tons of bullion to their reserves through September. The spot price on Thursday night was $ 4,028.60.
Crypto:
Bitcoin continued to struggle and had another rough day on Thursday, as the crypto giant fell almost 4% on the day. Prices rallied and were trading at $109,541 when we checked last night. Ethereum was last seen at $3831 on Thursday night.
24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports daily to identify new investment ideas for both investors and traders. 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.
Here are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen on Happy Halloween Friday, October 31, 2025.
- Core Scientific Inc. (NASDAQ: CORZ) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Macquarie with a $34 target price.
- Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY) was raised to Neutral from Underperform at Piper Sandler, which has set a $167 target price.
- Idexx Laboratories Inc. (NASDAQ: IDXX) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Stierl with a hefty $700 target price objective.
- Roblox Corp. (NYSE: RBLX) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs, which has set a $180 target price.
- FMC Corporation (NYSE: FMC) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Wells Fargo with a $16 target price objective.
- Lumentum Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: LITE) was dropped to Outperform from Strong Buy at Raymond James with a $220 target.
- Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA) was downgraded to Sector Weight at KeyBanc, which trimmed the target price for the shares to $43 from $45.
- Zscaler Inc. (NASDAQ: ZS) was rated as New Outperform at Macquarie with a $390 target price.
- Winnebago Industries Inc. (NYSE: WGO) was started with a Hold rating at Loop Capital with a $49 target price.
- Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) Goldman Sachs raised the target price on the stock to $320 from $279 and maintains a Buy rating on the company.
Top Gaining Stocks
Top Losing Stocks