Pre-Market Stock Futures:
Futures are trading higher as we get ready to start August and the new trading week. Friday’s solid rally capped off a wild month, which saw big swings in the market, including a massive down day for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which fell over 1,100 points last Wednesday. Despite the big drop, the venerable index with 30 Blue Chip giants ended Friday at 52,485, up 0.53%, and closed out its fourth straight winning month. The Nasdaq had a strong day to finish July, closing up 1% at 25,373, while the S&P 500 closed Friday at 7,489, up 0.70%. The only index to finish lower for the week was the small-cap Russell 2000, which closed at 2,931, down 0.50%. Despite closing lower, the Russell 2000 is still the leading index for 2026, up 17.7% year to date, more than double the other three indices.
Treasury Bonds:
The bond vigilantes were hard at work last Friday as sellers pushed yields to their highest levels in years. Despite a solid PCE print, Friday sellers took over the yield curve with rates surging higher. When the final bell rang, the 30-year Treasury closed at a 5.27% yield, the highest since July of 2007, while the 10-year note closed at 4.72%, the highest for the benchmark paper since January of 2025. Inflation worries, driven by ongoing high energy prices and a perceived lack of Federal Reserve action to raise rates, ignited much of the selling. The July consumer and producer price index will likely show an uptick in inflation, which could lock in a September 25 basis point hike.
Oil and Gas:
Oil traded higher once again on Friday, as skirmishes with Iran continued, and the major integrated oil companies posted staggering earnings results that drew the ire of the President. When the final trade was posted, Brent Crude closed the session at $87.93, up 1.21%, while West Texas Intermediate closed at $84.67, up 1.29%. The final print for Natural gas came in at $2.75, down 0.40%.
Gold:
Gold finished down on Friday as strength in the dollar, and the quickly rising yields brought out the sellers. The strength of the dollar makes bullion priced in dollars more expensive for overseas buyers. The final print for Gold was recorded at $4,041, down 1.48%, while Silver finished the session at $57.44, down 2.45%.
Crypto:
Cryptocurrency traded lower on Friday, pressured by sliding asset prices, heavy liquidations, and weak-earnings fallout from major crypto stocks. It was also reported that liquidations topped $359 million across more than 94,000 traders. Coinbase Global (NASDAQ: COIN | COIN Price Prediction) shares plunged as much as 15% after the company reported a disappointing Q2 net loss of $359.5 million, dragging down related crypto equities such as Strategy (NASDAQ: MSTR). At 8 AM EDT, Bitcoin is trading at $62,543, while Ethereum is trading at $1,841.
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. No single analyst report should ever be the sole basis for buying or selling a stock.
Here are some of the top Wall Street analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen on Monday, August 3, 2026.
Upgrades:
- Corning (NYSE: GLW) was raised to Buy from Hold at Truist Financial, with a $175 target price, down from $205
- Eaton Corporation (NYSE: ETN) was upgraded to Outperform from In Line at Evercore ISI, which raised the target price for the stock to $502 from $453.
- Ingersoll-Rand (NYSE: IR) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Stifel, which raised the target price for the shares to $101 from $84.
- LyondellBassell Industries(NYSE: LYB) was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan, which bumped the target price to $80 from $75.
- Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) was raised to Hold from Sell at Melius Research without a target price.
Downgrades:
- Birkenstock Holding (NYSE: BIRK) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Williams Trading, which trimmed the target price for the company to $44 from $46.
- Circle Internet Group (NYSE: CRCL) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley, which slashed the target price for the stock to $38 from $106.
- eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) was cut to Underweight from Equal Weight at Wells Fargo, which dropped the target price for the stock to $92 from $105.
- NXP Semiconductors (NASDAQ: NXPI) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS, which lowered the price target to $270 from $305.
- Wingstop (NASDAQ: WING) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Bernstein, which has a $155 target price.
Initiations:
- Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) was reinstated with an Underperform rating at Bank of America, with an $80 target price.
- Charles Schwab (NYSE: SCHW) was initiated with a Buy rating at Compass Point, with a $135 target price objective for the legacy discount broker.
- Life Time Group (NYSE: LTH) was assumed with a Buy rating at Goldman Sachs, which has a $53 target price objective for the shares.
- RH (NYSE: RH) was reinstated with an Underperform rating at Bank of America, with a $156 price target.
- Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE: SHW) was started with a Buy rating at Guggenheim, with a $400 target price.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Top Gaining Stocks
Top Losing Stocks