Pre-Market Stock Futures:
The futures are trading higher as we start the new trading week. There is an old saying, “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.” Well, the buy-the-dip crowd continued to get a masterclass in just that lesson on Friday. Once again, the stock market opened higher, and high-beta stocks took off, only to end the day and the week down hard for the third consecutive week, as all of the early gains were surrendered by early Friday afternoon. By the close, all of the major indices ended lower. Once again, the tech-heavy Nasdaq led the way down, closing the day at 22,105, down 0.93%, while the small-cap Russell 2000 came in second, down 0.57% to finish the session at 2,474. The S&P 500 closed Friday at 6,632, down 0.61%, and the Dow Jones Industrials came away with the least damage, finishing the week at 46,558, down 0.26%.
Treasury Bonds:
Yields were mixed across the Treasury curve after days of across-the-board selling. While there was some selling on the long end, most of the short and the belly of the curve saw some significant buying as yields had jumped higher recently. The 30-year-long bond closed the day at 4.91%, while the 10-year benchmark note was last seen at 4.29%.
Oil and Gas:
The song remains the same for the energy complex, as once again, spot pricing ended the day higher on Friday. The broken-record reasons stayed in place as the war in Iran entered its fourth week, and for now, unless there is a breakthrough in negotiations or the U.S. Navy can protect the oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, prices could continue to rise. While the IEA and the U.S. are going to tap strategic reserves, that will help, but it won’t happen fast. Brent Crude closed Friday at $103, up 2.57%, while West Texas Intermediate was last seen at $98.53, up 2.92%. Natural gas finished the day at $3.14, down 2.94%.
Gold:
Gold continues to consolidate around the $5,000 level, having been range-bound for the last month after the heavy sell-off in February. Fortunately for investors, this consolidation could pave the way for substantially higher levels for the rest of 2026. Respected market veteran strategist Ed Yardeni still sees the potential for Gold to hit $10,000 later in the decade, while JPMorgan also sees higher prices ahead. The last print for Gold on Friday came in at $5,019, down 1.29%, while Silver closed at $80.45, down close to 4%.
Crypto:
The cryptocurrency markets rallied early on Friday with Bitcoin surpassing $73,000 for the first time in over a week, fueled by renewed spot ETF inflows and investor bets on government stimulus. However, like stocks, all of the top crypto names faded in the afternoon. Major altcoins like Solana and Dogecoin outperformed, rising over 4.5%, while crypto-linked stocks also participated in the rally. At 8 AM EDT, Bitcoin traded at $73,570, while Ethereum was quoted at $2,266.
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 Monday, March 16, 2026.
Upgrades:
- Circle Internet Group Inc. (NYSE: CRCL | CRCL Price Prediction) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Clear Street, which lifted the target price for the shares to $136 from $92.
- Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU) was upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at BNP Paribas, with a $463 target price.
- Rocket Companies Inc. (NYSE: RKT) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at Keefe Bruyette, which nudged the target price for the mortgage giant to $22 from $20.
- ServiceNow Inc. (NYSE: NOW) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at BNP Paribas, which has set a $140 target price for the shares.
- Trade Desk Inc. (NASDAQ: TTD) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Arete, which has a $25 target price.
Downgrades:
- Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ALNY) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies, which slashed the target price for the stock to $330 from $522.
- Immunocore Inc. (NASDAQ: IMCR) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies, which cut the target price for the shares to $33 from $46.
- Incyte Corp. (NASDAQ: INCY) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies, which cut the price target on the stock to $94 from $120
- NewLake Capital Partners Inc. (OTC: NLCP) was cut to Neutral from Buy at Compass Point, with a $15 target price.
- Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Seaport Research, which has a $100 target price for the legacy tech giant.
Initiations:
- Alamo Group Inc. (NYSE: ALG) was initiated with an Outperform rating at William Blair, with a target price of $220.
- Eaton Corporation plc. (NYSE: ETN) was reinstated at Jefferies with a Buy rating and a $430 target price.
- Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ: FITB) was resumed with an Overweight rating at JPMorgan, which bumped the target price for the bank to $50.50 from $45.
- PayPay Corp. (NASDAQ: PAYP) was started with an Outperform rating at Macquarie, with a $22.90 target. The company was a recent IPO.
- Sunbelt Rental Holdings Inc. (NYSE: SUNB) was started with an Underperform rating at Bank of America, with a $62 target price objective.
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