Pre-Market Stock Futures:
Futures are trading mixed, with the Nasdaq getting hammered after a gangbuster start to the first full trading week of the third quarter. All of the major indices finished the day higher, with chip stocks once again leading the way. When the dust settled at the close, the Nasdaq finished the day up 1.12% at 26,121, while the S&P 500 posted a strong Monday closing at 7,537, up 0.72%. The small-cap heavy Russell 2000 also posted a winning session, closing up 0.61% at 3,014. The Dow Jones Industrial Average initially traded lower but turned around at noon, finishing at 53,056, up 0.30%, closing over 53,000 for the first time. The combination of momentum tech trading, falling oil prices, and the Federal Reserve’s pressure to raise rates subsiding as inflation fears diminish all contributed to the strong start to the week.
Treasury Bonds:
Yields were down across the lion’s share of the Treasury curve as buyers continue to embrace the no interest rate hike chant, as oil prices continue to tumble. Inflationary risk from worldwide geopolitical issues is also falling, another encouraging sign for the bond market. The 30-year bond closed Monday at 4.98%, essentially unchanged, while the benchmark 10-year note was last seen at 4.47%.
Oil and Gas
Oil prices for the major benchmarks were modestly lower on Monday, as sellers took a breather after hitting war-inflated oil bids hard over the last couple of weeks in June. Brent Crude closed Monday at $72.07, down 0,.07%, while West Texas Intermediate closed flat at $68.68, down just 0.01%. Natural gas continued its move higher, finishing the session at $3.25, up 1.69%.
Gold:
Gold finished Monday lower after a solid move higher last week. After a trading higher in the morning, precious metals faded in the afternoon, with traders citing dollar strength as the main driver. By the close, Gold finished at $4,160, down 0.32%, while Silver was last seen at $61.87, lower by 0.60%
Crypto:
24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports every day to identify fresh investment ideas for investors and traders alike. These daily analyst notes include recommendations on stocks to buy, sell, or avoid, as well as new coverage initiations. Important reminder: No single analyst report should ever be the sole basis for buying or selling a stock.
Here are some of the best Wall Street analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen on Tuesday, July 7, 2026.
Upgrades:
- Cloudflare (NASDAQ: NET) was upgraded to Outperform from Sector Perform at Scotiabank, which lifted the target price for the shares to $300 from $225.
- First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank, which has set a $272 target price.
- Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Erste Group, without a target price.
- Repligen (NASDAQ: RGEN) was raised to Buy from Hold at Benchmark, which has a $185 target price for the shares.
- Waste Management (NYSE: WM) is raised to Outperform from Neutral at CIBC, with a $244 target price.
Downgrades:
- Adobe (NASDAQ: ADBE) was cut to Underperform from Buy at Bank of America, which has a $190 target price for the stock.
- American Airlines Group (NYSE: AAL) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Melius Research, which bumped the target price for the stock to $19 from $15.
- Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Erste Group, without a target price.
- SLM (NYSE: SLM) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Barclays, which trimmed the target price to $26 from $30.
- Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ: WTFC) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS, which dropped the target price for the company to $170 from $176.
Initiations:
- American Healthcare REIT (NYSE: AHR) was initiated with an Overweight rating at Barclays with a $61 target price objective.
- Kingsoft Cloud Holdings (NYSE: KC) was started with an Overweight rating at Morgan Stanley, with a $15 target price.
- Shopify (NASDAQ: SHOP ) was reinstated with a Buy rating at Bank of America, with a $150 target price.
- Space Exploration Technologies (NASDAQ: SPCX) was started with a Buy rating at Goldman Sachs with a $205 target price. UBS has a Buy rating with a $210 target, while Stifel starts coverage with a Buy rating and a $190 target. This was a recent massive IPO that will be added to the Nasdaq-100 index today.
- Shopify (NASDAQ: SHOP ) was reinstated with a Buy rating at Bank of America, with a $150 target price.
- Ventas (NYSE: VTR) was initiated with an Equal Weight rating at Barclays, with a $99 target price.
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