Pre-Market Stock Futures:
The futures are little changed after a blockbuster day to open the first full trading week of 2026. The combination of no Santa Claus rally, the market shrugging off the capture of Venezuelan dictator Maduro, then embracing the action, plus some big pent-up money sitting on the sidelines, all helped to propel stocks dramatically higher on Monday. With a slew of economic data and fourth-quarter earnings (expected to be solid) on the way, investors may be resetting portfolios for the first quarter and beyond. The Dow Jones Industrials helped lead the way, surging 1.23% to close at 48,977, while the S&P 500 closed the session at 6,902, up 0.64%, followed by the Nasdaq, which was last seen on Monday at 23,395, up 0.69%. The star of the day was the Russell 2000, which finished trading up a whopping 1.58% at 2,547. Many feel small and midcap stocks could outperform this year, playing catch-up after being somewhat of an afterthought the last few years.
Treasury Bonds:
After a rough day on Friday, buyers returned to the Treasury market on Monday, driving yields down across the curve. Traders and analysts noted the strength on Monday was primarily due to surprisingly weak U.S. manufacturing data (ISM report) and bullish option trades betting on lower yields, alongside ongoing global factors like Bank of Japan policy shifts and market anticipation of future Federal Reserve actions and strong economic data. The 30-year bond closed at 4.84%, while the benchmark 10-year note finished at 4.16%.
Oil and Gas:
Prices were up across the energy complex on Monday as the capture of Maduro and the potential for significant oil investment in Venezuela were embraced as huge positives by traders. Brent Crude closed the day up 1.78% at $61.30, while West Texas Intermediate finished the session up 1.74% at $58.32. The only loser on the day was natural gas, which closed down 2.63% at $3.52. Despite massive LNG sales in 2025 and cold weather over much of the country, the sellers were back in force.
Gold:
Not willing to be left behind, Gold continued its relentless push higher, closing on Monday at $4,448, up 2.72%, while Silver continued to rage higher, finishing the day up a stunning 5.19% at $76.55. Continued industrial demand, combined with a surge in retail and institutional buying, kept a strong tailwind behind the precious metals. Many firms are raising their end-of-year Gold target to the $ 4,900-$5,000 range.
Crypto:
Last, but certainly not least, after a difficult fourth quarter, the crypto market saw a significant uplift on Monday, with Bitcoin breaking above $92,000 and briefly touching $93,000 before running higher, its highest level in four weeks. Traders cited oversold conditions and some short-covering. Top crypto traders noted that the market is attempting to consolidate at higher levels, with some analysts noting a return to monthly highs and a break above the 50-day moving average. At 8A EST, Bitcoin was trading at $93,850, while Ethereum was trading at $3,237.
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 Wall Street analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen on Tuesday, January 6, 2026.
Upgrades:
- Brinker International Inc. (NYSE: EAT) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS, which lifted the target price for the restaurant giant to $175 from $144.
- Brunswick Corp. (NYSE: BC) was raised to Buy from Hold at Jefferies, which boosted the target price on the stock to $115 from $65.
- ServiceNow Inc. (NYSE: NOW) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Arete, which has a $200 target price for the stock.
- Shake Shack Inc. (NYSE: SHAK) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank with a $108 price target objective.
- SLB NV (NYSE: SLB) was upgraded to Outperform from In Line at Evercore ISI, which lifted the target price for the stock to $54 from $38.
- Styrker Corp. (NYSE: SYK) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Raymond James with a $418 target price.
Downgrades:
- AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Arete with a $20 target price objective.
- D.R. Horton Inc. (NYSE: DHI) was cut to Equal Weight from Overweight at Wells Fargo, which has a $155 target price for the homebuilder.
- KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Baird, with an $18 target price.
- Shopify Inc. (NASDAQ: SHOP | SHOP Price Prediction) was downgraded to Peer Perform from Outperform at Wolfe Research, which removed the firm’s $185 target price.
- Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) was downgraded to Underperform at Neutral at Baird, which keeps the target price for the bank at $90.
- Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc. (NYSE: ZBH) is cut to Market Perform from Outperform at Raymond James with a $103 target price.
Initiations:
- Apple Hospitality REIT Inc. (NYSE: APLE) was started with an Overweight rating at Barclays with a $14 target price.
- CoreWeave Inc. (NASDAQ: CRWV) was started with a Hold rating at Truist with an $84 target price.
- Digital Realty Trust Inc. (NYSE: DLR) was initiated with a Buy rating at Deutsche Bank, which has set a $180 target price for the shares.
- Lemonade Inc. (NYSE: LMND) was initiated with a Buy rating at Truist with a $98 target price.
- Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: PLTR) was initiated with a Buy rating at Truist, which has set a $223 target price for the stock.
- SoFi Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: SOFI) was resumed in coverage withan Underperform rating at Bank of America with a $20.50 target price.
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